Quick question. How long does it take you to pay a clerk at the grocery store once they have rang up your food? 30 seconds? One minute? Probably.
How long does it take the city to complete a contract transaction once an amount has been determined? Apparently 30 days. Okay, I know both scenarios are not identical, but c’mon, 30 days?
Administration officials worry that requiring council approval of contracts would slow the process down. Scott Rust, the city’s purchasing manager, said the city has a 30-day limit imposed by state law to approve a contract once the city has accepted a bid. As it stands now, it’s sometimes difficult to meet that deadline, and adding council approval as another step would make it worse, he said.
Bullshit excuse. First off, it should not take 30 days, especially after a bid is already accepted. Secondly, a special session can be called to approve expenditures. Didn’t we learn a lesson from when Munson approved 100% overbudget expenditure on Phillips to the Blue Moon bar? Oh, that’s right, he never got in trouble for that because the chickenshit councilors didn’t press charges, so apparently we haven’t learned a lesson. Make no mistake, this is about secrecy, Huether doesn’t want council approval because he doesn’t want them to know what he is spending the money on until it is too late. And he has gotten his new finance director to be lockstep with him, even though he is criticizing the job he did in Watertown on the same matter;
But Tracy Turbak, the city’s new finance director, said other cities don’t have the volume of contracts that Sioux Falls does. Turbak, who came from Watertown, said that city’s council does approve contracts that reach certain thresholds. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for Sioux Falls, however.
“I don’t know that Watertown is a shining example of how to manage contracts,” he said.
So, Tracy, are you saying you did a shitty job of handling the contracts in Watertown? Wasn’t that a part of your job as finance director? Surprised you had time to send a quote to the newspaper with all the time you are spending with your head up Huether’s ass.