This is in two parts, Cameraman Bruce is experimenting with Livestream. First part is US House Candidate Tim Bjorkman talking about crime, second part is Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead and Assistant Sheriff, Michelle Boyd.
“I have never seen anything like this in City Government†former Sioux Falls City Attorney Janet Brekke said Friday. “I am very concerned about the culture of secrecy which currently prevails in City government.â€
While on the campaign trail Brekke has heard numerous complaints by citizens regarding the inability to get public information out of City Hall, as well as allegations of doctoring or tampering with documents.
“As a former City Attorney, I am aware of procedures that were put in place when this government was implemented that were designed to hold government officials accountable for their actions and to leave a paper tail of official actions†said Janet Brekke. “I have researched these procedures and will share my findings publicly on Monday, April 2, 2018 at the Downtown Public Library at 10:00 a.m.
In preparation for running for City Council Janet Brekke interviewed each of the current City Council members and City Directors. To prepare, she returned to consistently attending City Council meetings October, 2017. Brekke was City Attorney under five Sioux Falls mayors, beginning with Rick Knobe.
Brekke adds “In addition I have observed City Council members complaining of having incomplete information before being required to make major decisions. This must be corrected.â€
Brekke will answer questions presented by the attendees and will be available following the press conference for interviews.
My bad, I thought that was the responsibility of the City Clerk, but it seems these days nobody knows exactly what he is responsible for. Maybe he is working on getting his city clerk certification like his two assistants have (that get paid less than him)?
Starr and Stehly were going to present a resolution on Tuesday that would request the release of the Falls Park Safety Audit, but since the report was released (was it really?) the resolution would be moot. City Attorney Leonard points this out in an email to the council.
But yesterday on Belfrage’s show, Starr has the idea to essentially change the resolution to require the administration release all or any such reports in the future as they come available. Essentially ‘Hog Housing’ a city council resolution and changing it to apply to future issues of transparency. I have been arguing for a couple of weeks the transparency issues between city hall and the council could be fixed with some ordinance changes by the council requiring the Mayor’s office to release all information to them either in the open or confidentially in executive session.
After a long diatribe about why they can’t do this, Leonard says this;
In the City council’s policies and procedures manual, the city council adopted by Resolution requires that the city council will follow the executive order on the Agenda Approval form.  Further, all legislation must be signed off as to form and legality by my office.
While I agree they should use the city attorney to check the legality of a resolution, ordinance or policy before voting on it, what if they chose to use outside counsel? If that is the case, they wouldn’t need Leonard’s agenda approval for anything. I wonder if the city council must also get permission from the administration before wiping their arses at Carnegie?
Greg asked the Ethics Commission yesterday if it would be okay for him to be approved as a LYFT driver as a sitting city councilor. He has been approved already but has no intention of working for them, he did it for research purposes. The EC found it to be no conflict of interest.
I had a thought to myself while listening to the radio this morning on the way to work. In reference to the drunk driver who mowed down a light post and fire hydrant yesterday going 100 MPH. Communications officer Sam Clemens said that the damage to the hydrant and light post was a combined total of around $11K.
Ever notice when similar incidents occur, the SFPD always has a dollar amount of damages right away (which is fine) but for some strange reason safety audits, golf contracts and siding settlements must remain secret. Or the information isn’t available.
I guess when it is criminals costing tax payers money transparency is of upmost importance, but when it is elected officials, like our mayor costing us money, it’s a secret.
Food for thought.
l3wis