UPDATE on Unresponsive Bidders
l3wis On the Sioux Falls City Council agenda, Item#2 for Tuesday’s meeting has more details on what disqualifies bidders. Here is the full Doc;Â BID-Dis
I highlighted the items that ‘could’ apply to Legacy and Hultgren;
2018
Kenny Anderson Jr. Endorses Loetscher
I was at Dem Forum today when Kenny endorsed Jo. Sorry we didn’t Livestream the event, I guess it was a record attendance;
Today, Loetscher received the endorsement from one of the other candidates. Kenny Anderson Jr. announced his support for Loetscher at the VFW in Sioux Falls.
“It’s just an incredible moment for us to know that Kenny has served this city so tremendously, and his whole family has. And for him to say that he stands behind our vision and our belief, really means a lot to us,†says Loetscher.
Anderson says he could have sat back and watched the runoff play out, but he says the decision to endorse Loetscher was easy for him.
“I feel that Jolene will have that open ear, to all people of our city, not just one segment, and that was a real deciding factor for me,†says Anderson.
Thank you for running Kenny and thank you for your service.
Is the ‘Council Curse’ Real?
Some are starting to wonder if the ‘council curse’ when it comes to mayoral elections really does exist.
I had a brief conversation with a city director before the Wednesday council meeting, we talked about the election. They brought up the ‘council curse’ and how it knocked out a lot of great candidates like Greg, Kenny and Jim and others over the years including Vernon Brown, Darrin Smith, Kermit Staggers, Pat Costello, etc.
One of the reasons I felt Stehly wouldn’t win a mayoral race is because of the ‘council curse’.
So why does this keep happening? One reason is because many people want ‘new beginnings’ with a new mayor, and not a lot of people from the old guard. I also think voters like people who are NOT from government. I get this a little, but I would like a mayor to have ‘some kind’ of government experience. Both Paul and Jo do have some experience. Probably Jo more than Paul. While Paul has helped with many successful campaigns in the past, it doesn’t hurt to be on the winning team to begin with (Republicans). Besides pushing for Jolene’s Law, Jo has also been involved with school district issues.
There has also been a ‘turnover’ of voters since the last mayoral election. Some longtime reliable voters have dropped off, and with our massive population growth, there was probably at least 4,000 new voters. The drawback of the new voters is that they tend to NOT have any historical background of city business.
A great example of this is when people talk about transparency, as if it just reared it’s head a year ago. This has been going on since Munson was mayor, and Huether perfected it. Huether even made it a campaign issue during his first term run in 2010, he vowed to be the ‘most transparent mayor ever’. Yeah, we jest now.
So who do I blame for voters getting caught up with emotion instead of policy when they vote? The candidates are somewhat to blame, but our local news media is not very good at covering the ‘controversies’. Before Lalley’s show, there was virtually no local radio station really talking about the real issues with city government. Belfrage throws softballs at the mayor, and when he talks about the meetings, it is pretty obvious he didn’t watch them himself. Our TV stations try to steer away from controversy especially when it may involve their major sponsors. While our local newspaper does a good job going a little more in depth, their readership is not so great.
We also have to share a little blame with the city for not promoting the election that well, and that blame should also lie with our local service organizations like Rotary, Chamber, etc.
Maybe the runoff will all surprise us. But either way, the next mayor won’t be a former city councilor . . . not that there is anything wrong with that.
Jolene Loetscher on Lalley Show, REPLAY
Jolene talks about her differences with Paul. LISTEN HERE. (FF: 32:00)
Traffic shutdown after mayoral candidate tells a joke
Traffic outside of a popular retirement home in Sioux Falls was shutdown for a couple of hours so emergency personnel could attend to residents mostly for light heads and shortness of breath.
The incident happened after mayoral candidate Paul TenHens told his first stump speech joke of the campaign season.
Many residents can’t recall if the quip was funny, because they were so taken back with his sudden sense of humor.
Resident Annie Mae was totally shocked, “He was in full campaign mode, talking about crime, leadership and roads, than all of sudden he partially grins, puts out a soft kitten like snort, and says something that seemed like a joke. The entire crowd gasped. Even old nappy time Morty woke up.”
Since most residents were still being attended to when I showed up on the scene it was hard to find someone who could actually tell me what the joke was.
A staffer who didn’t want their name used told me, “It was something about taking the door off the mayor’s office to use at a new skatepark. It was confusing because it started out with a line about a Priest, a Rabbi and a city director at Monk’s bar at 4 PM on a Friday afternoon.”
We tried to reach out to the TenHens campaign for comment, and they released this statement, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents and we are thankful there was no serious injuries. We want to apologize for such a good Christian like Paul to attempt to tell a joke. Campaign staff has been counseling him since the incident and reminding him to always be serious and never show comedic emotion.”
On a positive note, maybe TenHens supports the new skatepark, city hall transparency and city employees drinking beer? I just hope he stops reading Dr. Allen Unruh’s clean joke books. Any casualties at our local retirement homes could totally kill his chances of being mayor.