As I predicted, Mayor Huether cries wolf again and uses the media to take the temperature of voters

Time to collect some beer cans.

And he keeps getting the media to fall for it. Though I will give props to Stu for getting in some digs about his indecision, especially with including Jamison in the article.

He still hasn’t forgotten how Jamison attacked his ethics and credibility during the 2014 campaign by pointing to real estate investments held in office by Huether and his wife, Cindy, and questioning whether such interests impacted tax incentive decisions.

No wrongdoing was established and Huether went on to win with 55 percent of the vote. But he felt unjustly robbed of a landslide victory that would have more forcefully validated the successes of his first term.

I think wrongdoing was well established, but in the land of no ethics (and no ethics laws) there was really nothing the public or Jamison could do. Apparently family members can invest and benefit from tax dollars. Just look at the Huether’s Tennis Center.

“In my re-election campaign, our numbers were really positive, but what happens at the end of races is that sometimes people throw out everything to try to reverse that. The strategy in this case was that even if (Jamison) wasn’t going to be successful, he would make sure that Mike and Cindy Huether never got a chance to do this again. He decided to make it personal, and you can’t find a way to make it more personal than going after someone’s family.”

Classic Mikey, blame the messenger. He is the one who drags his family members into the fray then turns around and blames others for when he gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Recently he had his daughter be a part of a proclamation for her work organizing the ‘Walk for Science’ which was basically people complaining about Trump’s stance on science, ironically, Mike is a Trump fan.

Even in his 2010 race for mayor, the support of otherwise friendly business leaders such as Sanford and Beacom was more elusive than Huether anticipated, a lesson in party politics that shaped some of his later decisions.

This has always been a point of contention. While helping the Staggers campaign I found out that Mike’s departure from First Premier wasn’t exactly ‘smooth’. I have consistently heard from former FP employees and city employees that he isn’t exactly pleasant to work for. But this of course is all rumors, maybe if he runs for statewide office, we will get to hear more about his executive management style from some of them.

Nelson points to public projects that had “stalled out or become stagnant” under previous mayors but were brought to fruition under Huether. Much of that work came without collaboration with the city council, leading to criticism about the mayor’s oversized ego and strong-arm executive style.

I will never criticize Mike for his enthusiasm or getting things done, but I strongly disagree with his process. I have often said that Mike could have accomplished all the same goals with using honey, getting the public and council involved with decisions and using transparency at the highest level. When you step on toes, you piss people off, and if South Dakotans are good at one thing, it’s holding a grudge. Mike has made a lot of fierce enemies over the past 7 years.

Does that mean a bid for governor is unattainable and that U.S. House is more prudent? Is there a fallback position that says go for broke and then run for mayor in 2022 if you fail? Maybe Huether would be comfortable enjoying time with family and making memories without that burning need to succeed?

The stream-of-consciousness debate in his mind is political agony in real time, which some of his once and future rivals find distasteful.

“I see a guy who’s struggling,” says Jamison, who has yet to declare his own candidacy for mayor. “It’s like he can’t figure out the next step and doesn’t want to lose, but nobody likes to lose. If it’s really about public service and not just being the guy, why doesn’t he run for city council? That would be a great way to stay involved. But if he’s going to ride it out because he only wants the top job and that’s all he’s good for, I would caution him against that.”

Personally, I think if Huether decides to ride it out for 4 years to run for Mayor again he has a strategy to keep him in the limelight. It is no secret in certain circles that he recruited Diamond Jim to run for mayor. IMO, if Jim wins, he will make Mike his Chief of Staff, and in essence, allow Mike to run the city for the next 4 years. I know this sounds like a crazy conspiracy, but just look how crazy the last 4 years have been.

There is also the possibility of Jim resigning after a year and having a special election for mayor in which Mike could run.