3 City Councilors, 5 to go.

1. I was waiting for Huether to show his Pickleball face, because I was going to ask him to sign, but no dice.

2. An interesting side to this petition project is the reluctance of city workers to consider this as a benefit to their lives, the opposition by the small snow removal contractors and shallowness of some officials.

   The city employees don’t seem to want their routines / jobs changed even if they benefit by the overtime and their driveways properly cleaned.

   The small snow plow contractors don’t want these because every time a driveway is plugged by the city plows they get paid to comeback and clean the opening again. They pretend to be upset about the return trip when they send you the bill but they love charging you for the ice mountain removal.

   A third group who are upset about this petition drive are the elected officials. The petition drive is usurping or questioning their authority. A well known blonde female Pierre legislator was really upset to be asked to sign “I’m a public official and can’t sign!” as she ran off.

3. Speaking of snow removal techniques… I recall several years ago being in Watertown during a significant snowfall. We were watching a snowplow drive by from within a house and it created the typical ridge of snow at the end of each driveway.

   You know what was about five minutes behind the plow? A guy in a skid loader. He swooped in and pushed the ridge of snow into a pile so the homeowner wouldn’t need to. It wasn’t perfect, but in an emergency the homeowner could easily drive in and out of their driveway.

   The guy on the skid loader was very good at what he did too – the plow had cleared both sides of the street by the time he got there, so he criss-crossed the street and cleaned out every single driveway in a matter of a few minutes. Then it was on to the next street.

   I can’t say if they do it for every snowfall or just during the big storms, but it was the first time I had ever seen a city take such pride in offering city services to their residents.

   Watertown also has municipal gas and electric. Go figure.

4. @Craig – Watrertown was once a bastion of the Democratic core of the state – socialists, obviously still at work there what with all the government owned utilities, etc. How do they vote now-a-days?

5. I really can’t say… I know there are still some Democratic strongholds in the Northeast, but I’m not sure if Watertown falls into that group or not.

6. Remember that a third of city employees live out of town. The others are sheep. They follow whomever the mayor is because they know he has all the power (Home Rule Charter). Can’t blame them; they have long lunch hours, numerous coffee breaks, 4 weeks vacation, go home at 4, upscale salaries, excellent benefits, and a lucrative retirement.

   Admirable that councilors signed. It’s a good way to discover who opposes Huether fascism.

   Democrats are somewhat concentrated in northeast SD. My grandfather ran for governor in the 50’s. Of course, he lost.

7. I graduated high school in Watertown. It’s democracy and (believe it or not) elected officials answer to the people. I’m sure they didn’t have to be told to clear the end of driveways after a major storm and citizens probably never insisted they do it.

8. Theresa’s smile, you can’t say no. What was the question?

9. PL – You know, Theresa is a former beauty pageant winner. Ask her about it sometime 🙂

10. the little old lady next door to me wouldn’t sign the petition. see if i snow blow her driveway out this year!!

11. scott – true story? Did she go on a rant about Obamacare and socialism while holding her SS check?

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