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Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Ethics

Ethics SF City Council Sioux Falls

“Oh Bullsh*t”

l3wis 1Comments

Bruce got kicked out of the Board of Ethics meeting on December 22, 2017 he caused to happen. Why? This is what we always ask when secrecy is more important than the truth.

We all learned Sioux Falls city government based on secrecy enforced by the strong mayor form of rule.

There was a recusal problem leading up to the November 7, 2017 Sioux falls City Council meeting. Bruce asked several people that night why the recusal, then restudied the exhibits, talked with local media (to put it in context) and figured out a councilor did a boo-boo.

So what else could Bruce do but file an ethics complaint? Yup, another one was filed a couple of weeks after the fact on November 30, 2017 with the City Attorney’s office, for a review by the Board of Ethics. (there had been a deferral, later dropped by the developers)

This video is the result of the filing. The offending (in many other ways too) Councilor decided to keep she/he/it identity secret from the public. A “problem” now, before the filing, Bruce discussed the issue with many people, so it became an “open secret”. How can something publicly researched be made un-public? Like putting a genie back in the bottle, it can’t happen. Smart people can put two and two together and figure out what is happening if they want to know.

Add to the Friday board hearing fun, the accused in question decided to personally reveal to a local watchdog reporter who happen to be waiting patiently for the verdict. The Councilor’s “bullsh*t” comment was the confirmation.  Like other Sioux Falls executive sessions Bruce has helped to reveal over the past few years, it’s easy to figure out what is going on by paying attention, then watch who goes in and out of the room.

This same councilor has repeatedly made promises of ethics investigations when other members didn’t do as commanded. Let’s just say, Hmmm….

Interesting findings from this session:

1. Once the complaint paperwork gets filed, the filer can no longer present evidence or corrections, and

2. The filer is kicked out of the room, not able to defend the filing, and

3. When the issue involves a City Council member, the City Attorney must recuse. Does this hold true for a mayor, directors? (again, Hmmm…..) and

4. Most importantly, the ruling sets a precedent allowing illegal activities of a Sioux Falls official to not be unethical.

Catch the impact of number 4? Think about the myriad of questionable city activities our local reporters are bringing to light Christmas week 2017. Are these questionably legal maneuvers now ethical, not subject to ethics sanction?

Bruce has asked why a Home Rule Charter community cannot get help with open meeting violations. We now have a ruling from our Board of Ethics saying screw you for asking.

Ethics Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Sioux Falls Board of Ethics to meet Friday, Dec 22, 2017

l3wis 5Comments

UPDATE: Joe Sneve covers everything I knew about it HERE. Rex Rolfing recused himself from a vote on a zoning issue, but a couple days before the bone head emailed his fellow councilors telling them how to vote. It got dismissed because the ethics board said it was an open meetings matter and out of their jurisdiction (go figure). You would think after 7-1/2 years Rolfing would have learned something about procedure and Robert’s Rules. (here is video of the super secret ruling – crank the speakers)

It looks like a confidential complaint, so I am not sure how it will be handled. Not sure what it is, but usually these kind of complaints have to do with a city employee.

Elections Ethics Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Sioux Falls Ethics Commission Meets Wednesday (10/25/2017)

l3wis 3Comments

UPDATE: The ethics commission will soon be giving a written advisory opinion on what happened today. A citizen asked if it was OK for Jill Entenman to be on the Charter Revision Commission with her husband, Jim Entenman running for mayor. IT WAS NOT a complaint, it was a request for an opinion on the matter. The ethics commission determined it was OKAY for Jill to serve on the CRC but she SHOULD recuse herself when they are voting on matters that involve revisions that have to do with the mayor or the mayor’s office or duties.

The commission is set to meet in the old city council chambers at city hall, 3 PM.

Someone asked an ‘opinion’ on the ethical importance of citizen board members and conflicts of interest with candidates that are running in the Spring election.

Since you can’t technically ask for an ‘opinion’ anymore, it will appear as a complaint (even though it is NOT).

Ethics Open Government Open Meetings SF City Council Sioux Falls State Funding State Legislature

Government Secrecy in closed settlements serves no one

l3wis 1Comments

Ellis says something I try to bang in people’s heads all the time, it’s your money, you are the boss;

Put aside the corruption issue. It’s a matter of good government. And good government is about understanding who the boss is. And the boss is you, the taxpayer.

YOU pay the money that gets secretly negotiated away in these confidential settlements to who knows who for who knows what. It’s YOU, the taxpayer, who pays the salaries of the public officials who negotiated the confidential settlements. They work for YOU, not the other way around. And besides the potential for abuse, confidential settlements also allow government officials to hide their incompetence from you, the employer. What if the government is negligent in some matter? They can hide it from the taxpayer with a confidential settlement.

You can bet that when Jamison’s bill gets its hearing, the defenders of this practice will argue that confidential settlements give local governments leverage to negotiate better deals. That they save taxpayer money.

They can say it all they want. But you know what they can’t do? Prove it.

That has been my argument for ages. They tell us it must be secret, but they can’t tell us why. Because if they did, a lot of them would be in jail.

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