South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Bob Litz

Bob Litz County Commission Elections Minnehaha County Sioux Falls

Still issues with voting

l3wis 6Comments

As I have pointed out several times after the municipal election and the run up to it, there were many issues with voting.

Besides the musical polling places every time there is an election, there are still problems with registration.

Last Friday someone told me that him and his wife recently moved into a new home and checked their voter registration to make sure it would be current. They are supposed to be registered in District 11, but were told they were in District 9 and voting at MariCar. This person pointed the problem out to Bob Litz and nothing was really done about it except they were told to still vote in District 9.

Last night they checked online, and they were still listed in District 9. So they went to vote at 7:30am this morning.  Fortunately, all the precinct workers knew him because his name (and his wife’s) was not listed on the voting roster!

They called the Auditor’s office to confirm that he was registered, but couldn’t explain the omission.  He had to fill out an Emergency Voting Card in order to vote.  He told me he felt sorry for the precinct workers as all the power – except lights – was shut off in there … no AC and the clock was stuck on 11:10.  He shared his story at public input this morning at the county commission meeting. (The video is not up yet, but I hear the CC was not to happy).

My conclusion all along after the municipal election fiasco is that heads need to roll on these mishaps, saying an election went ‘smoothly’ when it was an absolute disaster is just sugar coating the problem. We’ll see how things go tonight. Let’s just say, if Bosworth wins the Republican Senate ticket spot, we know something isn’t working correctly in the auditor’s office.

Bob Litz County Commission

County Auditor Litz has a challenger

l3wis 7Comments

Tony

Tony Bartholomaus to Seek Minnehaha County Auditor Position

Sioux Falls, South Dakota—

On May 28th, 2014 Tony Bartholomaus announced his candidacy for Minnehaha County Auditor. Bartholomaus, 37, is married  and the father of two with his wife Ashley. He is employed as a personal banker in Sioux Falls. Bartholomaus, a Democrat, is a newcomer to politics.

“In light of recent miscues by the current Auditor I feel it is time to introduce myself to the voters and let them know they will have a choice when they vote for Auditor in November.”

“I get a great deal of pleasure in my current work helping my clients achieve financial success and stability. My current position requires attention to detail, financial expertise, a strong work ethic, a team effort  and, sometimes, long hours. I want to bring these same qualities of competence and hard work to the office of Minnehaha County Auditor and provide  the people of Minnehaha County the leadership the office needs..

“Unfortunately, the confidence the Auditor;s office enjoyed in the past has suffered under its current leadership . Recent ballot errors and election mistakes have been well documented in the press and at County Commission meetings.The Auditor’s office has a hardworking staff. And, just like the citizens they serve, they deserve the support and leadership of a competent Auditor  That is why I offer myself to the citizens of Minnehaha County as a choice… the right choice for Auditor this November.” said Bartholomaus.

“I do not enter this race naively,” said Bartholomuas. “The current Auditor has long political experience as a Democrat and as a Republican in Minnehaha County and it is never easy to defeat an incumbent. But I promise to work as hard as I can and to demonstrate by doing, my message of “restoring the tradition of hard work and competence” to the office of Minnehaha Auditor. I invite all Minnehaha County residents, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to join me in this effort.”

Bob Litz Minnehaha County

How has Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz’s attendance been?

l3wis 5Comments

bobby

I can’t speak for Mr. Litz, because I don’t work in the county administration office. But several people who do, say that they don’t see much ‘office time’ by Mr. Litz. There are plans for the auditor’s office to hire another employee. I can’t find the specifics of that position, but I was told that it was a ‘finance’ manager.

Now, I am not going to rail on Litz about perfect attendance, because I don’t know all the details (but if someone does, please forward it to me) but I would like to give some advice;

1) When you are you are an elected official who manages a very important department for the county, my advice would to at least put in 40 hours a week in that office. With the long lines in the department across the hall from you, can you imagine if our county treasurer didn’t show up very often? You would have a VERY irate public.

2) Why are we considering hiring another manager for the auditor’s office when we can’t get it’s head honcho to show up?

If his attendance is an issue, Mr. Litz needs to realize that this isn’t like his private business, he works for the taxpayers now. Show up. Work. Thank You.

I would also like to give a H/T to the county for posting their meeting videos online. Not sure how long they have been doing this, but I have been doing catchup. The videos are a little grainy, but the audio is perfect, and unlike SIRE, when you push play, the meeting starts immediately. BRAVO!

Bob Litz Minnehaha County

County Commission pulls a fast one on Auditor Bob Litz

l3wis 3Comments

As we just discussed in June, county auditor, Bob Litz (was doing his job) by shopping around for better interest rates on county bonds. Since Dougherty has pretty much a monopoly on bonds, not only in the county, but the city and state, it was wise for Bob to do some shopping around. But it seems, according to a story in the AL today, the CC (or should we say Dougherty) decided to vote on a bond consultant while Litz was out of town. Only ONE commissioner, Pekas, questioned what the hurry was to vote on this.

I have a feeling this had NOTHING to do with a ‘rush’ to get it done, or getting the ‘best deal’. This had to do with Litz being out of town and Dougherty continuing their monopoly on bonds in this state.

Can’t wait to hear Litz’s reaction when he returns to Dodge.

Bob Litz

South DaCola ‘Thumbs Up’ to County Auditor Bob Litz

l3wis 9Comments

Thought I would never say that? Huh? Bob is my new hero for getting a second opinion about the monopoly Dougherty and Company seem to have on bonds, not only in our county and city, but also for our state;

While Litz’s approach of basically shopping around the county’s business is a bit unusual, he made a point when he said his job is to be responsible for the taxpayer.

Unusual, HE IS THE COUNTY AUDITOR! It is his job to make sure the county, and ultimately the taxpayers are not getting ripped off. But of course, this is coming from an ED board that has it’s heads so far up the elite’s asses in this town, it is not even funny anymore.

The bigger question here my be, “Has Dougherty been giving taxpayers a fair shake all along on bond sales?” Remember, Dougherty gets a COMMISSION on bond sales, not a flat fee. Think about that one.

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