Greg will announce next week.
he said the driving force behind his move to run comes from a change he wants to see “in the culture at city hall.â€
A culture of dictatorship like secrecy that started with Munson and only has gotten worse under Huether.
I’ve known about Greg’s run for awhile. Ironically the same day Greg told me he was running an insider with close ties to SF Republicans told me within an hour of my conversation with Greg. Funny how those things work. Greg has also been ‘exploring’ the idea for well over a year. He shares the same frustration some others have on the council with the way Huether’s administration treats the council and essentially leaving them out of major decisions. The secrecy ending in city hall will be the first step to cleaning up our form of government in Sioux Falls. Not everything about the Home Rule charter is bad, but when you use city ordinances to harass citizens, keep them in the dark while providing benefits to the special interests, you are undermining everything a democracy is about. We have enough of that crap going on in Pierre and DC, we don’t need it in SF.
I wish Jamison much luck and hope to see some other big hitters get in the game, like Steve Hildebrand. I know that it was essential for Greg to get a support mechanism around him before announcing, and I think he has a good one in place. It’s going to be a contentious race and hard to beat a popular incumbent like Huether. It will also be fun to watch if Huether campaigns while he is supposed to be mayoring. Remember, when MMM ran the first time around, he was campaigning full time. He won’t have that luxury this time around, but he will probably campaign like he did with the EC, making it appear as if he is ‘informing’ the voters.
I also heard about a potential challenger to Michelle Erpenbach in the council race, and let’s just say she will have her hands full if this person decides to run against her.
DL: “It’s going to be a contentious race and hard to beat a popular incumbent like Huether.”
That much is true. I wish Councilor Jamison the best of luck as he is a level headed leader with the balanced mentality we need in city hall, but it is hard to complete with taxpayer funded photo ops and press releases all of which make Sioux Falls sound like the economic of the Midwest.
BOOM TOWN am i right?
I wonder if MMM saved that “BOOM” banner from the top of the Zip Feed Mill… he might need that.
DL: “It will also be fun to watch if Huether campaigns while he is supposed to be mayoring.”
Wait… you mean what he is doing now is actually called mayoring? (I’m really not sure mayoring is a word… but let’s go with it).
Honestly I don’t think the man has ever shut off campaign mode… he just dialed down from “Rove” levels for a year or so before slowly ramping them back up. Mark my words… there will be at least a few appearances of ‘Crying Man Mike Heuther’ before the votes are cast, and there are bound to be several press conferences bragging about the new companies building or expanding in Sioux Falls.
Remember DL… Sioux Falls get’s $&@# done!
Can I get a “Operation: Timber Strike” whoop whoop?
This is all good news. It’s become time to focus on citizens and abandon Home Rule. It’s not democracy when one man has all the power. I worry that Huether will escape federal public funds fraud charges if he’s not in office. I also worry a new honest mayor cannot correct for Munson & Huether follies. Jamison & Hildebrand are good men. It will be impossible to fix this mess and maybe the best recourse will be a bankruptcy to eliminate bond debt & escape lucrative city employee retirement obligations.
You like the word Mayoring-just call it another Huetherism.
BTW, when I was flying back to SF last night I was sitting with a salesman from Fayetteville, NC. He has to come to SF about 12 times a year. He said to me, “WTF is there to do in that town besides eat and drink? That’s the thing that SF lacks, culture.
You like the word Mayoring-just call it another Huetherism.
BTW, when I was flying back to SF last night I was sitting with a salesman from Fayetteville, NC. He has to come to SF about 12 times a year. He said to me, “WTF is there to do in that town besides eat and drink? That’s the thing that SF lacks, culture.
If Hildebrand enters the race, Huether will most likely run second to Jamison with a run-off necessary. This a course is assuming that there will be no other candidates.
However, if it was merely a Huether/Jamison race, which I seriously doubt will happen, then it becomes a race with two major questions: 1) The Costello voter in the SE part of town, which backed Huether in the 2010 run-off, how much of that support can Jamison grab from Huether and how does the Walmart controversy play into it. 2) The Stagger voter in the inter-city, mainly Republicans or “Janklow Democrats,” how will their numbers fall? Will they be upset with all of Huether’s projects and expenditures or have a significant number been appeased with his hands-on penny-pinching reviews of the budget, perhaps his spending negates this, but his successful tree removal program also enters the fray to his favor with the inter-city vote.
But all of this speculation assumes that Huether can be beat. Anyone can potentially be beat, but the Events Center completion coming in 2014, the “Boom Town” comments, the successful recovery from the 2010 flooding and sewage issues, and the successful and timely 2013 ice storm recovery, could easily be framed as “Morning in Sioux Falls” for Huether Team in 2014, which would guarantee more or less a lock on the eventual outcome.
Most citizens will be voting economic growth, progress, sewage, and trees. They tend to stay out of the discussion about a true democratic process unfortunately…. we saw this before with “Wild Bill.”
Winston’s last statement is (unfortunately) true. Citizens gave up their due process right without realizing it. When they challenge the city over something they’ll wonder why they can’t be heard and why other citizens are not concerned. I’m an expatriot who votes and voices agsinst city government. I live inside city limits because (for health reasons) I must be near the VA hospital. I’d live elsewhere if I could. City corruption is evident and I realize there’ll be no return to a time before Munson. Prove me wrong. I wekcome your action. Mine hasn’t worked.
Jamison should run. Someone must make a last stand to restore democracy. I doubt Sanford/Lloyd/Dunham control can be overcome. I hope if/when he loses, he’ll stay in politics but not within this city. It would be a good time to move somewhere in Lincoln County. I see him later as a governor or senator. The nazi plague from Sioux Falls is entrenched but cannot grow. He’s better off doing business in Sioux Falls but living in the free state outside city limits.
MMM is going to be awfully hard to beat, and I’d say the only way he isn’t in office another term is if he decides to run for some other office. I’d love to see Erpie get it handed to her though. While she started out good, she’s turned into a complete rubber stamp for the Mayors Office
DL: Did you tell him that SF is going to be building a new PUBLIC INDOOR pool at Spellerberg that he could enjoy (even in the winter)? BTW, Jamison supports PUBLIC INDOOR pools doesn’t he?
Michelle Erpenbach reminds me of former Councilor De Knudson. There is NO project involving TAX DOLLARS she does NOT like……
She simply rubber-stamps everything the current Administration requests. I watched her do this for years as a Park Board member and she’s done the same for the past four years as a Councilor.
I hope whoever is going to challenge her is a strong candidate. It is time for the Central District to have a different representative for this important position!!
This topic came up at an impromptu get together in my neighborhood last night on the west side of town. There were 4 couples there and of the 8 people present, 5 said they were Jamison supporters, one was undecided, one wished Staggers would run again and the last one was a friend’s wife who supports Huether, but has been extremely unhappy with the how he has handled the events center (thinks it should have been downtown) and the Walmart issue (agrees with the residents of 85th & Minnesota that it should be moved further away from people’s homes). Going to be an interesting race, but I haven’t made up my mind yet.
“BTW, Jamison supports PUBLIC INDOOR pools doesn’t he?”
I believe the last convo I had with him on that topic was he would like to see it at the Sanford Sports Complex and for the swim teams to have a little skin in the game, but don’t quote me on that.
I heard about a potential challenger to Erpenbach a couple of weeks ago, but I don’t want to say anything until they decide to run. Let’s just say that this person would really put her feet to the fire.
No doubt that Greg has a tough road ahead of him, but I think with the support of his father, and hopefully councilor Staggers to help him campaign and the fact that many of the SF Republicans who supported Costello, Pederson, Staggers and Brown get on the bandwagon to help. I do know that there is a ton of tension between Costello’s ED office and Darrin Smith’s CD office. This really needs to come out in the campaign. I know that Denny has been pretty quiet about it, but I think it’s time some of this starts getting leaked to the public about the arrogance of MMM’s economic development plans and how he continues to create a pissing match with the governor’s office. I won’t credit Denny for much, but will say, he stays pretty humble about bringing business to SD and SF, while MMM builds a 20 Ft tall soap box and screams thru a loud speaker anytime someone opens a barbershop or dogwalking business in this town, and wants to take credit for it. If there is one angle Greg will have on MMM, it is modesty, because MMM wouldn’t know that if it hit him with a battleship.
As for the twitter account excuse, I think Dakota War College is the one that let the cat out of the bag. I think Greg thinks he is announcing too early, but I think he should have announced a long time ago.
I’m thinking a political ads truck with changing digital billboards. Like they have for escort services in Vegas. Phillips, Minnesota, & 41st runs. Drive-by’s past city hall will be fun.
Pathloss, you might be on to something here, because politics has always been known as the second oldest profession…