 
This is a guest post by Sioux Falls City Councilor, Theresa Stehly;
Now that we have voted for two new City Council members, there is one more election happening at the next May 15 City Council meeting. This is the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Council. These positions are very important for the public, because these people have the ability to empower or thwart the Council’s representation for the citizens. They have historically received inside information that all City Council members are not privy too. As a City Council member, I feel that this practice does not serve our citizens well and hinders transparency.
Here are the top 10 questions that need to be addressed from potential candidates:
- What are your plans to get all the council members and the public information in a timely manner?
- How will you communicate this written information with the council and the public?
- How do you plan to bring more transparency into the process?
- How will you empower the council to better serve the public?
- How will you handle committee assignments and the appointments of committee chairs? Will you be willing to step down from a committee chair if elected to the leadership position and allow someone else the opportunity to chair a committee?
- How will you handle requests from Council members to get an issue on the agenda?
- What is your commitment to defending our rights as Council members to speak to the media, the department heads and the public?
- What is your commitment to responding to the public and preserving public input?
- What is your commitment to treating each Council member and the public with respect and defending their right to speak at Council meetings?
- How do you plan to heal the fractured relationship within the City Council?
I invite the public to tune into the City Council meetings on CityLink channel 16 at 7:00 PMÂ on Tuesdays. Informational meetings are held at 4:00 PM on Tuesdays also. Â View the meetings at Siouxfalls.org. I am hoping for a new era of respect, transparency and citizen representation in our government.
Theresa Stehly
At Large City Council Member
Don’t forget to catch our meeting uploads on our YouTube channel, http://www.siouxfall.org.
The City of Sioux Falls can’t seem to figure out how to put the videos up in a format able to be seen by anyone with a more modern PC computer or MAC.
Actually, does the Council “leadership” really want the public to see what they are doing?
For more information on city meetings, try our http://www.sfmeetings.org to research and view any recorded meeting since 2006.