I’m not sure how many of the people on this council are Republican, but I can count quite a few;
- Jason Ball, president and CEO of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, will serve a one-year term as Chair (?)
- Andy Patterson, President, Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation (Vice Chair) (?)
- Cindy Heiberger, Commissioner, Minnehaha County (REP)
- Jim Schmidt, Commissioner, Lincoln County (REP)
- Robin J. Houwman, Presiding Judge, Second Judicial Circuit, Unified Judicial System (?)
- Mike Milstead, Sheriff, Minnehaha County (REP)
- Steve Swenson, Sheriff, Lincoln County (REP)
- Paul TenHaken, Mayor, City of Sioux Falls (REP)
- TBD, School Board Member, Sioux Falls Public School District
- David Flicek, Administration, Avera McKennan (?)
- TBD, Administration, Sanford Health
- TBD, Council member, Sioux Falls City Council
- TBD, Community member
When I think of a ‘Leadership Council’ I think of people from all political stripes. It will be interesting to see who fills the open seats. I know of only ONE Democrat on the School Board (after Alberty leaves, and that is Kate Parker. On the city council it is only Pat Starr, who would make a great addition to the council). The reason this concerns me is that when such a large group of mostly Republican ‘leaders’ get together, it usually is about the bottom line first;
“Minnehaha County is excited to expand upon existing relationships in building a collaboration that will engage both public and private sectors,†Heiberger said.
I anticipate to see strong partnerships, but I also expect to see these ‘private’ partnerships watching out for their business interests first. I suspect them to sacrifice very little while the taxpayers pick up the tab.
The Council will begin regular, quarterly meetings this fall.
It will also be interesting to see if the council meets in public, or the forum they decide on to meet in public. Â
Even some “Democrats” are Republicans, too. We have Democratic leaders that brag about voting for Republicans. We have Democratic leaders who promote anti-choice, pro-gun positions, and also give the impression that you have to be a Christian to run for office. We even have Democratic leaders who are currently trying toget Republicans to run as “Democrats,” in order to win (I know that for a fact).
What does it mean to be a Democrat now? Hell, our Democratic leaders can’t even run a real McGovern Day Dinner any more. Democrats have become a minor league field team for Republicans. Democrats don’t accomplish anything in this state other than to work with moderate Repubicans to put out fires started by the whacko division of the South Dakota GOP. Democrats no longer talk about tax equity or wages. Instead, they just talk about a Republican concept like “workforce development” or how we need to stop bathroom bills.
They do like to talk about pre-K education, however, which is a good thing, but if the parents aren’t making the wage and they are reqressively being taxed, such an issue only appeases the education crowd without addressing the across the board needs of the average South Dakotan.
In 2018, Democrats put on the ticket someone who is associated with the Downtown Rotary Club, yet Democrats claim they are then going to work for the average man and woman in this town and state…What? #GiveMeABreak…#WhoAreTheDemocraticLeaders?
Oh, and you know what they say:
https://images.kdlt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-25-at-5.05.48-PM-1024×569.png
So based on this logic, Democrats should have all supported Bush41 in ’88 and ’92 because of his thorough resume… Well, that is if you can forget about the Gulf
War, which was a precursor to the continual war, that he flipped on abortion during his political career, vetoed the Family Leave Act, and called Reaganomics “Voodoo Economics,” only to then enable it for eight years, but to then go against it, when he raised taxes as president (“Read my lips….”).
The fact is, that we don’t have any Democratic leaders in this state right now. What we have are single issue Democrats, who are not full service Democrats, and some who are only registered Democrats because they get to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond as Dems as opposed to the potential, but harsher, reality of finding, or seeking, their own political identity and success in a much bigger GOP camp.
You forgot to mention Sam and Ann also left the party with $47K in unpaid bills.
That’s a good point, l3wis. Let’s hope that’s just an accounting thing concerning receipts in versus payments out, however. But my guess is the McGovern Day debacle probably didn’t sell the tickets it was suppose to regardless and it will be interesting to see how that all shakes out….. But at least they’re unionized now so they will have plenty of time to figure this out without worrying about getting unjustly fired…..I don’t know about you, but I have always associated unions with a quality product, haven’t you all?