Two things. Most of the year it is too cold to walk anywhere, and when it is warm, it is the only option for the working poor.
City Hall at 9th and Main was a bit empty at 1:30pm Wednesday. The City Attorney’s office was pretty quiet also. Where were they? Try Carnegie Townhall, the mayor was giving a political speech on the City’s dime and time, again. I walked into the Council Chamber and hizonor was giving his standard campaign stump speech with a room full of city employees in attendance. I wonder how much money wasted on this political event? Wait, it’s tax money being wasted, yours and mine. On top of this, the city’s website was being used. Channel 16 CityLink was also being utilized. This looks a lot like a major waste of taxpayer money being used to help hizonor have some publicity for his campaign.
It is an amazing process for the average citizen to file an ethics complaint in the City of Sioux Falls. Try and find a brave attorney to assist you in the research, then the filing. I have a great deal of respect for many attorneys and always will. It takes a great deal of patience and persistence to find code close to what is needed to make officials stop, then take notice, then correct their course. We have been attempting to help City Hall and the annexes personnel understand limits instilled in the US Constitution, State of South Dakota Constitution and the Sioux Falls Home Rule Charter.
This city government constantly rules by loophole. We have had to stand back and watch this action for too long. The Mayor’s Learning & Listening sessions are filled with his political views until he is reminded not to be political during city sponsored events. Since I prepared this complaint, word is reaching me, a double, super-secret, buried in the basement floor, under the rug in the back corner rule was broken in this submission process. We are trying to make changes to the way this government is operated and it is time to make them accountable.
If this complaint is rejected because we did not do all the steps exactly right, I guess we will have to keep trying until we do get it right. You know come to think of it, there are so many ethics issues we are uncovering with the current administration, each will need to be ranked in descending order of importance. This has been a great lesson in City Charter rules and lack thereof. With this new found knowledge, it looks like we could keep the city attorney’s office quite busy. Oh wait, a few of these might require outside legal counsel.
READ THE FULL DOCUMENT:Â Citizens for Integrity Press Release 2014-03-26.pdf – Adobe Acrobat Pro Extended
Press Release • March 26, 2014 • Bruce Danielson, Citizens for Integrity
Today I have filed on behalf of Citizens for Integrity an ethics complaint based on:
Sioux Falls Code § 38.021 EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC FUNDS TO INFLUENCE ELECTION OUTCOME PROHIBITED
Established Sioux Falls Code, South Dakota law, Administrative rules, Executive Orders and customs have restricted the use of Sioux Falls City resources to enhance a political campaign. Mayor Mike Huether today is violating these long standing guidelines.
From the city website: < http://www.siouxfalls.org/central-services/multimedia-support/citylink/programs/regular-programs/ask-the-mayor.aspx >
According to City policy (Executive Order 12-24), candidates for any elective public office are not eligible to appear on CityLink for 90 days prior to the next municipal election (April 8, 2014). This City policy ensures candidates do not use public funds for their own personal promotion. The policy states that candidates may appear on CityLink “if the appearance of the candidate is incidental to presentation of the subject matter or in coverage of official City meetings such as City Council or Council Informational Meetings.†These types of incidental appearances also may include events like news conferences and ribbon cuttings.
After January 7, 2014:
- The “Mayor’s Listening and Learning Sessions†will continue to be held at various locations across the city but will not be recorded or televised on CityLink.
- “Ask the Mayor†programs will not be recorded or televised on CityLink.
- “Inside Town Hall†will continue to be recorded and televised but will not include candidates for any elective public office.
Today we once again have our Mayor abusing his office for personal gain. The circumventing the established nonpolitical