Not sure if Jeff has fought to be chair or not, but it seems a bit odd that as long as he has been there they won’t give him a chair position. They had their chair election yesterday and re-appointed Heiberger as Chair (she was chair before Beninga) and Bender as Vice-Chair.
Unlike the city council, the commission is a partisan position, and since Jeff isn’t a part of the majority party on the commission, I believe they continue to deny him a chair position. Sad really, since he has the most experience.
Barth also voted against using the Argus Leader as the official designated paper for the county in Sioux Falls. State law really doesn’t give them much of a choice on the matter, but it was a good protest vote. Barth has been critical of the paper for not covering county business very well. While I will agree to some extent, I will say it again, the meetings are at a very bad time, they need to be moved to after 5 PM.
UPDATE: I’m awaiting to see the actual meeting (apparently it takes two days, again, to see the video) but I guess Barth also chastised the city for not telling the county about the asbestos dumping since the county gives permission to the city to use the landfill.
If they are going to play partisan politics, they could at least call him the “Minority Leader.”
But regardless of title, have you ever noticed that the press tends to reach out to Jeff more than the other commissioners? (What? Karsky is a commissioner?) Jeff’s relationship with the press is further proof that it is the person and not the title, which equates to real power and credibility..
Because unlike the rest of the secretive commission, Jeff believes in open government instead of appointing developer’s wives in secret.