Mayor Mike lays out his vision for the press
During the informational meeting, Mike had this to say about the media concerning the recent audit of Global Spectrum
“. . . why I think it is important to verify the recommendations is that it will help us manage the press as well, not that we want to tell the Argus Leader, KELO, KSFY or KDLT what to report on but I think it will help the public understand that having this business audited is a good thing, and that’s how they started the process, when I was in business, I wanted my department to be audited, because I wanted them to find recommendations and mistakes prior to the press, or 60 Minutes or some Eide Bailley or whoever will be find it, and in this case I think it got out of hand, and I think the spirit was good and then I think oh my gosh, the sky is falling when in reality it wasn’t . . . “
Mike sure has a skewed view of ‘The fourth estate’ It is their job to report everything; the good, the bad and the ugly. One reason why blogs have gotten so popular is because the MSM isn’t reporting that way anymore. This is also an interesting comment, because this is a guy who has had hissy-fits with several media people for simply reporting the facts about his campaign. The media needs to keep an eye on Mr. Huether, I think he will be a Slippery Pete when it comes to the press.
It also seems that the council doesn’t want him to continue the King Dave practice of money transfers;
Sioux Falls city councilors Tuesday set the stage for the latest battle with the mayor’s office over who controls tax dollars, an ongoing struggle that former mayor Dave Munson’s administration also confronted.
If Huether wants to shift money among projects, he might have to get the City Council’s approval first. Councilors are looking into requiring their authorization on certain money transfers – an action Huether opposes.
Which is interesting, because if Mike wants to be a ‘fiscally prudent’ mayor, wouldn’t he want more checks and balances in place?
“I think it’s a good form of checks and balances, and we are protecting our constituents,” councilor Rex Rolfing said.
It is possible to put a process in place without disrupting our form of government. In Omaha, which has the same form of city charter, I believe, the council has to approve any money transfer over $20,000. While that may make the council meetings last longer, there may be a way to streamline that process.
Brown later said, “It’s like handing a big bag of money to one person, in this case the mayor” and allowing him to spend it on projects of his choosing.
But Huether doesn’t think council approval is necessary.
“City government already moves slow enough because of all the controls that are in place,” he said. “At some point, you’ve got to allow government to work, and you have to trust government to work.”
That is the problem, the council trusted the last mayor on this issue, and where did it get us? $300 million in debt. This isn’t about TRUST anyway, it is about checks and balances and I hope the city council moves forward on this issue.
If council meetings become longer, pay councilors more than $17K per year. Mayoral pilferage, waste, and subpayments will more than pay for it.
Still, the mayor has the power to overrule the council. It’s a real problem that keeps city government undemocratic.
I suspect when Mike talks about managing “the press”, what he means is that by being proactive about auditing ourselves will prevent a news organization from finding something out before the city knows it exists. In that scenario, the city is left looking like a bunch of uninformed kids who weren’t paying attention or were flat out ignoring issues.
I don’t read it as Mike is actually trying to control the media, but rather he wants to ensure the information coming out from the city or pertaining to the city is positive information with no surprises. Can’t really fault him for that… any business or public figure would say the exact same thing.
“In that scenario, the city is left looking like a bunch of uninformed kids who weren’t paying attention or were flat out ignoring issues.”
They are uninformed. And there is a massive cock fight going on. It is silly.
proactiv auditing is a positive…but having the media start screaming “the sky is falling..” before anyone has had a chance to review the information and make changes. If an audit WASN’T being done and the media uncovered something I would agree…get it out there..publish, etc. but if it’s something that is being done to improve and review processes pulease! Also, I have a problem with the council wanting to have dibs on how the money is reallocated. If Mike was reallocating to things that didn’t make sense I would totally understand but to have the city council bellyaching that their outside roads aren’t getting developed…try driving in the lower income areas…oh wait…you can’t unless you have a four wheel drive and go slow because the dips and breakdown of the roads are so terrible. I realize that the wealthy are the ones that bitch the loudest…and that is why things get done in their area but the rest of us deserve good roads too!!
This isn’t about ‘Mike’ it is about the mistakes of Dave Munson. They want to nip this in the butt BEFORE Mike starts doing what Dave did. And I can’t believe you would defend not having checks and balances? I want my city council to be more involved with the process. Why have them if the mayor is going to make all of the decisions?
‘Checks and balances’ is the root of democracy. There’s equal representation. It’s not about what Mike or the council wants, it’s the universal dynamic implementation that’s best for citizens.
Is there anything that Your Man Mike could do that you would criticize, Daizi?
Maybe if he combed his perfect hair in the opposite direction?