Since Huether has been mayor, there have been many instances of the city not being transparent with the public and the council and I see this lack of transparency getting worse.
Here are just a few ‘examples’ of the city’s (mostly the mayor’s office and council leadership) very non transparent moments;
– Holding a press conference to announce the building of two new Walmarts without Planning or Council approval.
– The mayor’s wife and him investing in TIF’s and other developments that are recommended by the Planning Department, a department he manages.
– Allowing Community Development to give an affordable housing grant to a developer who was chair of the Planning Commission, a clear conflict of interest
– Allowing Council Chair Erpenbach to CENSOR snowgate election testimony, which put off snowgate implementation for a full year.
– Mayor Huether was not required to list all of his investments on his campaign finance report, but other NON-incumbent candidates were asked to do so
– Two hearings on municipal election ballot language because petitioners were NOT allowed to proof the language before ballots were printed
– Asked the city to provide $500K towards a new indoor tennis facility without mentioning eventually his name would be on the side of the building.
– Sanford bought events center domain name before they were announced the title sponsor
– Spellerberg Park picked as location of new indoor pool before a supposed resolution on the quit claim deed
The EC siding secrecy is just another notch in the bed post for a mayor and administration that sleeps with a lot of secrets. And just think, these are the ones we KNOW about . . .