Once again, in the weirdo elitist tennis playing club the Mayor lives in, he says he needs to get to know the newly elected councilors. In other words, he needs to meet the people he wasn’t expecting to win. Maybe he should put the same effort into it as one of his directors did yesterday coaching O’Gorman Tennis at McKennan Park in full tennis gear at 5:10 PM. It’s sure nice that Mike lets his 6-Figure directors knock off early on a Tuesday to coach tennis to private school kids. At least he wasn’t guzzling beer at Monks.
The look on Mike’s face during this interview says it all, I’m screwed;
While he was happy with the number of candidates, Huether admits that at first he didn’t know everyone running for City Council. He says more candidates means more effort in getting to know them. Perhaps that’s why we saw such a low voter turnout on Tuesday.
There was a low voter turnout, because city leaders are more concerned about holding press conferences about cleaning up your yard for NCAA basketball tournaments then they are about telling people to vote.
And let’s not act surprised, our research at DaCola showed us this would be a low vote turnout to begin with, historical data doesn’t lie, but salespeople hate history, they only live for today, so Goddammit, why didn’t people vote!
As for encouraging ALL people to vote, I’m not big on that. Uninformed voters tend to stick us with stuff we really don’t need, like a $180 million dollar debt from an Events Center, with 11,000 of those yahoo-voters never showing up to vote again. GOOD! There is nothing scarier then an ignorant voter.
Let’s look at the winners. Obviously two of them I know well, I ran their marketing/graphic design/ and mail coordination campaigns with cameraman Bruce. We also assisted Pat Starr with some various strategies.
Pat Starr I think will be the surprise on the council. He’s sharp, witty, articulate, well informed government nerd. He is also a proud old school Democrat. I think you are going to find that Pat is a bridge builder, and he will strive to form coalitions. He also is well read with local, national and state politics. We have had many great convos over tots and burgers at the Lil Colinga, the voter should be very happy he was elected, he will serve us well.
Greg Neitzert is the encyclopedia of zoning and planning in Sioux Falls. I don’t think Greg will allow the public to be buffaloed by directors on these issues at public meetings. Greg also is a man who loves transparency and integrity, and he is very adamant about it. If we see improvements in lighting some sunshine in city government over the next 4 years, it will probably be because Greg initiated it.
As for ‘Big T’ as I nicknamed her years ago, besides being a dear friend and mother figure to me, she is a fighter, and she will stand up for the little guy, I’m sure the mayor knows who she is.
Joe and Ellis from the AL did some good stories about her, first Ellis;
Since her arrival on the local political scene nearly 10 years ago, Theresa Stehly has savored victory and swallowed bitter defeat.
Last night’s victory for an at-large seat on the Sioux Falls City Council was her biggest win of all. This time, it was a personal triumph over the so-called “establishment,†the well-heeled business and cultural elite that has held Stehly and her followers with varying levels of disdain since the piano teacher emerged from nowhere to defeat an indoor swimming pool planned for her neighborhood.
She ran the superior campaign, focusing her limited resources on targeting the small pool of voters who reliably turn out in local elections rather than blowing money on unfocused television ads, billboards and mass mailings. The targeted mailings she did send out were also superior. They talked about who Stehly is as a person and reminded voters of issues she’s championed over the years, including the ever-popular snowgates.
For once in a city election, the anti-establishment saw a breaking point, but I will also agree with Ellis, if you drive the winning race car, with the winning driver, you will probably win. I felt the needle point strategy was important, not just to save the candidates money, but to prove if you take the time to campaign to those who care, and you are a stellar candidate, you can win.
Theresa also talks about her health scares, as a friend I remember this time well, something I discussed with Theresa in length before she decided to run again. There were some moments when I thought I would be speaking at her funeral instead of guiding her thru another campaign of promise for the average Joe. For the record, I assisted Theresa and Greg as clients of the print shop/direct mailer I work for as their customer service rep. I was paid my employer to assist them as clients.
Sneve also takes a shot at Theresa, this time letting Vern Brown’s sour grapes over Drake Springs squirt all over the pages of the Argus;
Vernon Brown, a former City Council member who ran against Stehly in 2008, said it’s no surprise Paulson played better with voters in affluent neighborhoods like the ones found on the southern outskirts of the city.
“Where John won was in wealthier portions of the city, where they have a stronger interest in quality-of-life issues, parks and things for families,†Brown said.
WOW! I find the irony of Vern’s statement staggering. Vern and his wife come from very humble beginnings, and for Vern to make the statement that ‘us working class’ don’t care about parks and such couldn’t be further from the truth. Just peruse our park system any weekend this summer, the rich and affluent are not overtaking our parks, it is the working and middle class who use this wonderful free service that they truly value.
But then Vern pulls a 180 and admits, there are some things you cannot beat;
“I don’t think endorsements do a ton for local candidates, but in the case of Councilman Staggers endorsing Theresa, he always has a group of people who walk strong – loyal supporters of his.†Brown said. “So in the election with low voter turnout, that plays a big factor.
“John is known in the business community but on the street the average voter doesn’t know him that well. Ten years of being at public input and in the news benefits Theresa.â€
The irony of all this is when Vern beat Theresa, the low voter turnout was about the same. And name recognition played to his advantage.
Funny how these things work out.
“As for encouraging ALL people to vote, I’m not big on that. Uninformed voters tend to stick us with stuff we really don’t need, like a $180 million dollar debt from an Events Center, with 11,000 of those yahoo-voters never showing up to vote again.GOOD! There is nothing scarier then an ignorant voter”.
Pretty sure there is video evidence of you endorsing voter registration upon turning 18.
You are right, but I never said anything about getting them to vote.
There is more to citizenship than merely registering to vote. Our system does not teach citizenship and the responsibility it entails.
It does not start at 18, it starts when a child is still in diapers. Pat Starr proudly tells all who will listen about the efforts he takes to make sure his children go with to the voting booth.
When I did my published voting research recently I began to look at the candidates and officeholders to see if they are passing down the “urge” to vote to the next generation. There will be more of my research to follow.
If our officeholders do not encourage the next generations and our schools allow voting in the same buildings where children are taught, what hope is there for our future.
11% voting in a local election is atrocious and we all should be ashamed.
Yes he is an elitist.
Theresa on Belfrage;
http://media.mwcradio.com/podcasts/greg-belfrage-show/1003/greg-belfrage-show-1003.mp3
I found the podcast discussion about roads and “special savings accounts” for water and sewer to be quite interesting. Ms. Stehly is right that roads are important and Mr. Belfage is right that water and sewer repairs and improvements should currently be paid with the additional penny sales tax. But long before we had “slush funds” or “special savings accounts” (Ms. Stehly’s words) for water and sewer or even before we turned the additional penny in sales taxes into a fund for capital improvements in general, the original intent of that additional penny (1983) was suppose to be just for roads. Overtime, that intent got lost or redirected and now ironically we are not only just looking for new monies for roads, but for capital improvements involving sewer and water, too….?
Vernon had a Paulson yard sign. ‘Nuf said.
John Kennedy Claussen thank you for the additional context about the original intent of the second penny tax circa 1983. This kind of manipulation of public tax allocation is “mission creep” personified. Too bad decent ethics alone doesn’t keep elected officials & their appointed department heads from fudging what voters approved in the past. But, the empire/legacy builder(s) at City Hall need to heed that there are some citizens who don’t ignore history. Our cratered streets are clear evidence of these misguided policies. Time to come down hard on these clowns & restore the tax policies the voters originally approved.
I liked in huether’s interview how he said looks forward to educating them (the new councilors) on public service.
In my opinion, I believe one of them (probably two) already have a better handle on what public service is all about. They understand what it means and what it takes. It requires listening to the public, having empathy (not faking it for photo ops), and understanding government isn’t run like a business.
Lastly it means putting the necessities first and not putting your city up to it’s teeth in debt for “nice” to have items and then raising taxes and fees on everything to pay for the “have” to have items.
I wonder how the new councilors will feel about the proposed administration building?
Educating them? In the Mayor’s terms that means brainwashing them, of which he will face a brick wall with some of these individuals. With that, I say Karma.
On an off note, we seem to have a press conference on lack of meaning items such as the re-opening of the dogpark or press conferences with zero substance, yet crime is on the rise and random shootings seem to be an all too familiar occurrence. Where is the plan to support our law enforcement and address safety? This is a REAL issue that cannot be sugar coated. One of the very things that citizens and families love about SF is definitely being compromised right now and I have not seen a darn thing about addressing the issue of safety. Hey – but as long as non members arent parking in the Huether Tennis Center when the parking lot is ALWAYS 3/4 available – all is right in the world.
Karma, you raise a great concern about crime in Sioux Falls. It is utterly amazing how none of our recent candidates nor current Councilors ever talked or talk about the rising crime rates in this town to any significant degree.
They all seem to be dismissive of the issue on the grounds that the rise in crime is merely the costs of a growing town, but that is bogus.
About fifteen years ago, Sioux Falls was cited for having the lowest number of police officers per capital in the nation for a metropolitan area. My guess is that this is still true. We definitely need more officers on the beat in this town who are making a presence known which will help to reduce crime from ever happening to begin with…. I know a lot of my liberal friends shun such an idea do to fears of a “police state” and my conservative friends wonder where the money to hire them will come from, but realistically the money is already there, because it should always be a priority for any city budget to offer adequate policing; and for my liberal friends, I think an equilibrium can be found on policing, but we as a city have not got there yet and we need too soon.
Basically, he doesn’t know anyone who’s not a one percenter or member of the city country club. There’s another 190,000 people he should get to know.
From the same interview. This guys ego knows no bounds.
mmm also believes when things are going well, people aren’t as motivated to make their voices heard.
“There’s probably less incentive to go out there and go ‘you know what, hey, everything’s great, so they don’t need my vote,” said mmm.
While talking about the second penny sales tax, there was also a bill in the legislature this year to allow for a third municipal penny sales tax. When I challenged my representative on how could he have possibly supported this, he chewed me out for, “If i was going to challenge every vote that he made, then why should he bother.” And he is a Democrat in a poor district of town. That was the only vote of his that I challenged.
The city legislative agenda also opposed having the county be able to collect liquor taxes that might cut into the city’s taxes. So I was extremely pleased to see that four of the new councilors were at yesterday’s county commission meeting. Maybe there will start to be some cooperation between the city and the county.