South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Elections

Elections Event Center Sioux Falls

Sue Roust to be considered for interim city clerk but the SF YPN doesn’t really need her, they are taking this election on the road

l3wis 14Comments

Looks like the former county auditor may be pulled out of retirement (Image: KELO-TV)

Item # 26

A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE APPOINTMENT OF SUE ROUST AS INTERIM CITY CLERK EFFECTIVE UPON PASSAGE AND PUBLICATION.

WHEREAS, Section 2.08 of the Charter of the City of Sioux Falls authorizes the City Council to appoint an officer of the City who shall have the title of Interim City Clerk;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD: That it approves the following City Council appointment:

Sue Roust, Interim City Clerk

Pursuant to SDCL 9-19-13, this Resolution is made in support of the municipal government and its existing public institutions, and shall become effective upon passage and publication.

This is sort of a relief. Sue is an excellent candidate to fill in as city clerk.

The first thing I would like Sue to check out (if she gets appointed) is these recommendations by the YPN (Young Professionals Network/a division of the SF Chamber) Steering committee;

While I think it should be easier to vote, I don’t think this should become a road show. Having 41 extra days to vote at the county courthouse before the election, is plenty of time. Besides, they are young professionals, with their carefree lifestyles, don’t they have time to cruise over in their Range Rovers to the courthouse and vote? Heck, most of them even work downtown. Here is a copy of the entire email: ypnsc

Dr. Kermit Staggers wrote a wonderful piece about Owen yesterday;

While power politics prevailed in this case, ultimately the integrity and courage of Owen won out. When given the final option of resigning or being fired, she refused to resign. After all, she had done nothing wrong. We need more people of integrity and class in city government such as Debra Owen, not fewer.

I would have to agree.

Election 2010 Elections

Congrats to Angie Buhl!

l3wis 22Comments

A blogger finally made it to the state house;

There is no Republican on the ballot, which made Tuesday’s primary an all-or-nothing battle. Buhl will be the state’s youngest senator.

“Hard work really pays off,” Buhl said after taking 59 percent of the vote.

And it probably didn’t hurt that she spent $56 per vote.

Buhl was a strong fundraiser, too. She accepted $20,666 through May, mostly from political action committees, while Miles had about half as much money to work with.

In other election news, I was disappointed to see Litz get the Republican nomination for County Auditor;

As it stood Tuesday night, Litz received 4,500 votes, or 43 percent, compared to LaFollette’s 4,322, or 42 percent, and Mark Stevak’s 1,584.

Hopefully the Dems get behind Sue Nipe so we can keep Litz out of the auditor’s office. I think it is disingenuine of him to be running for another office while serving as a councilor. He should step down from the City Council while running for auditor, a county, not city position.

I was also surprised by Doogard kicking ass and taking names, and Munsterman coming in 2nd place. Howie’s second to last finish didn’t surprise me one bit. The Noem victory was no surprise at all, I actually predicted she would take 40% of the vote, and I was close. Steffy better be worried, Noem just isn’t a pretty face, she is smart businesswomen.

See all the state’s results here.

Elections

Brown wins and American voters continue the stupid F**king cycle

l3wis 14Comments

t1main.scott.brown.victory.cnn

Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) — Republican Scott Brown won a major upset victory in Tuesday’s special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

With 89 percent of the results counted, Brown had 52 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate, according to the the National Election Pool, a consortium of media organizations including CNN. Independent candidate Joseph Kennedy, a libertarian who is not related to the Kennedy political family of Massachusetts, had 1 percent.

I’m wondering when American voters are gonna wake up and realize the solution to our problems in this country do not lie in the hands of Republican or Democratic politicians. We aren’t happy with the Republicans so we elect a Democrat, we aren’t happy with the Democrats so we elect a Republican. Enough already, both parties are cut from the same cloth, they take special interest money from lobbyists and defend the special interests, they don’t care about you. It’s time that American voters started registering Indy and started electing Indy candidates. Fuck the two party system, it’s broken. Start electing people based on their values not on their political affiliation.

Elections SF City Council SF School District Sioux Falls

Making school board and municipal elections easier and more affordable to voters is a no-brainer

l3wis 0Comments

Why has this idea taken so long to take off?

Business Manager Todd Vik said a proposed change in state law would let the district scrap precincts in favor of 10 or so voting centers, each of which would be open to all eligible voters. Networked electronic voting books at each polling place would ensure no one votes twice.

I have often wondered why we haven’t done all elections in the city like this? I know for a fact that city clerk Debra Owen has always pushed to make city elections more accessible and I think this is the time to implement such a program. There are many benefits to; you can still keep the paper ballot and you save money by having fewer precincts and you encourage voting. I have often been an advocate of holding elections on Saturdays and Sundays (A Bob Dole idea) but since that may never happen I think this is a great solution. I have often felt that the city fathers prefer making elections complicated that way fewer voters turnout to the polls, which benefits them. Remember, Mayor Munson was elected by fewer then 9% of Sioux Falls residents. Is that even democratic?

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