Kevin Maher
Kevin Maher is the Ward 3 alderman on the Rapid City Common Council, a seat he has held since June 2023. He earned a BS in business management and an MBA from the University of South Dakota and spent 37 years in banking and finance — most recently as general manager of Synchrony Bank's Rapid City operations center, which employed about 450 people before his retirement. Kevin and his wife Denise moved to Rapid City in 1995 and raised three children there. He chairs the Vision Fund Citizens Committee, sits on boards including Elevate Rapid City, Junior Achievement of the Black Hills, and United Way of the Black Hills, and served as Honorary Commander of the 34th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth AFB.
Why they’re
Sensible
Kevin Maher brings 37 years of banking operations experience and a Council President tenure to Ward 3, and his campaign reads like a long-range planning document rather than a list of grievances. He has publicly championed Rapid City's Innovation District partnership with South Dakota Mines and Elevate Rapid City, pushed preparation for the B-21 mission at Ellsworth, and served as chair of the Vision Fund Citizens Committee that allocates second-penny sales tax dollars to community-nominated projects. He has also been willing to make the affirmative public case for growth — arguing for retention-driven pay raises for non-union city staff when the council hesitated, and using his seat on the Legal and Finance Committee to get the issue back on the agenda. Where we differ with neighbors, we prize the way Maher differs: substantively, with numbers, and without personalizing.
Key positions
“I will offer a fresh perspective on matters before the council and champion fiscal stewardship.”
“We have been making progress on developing the Innovation District through working closely with our strong economic development partnership with Elevate Rapid City and SD Mines.”
“Some of these retailers, we'd be reducing their hours of operation by 21 hours a week. And we're really penalizing the typical person who shops in Rapid City or visitors or tourists that shop in Rapid City.”
“This is not a time to not take care of our employees — they take care of us.”
“I don't have a problem with reviewing projects… big projects take time.”
Notable votes & actions
Also running for
Rapid City · Ward 3 · Alderman
Every other candidate filed for this seat, listed for transparency. Our Sensible slate reflects the full field — not just a single pick.