It is no surprise to me that City Attorney David Pfeifle will take a position
with the South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance. It’s just unfortunate that he will still be schlemping off the taxpayers in his new position. I was hoping he would return to private practice, but maybe he could not hack it in the real world.
I had a weird feeling over the weekend that David would be the next to resign from the Huether administration. I figured once he went on personal leave, we probably wouldn’t see him again, or very little;
Sioux Falls, South Dakota: City Attorney David Pfeifle will become the executive director of the South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance effective November 6, 2017, after seven and a half years serving the City of Sioux Falls and a 23-year career practicing law. His final day with the City of Sioux Falls will be October 31.
I ultimately expect Turbak and Cooper to be next, I don’t expect to many skippers left on the SS Huether come next May. I think Cooper will just retire.
“David has always kept Sioux Falls top of mind and has served all of us so admirably over the years. We would not have been able to navigate some challenging waters, ultimately getting things accomplished for our city, without the wisdom and determination of David Pfeifle. I wish him and his family nothing but the best!†says Mayor Mike Huether.
Pfeifle started with the City of Sioux Falls on July 19, 2010. During his years as the City Attorney, Pfeifle says his greatest accomplishment is assembling a great legal team working on behalf of the people of Sioux Falls, and who will carry the department forward.
Hardy, Harr, Harr. David was famous for hiring outside counsel anytime a ‘challenging’ project came up. So I guess he was smart enough to know when he wasn’t smart enough to know.
When the city got slapped with an open meetings violation while terminating Debra Owen, David had to defend the city’s (his) decision in front of the Open Meetings Commission. I remember sitting in the cramped room listening to people audibly laughing out loud at David’s arguments.
He lost, BTW. In fact David has lost many big cases for the city, even with the help of outside counsel. I would be curious of how much the city has paid out in settlement money since he has been city attorney. Which of course brings us to the convoluted siding settlement.
UPDATE: It is rumored that when the administrative team does their presentation today at the city council informational about the siding settlement, they may refuse to take questions. We will see how the council handles this.
He certainly won’t be missed, it’s just unfortunate we still have to help pay his salary working for an organization that blames ‘GOD’ whenever they don’t want to pay out a claim to the citizens they abuse.