The very curious city councilor Michelle Erpenbach

To say I follow city government like an uber-nerd is not a stretch, but I must also remind my readers I consider it a fun hobby. I love talking to our local elected officials, and have many great engaging convos about policy. Some times they even run with my stupid ideas. I am flattered. Michelle on the other hand could be living on another planet as far as I am concerned. I did reach out to her once for a podcast, but Hudson was having equipment issues so the interview never happened, but she did agree to an email interview. Honestly, I think that is the last contact I had with her (3 or 4 years ago?)

One of the most interesting things about following our local elected officials is the ‘personal’ relationships they have and how those relationships overlap in the work they do in their elected positions.

While I could go on and on about most of the city elected officials and their personal relationships, most of them are pretty milk toast. Even our fine mayor.

But Michelle Erpenbach is an interesting study and one sharp cookie (fox).

At first glance you may say that it is fantastic that her tentacles reach far and wide, and I would agree 100%. She has built great business, political and charitable relationships, and I applaud her and any elected official for doing this, you have to. I also agree with Michelle on many social issues and challenges in our city. But what are the objectives behind these relationships and her positions?

Michelle is interesting when it comes to these political objectives. Take these things into account;

• She is considering, and has told close friends she is running for mayor in 2018

• Steve Hildebrand and his partner are God parents of Michelle’s children

• Michelle’s husband, Steve, is a former Daschle staffer and now runs the SDSU alumni foundation

• Michelle has taken many political donations in the past from major developers in Sioux Falls, and considers many of them as close friends

Okay, not a big deal. It’s a small town and state.

But let’s consider a few things Michelle has done over the past year and her tenure as a city councilor;

• Recently pushing for a total cell phone ban in Sioux Falls. The list of people supporting this ban are the who’s who of this town (I’ve seen the list). Doctors, Judges, Lawyers, etc, etc. Big time players in the city. If she leads this charge and pulls it off, the accolades for Michelle will be great.

• A big proponent of Shape Places. In the last city council meeting she voiced her concern about people calling it the bogey man. Shape Places is very PRO developer, but not a monster. The massive document was approved with one short vote by the city council with little review. Many councilors admitted to me that they didn’t read much of the document before approving it.

• She defended Billion Auto saying in the last city council meeting she was upset that people were treating them like ‘The Evil Empire’. What she failed to mention is that the fine citizens of this city GAVE Billion a street (property), at no charge. It is not a stretch to expect them to go above and beyond building a fair buffer. They got property for FREE that is probably worth close to a million dollars. They can at least be gracious in citizens requests for reasonable buffers. I personally don’t think Billion is Evil, but I do expect them to go above and beyond in receiving this great gift from the city and taxpayers.

• During the budget approval she poo-poo’d the way the proposed administration building was budgeted but voted for it anyway. She has done this countless times, saying she doesn’t like the way the administration handled something then voted for it anyway. She pulled this with the free bus passes, supporting the administration on being opposed to it, but once she figured out she would be the only one voting NO, she had a change of heart. Michelle frequently does this, she may act like she is no friend of Mike’s but often does exactly what he wants done. The termination of former city clerk Debra Owen comes to mind. Mayor wanted her gone, and Erpenbach helped lead the way to get her axed. Which leads me to Michelle never mentioning that she supports more openness and transparency in city government (the city was reprimanded by the open meetings commission for how Owen’s termination was handled). In fact, she sat on the Parks Board before becoming a city councilor, one of the most secretive city boards. In fact, of all the city councilors, Erpenbach’s name comes up the most when constituents tell me she doesn’t respond to calls or emails. Even more then Rolfing!

Michelle’s ‘I know better’ attitude overflows into the discussion at city council meetings. She is often heard telling them ‘Need I remind the council’ as if she is the ultimate historian of all things Sioux Falls city council. Many constituents have coined her as the city council’s ‘school marm’.

The perceived close relationships between Erpenbach, Hildebrand, developers and Huether are too close for comfort. She will be one to watch in the next mayoral race, don’t underestimate her, we did that Huether’s first time around (a campaign ran my Michelle’s close friend Steve Hildebrand). We could just have a mayor Erpenbach in 2018, and if you think she plays word games on the council, wait until she is running our city. I’m sure she will be constantly ‘reminding’ us of how lucky we are to have her as mayor.

Scary stuff, and it’s not even Halloween yet.