I believe Mayor Huether instituted this EO after certain city employees were letting citizens and journalists in on stuff the mayor was trying to cover up.
There is a difference between keeping confidential documents secure and keeping important public information away from citizens.
All this EO does is intimidate city employees so they don’t whistle blow.
I tell public employees if you see something corrupt the city government is doing you need to report it. I think public employees have a duty to report corruption.
Scott, this is a great one, this is an executive order both you and I have commented on in the past. I dont know, I could be wrong, but I would assume this policy derived from implemented policies of the Humen Resources Department, asking, or urging the Mayor’s Office to enforce stronger, the separation of powers, keeping the city Beaucuracy from speaking directly to the people and their representatives. Keep in mind, this inner-beaucuracy of government includes the City Departments ran by Appointed Choices, Offices led by city managers, Agencies, led by selected officers propped by committees, those Non-Profit Corporate Partners created by the governing board, chosen from a group of landowners, property holders, businesses within the community. The “Charter” born in 1994, had established this separated powers of local government, it now has led to this over-abundance of power inside our city government. They begin to feel they are above the people, and their decisions are the correct pathway. But if the governing board is unwilling to utilize its full powers, Section 2.09, noting will change. One of the reasons I oppose a City Manager, is the fact, it will not change anything. It just adds to the Beaucuracy itself, giving to it a nother long term, self-appointed acting ruler over the people. The people need to rise up, organize, and create an “outside committee of people” that can best stand as one, to hold the government accountable, especially if the elected governing board refuses to do so. Oops, we got this under the County – we call them County Precinct Committeemen and Women, each Political Party, Democrat and Republican has 1 man and 1 woman elected to represent the voters in their precicnt. In Sioux Falls, there are roughly 30 precincts, 60 men and women to whom could ‘act’ as the official representativs to hold “outside” meetings, to discuss initiatives, resolutions, and policies, to direct the city government forward. IF we were organized, and could hold Joint Meetings of republicabns and democrats, we could petition very easily.
This needs to be changed. City employees need to be able to share the details about how awful the culture is and how poorly some staff are treated