I have been blogging about this city government for over 15 years, I may not be an expert on all it’s ins and outs, but I have watched its deterioration from an open government.
I used to think the Munson administration was bad, but he was a light weight in comparison to the last two mayors who have destroyed any shred of transparency and open government.
This is why voting for the ‘Democracy’ candidates for council is important, Janet Brekke, Emmett Reistroffer, Cody Ingle and Pam Cole.
We need to bring openness back and shine a light, we also need to put the mayor back at city hall to run the day to day operations and keep out of the council’s policy objectives. This isn’t an ask, this is how the charter is written. The mayor runs the city by directing its employees to implement the policies the council adopts. I have argued for a long time the past two mayors have been violating charter over and over again, and the rubber stamp council has been derelict in their duties of writing good policy and controlling the purse strings.
If we don’t elect at least 3 of these candidates you will see a downward spiral to darkness and we will never be able to crawl out of that hole.
What would happen;
• Government action will be done in complete silence.
• The mayor will introduce all policy and his hand picked rubber stamp puppets will implement it.
• Taxes and fees will skyrocket to keep up with the reckless spending on special interest projects.
• Crime will go thru the roof.
• The core neighborhoods will crumble to dust.
I know this sounds dire, but we are already moving in these directions and it needs to be stopped. While a 4/4 council might not be able to stop all bad legislation (The mayor can still break ties and veto) it will at least be slowed and hopefully we can turn this around.
What does mean to elect the ‘Democracy’ candidates?
• More open and transparent government (which saves us millions).
• More interaction with the citizenry to shape policy.
• Building density and cleaning up our core neighborhoods.
• Fiscal responsibility and holding the line on handouts to wealthy developers, banksters and bondsters.
• A strategic plan for the city written by the council with interaction from the citizens.
• Creative ways to build affordable and workforce housing.
• Safer streets and neighborhoods.
• A modern, safe and practical bike trail.
• More opportunities for small businesses.
I am not asking you to vote for the ‘Democracy’ candidates, I’m BEGGING YOU!
After Tuesday, if we don’t elect these 4 candidates, we can’t go in reverse, and I am afraid Sioux Falls will never be the same.