Sioux Falls City Councilor Hat-Hater Rex Rolfing gets ‘bumped back’

1. There are other issues to address before babysitting city employees. They live out of town. Why should they get attention? Why should we care?

   The ‘Contractor at Large’ fraud really worries me. A 30 million admin building is happening without a public vote. The project is awarded without bids before there’s budget and an optioned location.

2. Was this Erpenbach’s first council meeting ever? What did she mean that director appointments aren’t political? Where has she been? Huether has replaced half the directors since he’s been in office, and not because some of them wanted to go. Of course that’s not what the public was told.

   I liked O’Toole’s wishy-washy non-answer too. Way to be political. I call bull shit on that “leadership role” answer. Bumpback protection all the way.

   It amazes me how easily people in Huether’s administration will lie to the council also. Chief Sideras said that his fire fighters have a limited skill set, yet many retire and go on to be safety inspectors or trainers for construction companies, investigators for insurance companies (all of which pay between $40k-$70k) and also many of them have been working part-time jobs their entire careers that turn into their full-time jobs at retirement.

   I called a friend at the fire department and asked him how many people he thought were worth about 1 million dollars or more because of their outside businesses (I won’t list their names):

   1. Golf course and Property Development
   2 Office Furniture Sales (retired early)
   3. Metal work/Corrugated Steelwork (retired early)
   4. Metal work/Corrugated Steelwork (retired early)
   5. Land Acquisition/Agriculture (will likely retire early)
   6. Agriculture/Inheritance (retired early)
   7. Home Builder (Now deceased)
   8. HVAC Business/Land Development (still working)

   Seems like fire fighters are doing okay with their “limited skill set”.

   Also Chief Sideras mentioned there were no Fire Chief jobs in the midwest, without the bump back, a Chief would have to relocate to the coasts or Texas. Checking one website, I found current openings in:

   Fulton, MO
   Jefferson City, MO
   Oklahoma City, OK
   Civilian Fire Chief, COlorado Springs AFB, CO

3. Yeah, Erpenbach seems to be living in Lah-Lah land most of the time. Directors are not Political Appointments? She must not have me Darrin Smith, who was appointed to two different director positions with ZERO experience in the respective positions. The only city government experience he has had is city council, before he decided to QUIT that job.

4. How about we deal with the root of the problem. An elected position should not have the ability to fire or demote personnel without just cause like poor performance or insubordination.

5. I will also say the amount of management and their pay in the fire department is OUT OF CONTROL. Too many chiefs and not enough braves as my grandad would say. Another example of how a public employee union can screw the taxpayers in 1 sided negotiations.

   If all workers were paid based upon the hazards of the job, a 2×4 would cost $15 each and a can of tuna $10.

6. LJL has a point. Police and fire are more political than the politicians. It was 2 police officers making an unsubstantiated ethics complaint that got Huether elected. I worry when there’s an emergency. Personnel we expect to protect us will be at their lake lots a hundred miles away teleconferencing with the union regarding higher pay after they’ve retired. Are they protection or simply encumbrance?

7. Some Cities utilize contracts for their police and fire chiefs to avoid the political appointment nonsense. In the contract they can be fired for cause, but not just because the mayor decides he wants his nephew to be chief now.

   That way you get a chief who can safely speak their mind instead of a butt-kissing yes-man who is only interested in protecting his job instead of the citizens.

   No offense to the new police chief, he is still proving himself and hasn’t caused any negative gossip out of PD yet.

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