Minnehaha County Auditor will get her first test next April

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There has been a lot of rumbling about how our new Minnehaha county auditor, Leah Anderson, will handle elections bringing in fellow MAGA’s to assist her recently.

Her first test will be the Sioux Falls City Council Election.* While the city manages and organizes their own elections, they will use the county’s ballot counters. Besides Leah’s inexperience, the new head city clerk, Mr. Washington, has very little election experience. While assistant city clerks Denise and Tamara have decades of election experience, and I totally trust them, they can’t pull all the levers at once or watch the process entirely. My biggest concern is the resolution board, especially if any candidates that are running have associations with Anderson. I also think we need poll watchers. As for the conflict Anderson ‘may’ have with any future potential candidates (someone who may have volunteered for her campaign or donated money) it would be wise for her to recuse herself from the proceedings if any of those associations exist.

For arguments sake, let’s say no conflicts exist, just how will Anderson handle her first election with it’s whopping 5% turnout? This is going to be fun to watch.

*I am hearing from one potential candidate in the NW district that she will be announcing in the coming weeks. I am also hearing rumors that Julian Beaudion may throw his hat in that race also (he ran against Greg last time). I also heard of a potential candidate that currently serves on the Planning Board but not sure which race they would get into. They have ran for At-Large in the past and lost. I have heard nothing either way if Jensen is going to seek a 2nd term on the council, or go run off to Pierre, though challenging Sue Peterson will be no easy task since District 13 has turned into a right wingers paradise.

UPDATE: Who is running for Sioux Falls Mayor or City Council in 2022?

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UPDATE: I got some more names thrown in the bucket. Matt Paulson has confirmed with me that at this time he is NOT planning on running for council. I have also heard from others that Joe Kippley, senior director of strategic partnerships at Sanford Imagenetics is interested in running for SE District that will be left open by Rick Kiley. I have also heard that Julian Julian Beaudion is interested in running for an At-Large position. Keep the updates coming!

Believe it or not, another city council and mayoral election is only a year from this April. I expect challengers to TenHaken to make an announcement this summer and council candidates in the Fall.

So who is done and who will run for those seats? I’m not sure, but have heard some speculation and rumors.

TenHanken’s 1st term ends in 2022. I am still not convinced he is running again, but I do expect some others to run whether he chooses to or not. Christine Erickson, Mike Huether, Greg Jamison and David Zoikates (He has already announced). While Paul hasn’t been real popular with me, he does have a good popularity rating with voters and if he chose to seek a second term he would be hard to beat.

At-Large, Janet Brekke. My guess is that Janet will run for a 2nd term, but she has plenty of time to decide.

At-Large Christine Erickson. Her 2nd term is up, and like I said, I think she may run for Mayor.

So who would run for those seats? I am not sure. Some names that has been thrown around is immigrant activist Taneeza Islam or Investor Matt Paulson.  But I think there are many candidates that want to run, like Zach DeBoer and Handsome Tom Hurlbert, but they may go after the low hanging fruit and challenge Curt Soehl in Central District who is also up in 2022. I’m not sure if Curt will seek a 2nd term, he doesn’t seem to like the job very much, he’s usually grumpy, sarcastic or both at the meetings.

In the Southeast, Ricky Lee Kiley’s 2nd term is up in 2022, but I can’t hardly speculate who would want to run in the Taupeville district. I’m sure it will be some dull moderate Republican.

I would like to see some changes, for instance in the At-Large, since two seats are up, they should just give the two seats to the two highest vote getters instead splitting up the races.

Tell me your thoughts on who you like to see run or changes to the election like ranked choice voting which would eliminate run-offs.

Sioux Falls City Council Candidate Julian Beaudion picks up a ton of endorsements

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“I am impressed with Julian Beaudion’s decade of law enforcement service and his commitment to helping citizens throughout our diverse community. These priorities along with his business experience will make him a perfect addition to the Sioux Falls City Council. With your support, I look forward to serving alongside Julian and making sure every neighborhood is represented on the Council!”

City Council member Janet Brekke is a former small business owner and long-time Sioux Falls City Attorney, serving under five different mayors.

Brekke’s endorsement is significant, given her unique position as a current City Council member and her significant role in shaping Sioux Falls city government over the last few decades! Thank you Janet!

Please remember to vote on Tuesday June 2, 2020. You can vote early by visiting 220 W. 6th St to cast your vote.

Learn more about my campaign, please visit my website atJulianForSiouxFalls.com

#Endorsement #Julian2020 #ForYouForUs #Vote

Sioux Falls City Councilor Neitzert doesn’t deserve re-election

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Greg has stabbed a lot of people in the back over the last four years, not only myself who helped him get elected in the first place, laying out his campaign marketing strategy, but many citizens along the way. Let’s look at Greg’s supposed record of leadership.

• Voted for property tax increases all four years on the council. He claims to have been the champion of killing the cable tax hike, but I didn’t have a problem with it because cable is a luxury, affordable housing is not.

• His reversal on the administration building. This was the first time Greg started to show his true colors. The building was not needed, and originally Greg knew this, but apparently someone got him in a dark corner and gave him a titty twister. The taxpayers are also holding the bag on the HVAC replacement.

• Greg slipped out of ethics violations by getting the Ethics Board to play legal tricks with the charter. Greg also has violated ethics by continuing to attack his fellow councilors in private emails (I have seen them-they are nasty and childish) on FB and in public meetings.

• Greg didn’t do an extensive search for an internal auditor though the audit committee asked him to.

• But Greg’s biggest folly is supporting the Bunker Ramp. To this day, he has yet to apologize for the fiasco. He defended the developers, he defended the pricetag, and he defended both mayors on this disastrous project. Anybody who would continue to defend this is NOT fit to lead.

Like I have said before, I don’t know much about his opponent Julian, but I do know as a State Highway Patrolman (recruiter) Julian must always work with the highest level of transparency and integrity, because if he lacked these things, he would have been unemployed years ago. The best part about this choice, is that by NOT voting for Greg, we will actually get someone who is qualified.

Sioux Falls City Council Candidate Forums

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Monday May 18th, Downtown Rotary Forum • At-Large Candidates Stehly and Jensen • Online at NOON.

Thursday May 21st, Council Candidate Forum • All candidates • 5:30 PM

Tuesday May 26th, Argus Leader • At-Large Candidates Stehly and Jensen • 10:30 AM.

There was a SF Chamber Committee private forum this past week and I spoke with someone who was in attendance. They basically said, ‘Theresa crushed it!” They also said Jensen knew very little about city government. Shocker!

My endorsements haven’t really changed;

• Vote NO on both Charter Amendments

• Stehly for At-Large. Like her or not, she has the best interest of the citizens at heart. She is also a champion of transparency.

• Julian Beaudion for NW district. Neitzert has been a turncoat.

• Cynthia Mickelson for school board. I know this may shock some people, but I think she has tried to open the school district up to more transparency. I don’t always agree with her, but I think she really works hard and tries to do the right thing.

• Crystal Johnson for Minnehaha State’s Attorney.

I also encourage everyone to absentee vote either by mail (complicated and they are way behind on applications) or in person at the election center, directly east of the Minnehaha County Administration building. I voted a week ago, brought my own pen, and I was the only one there. As I was leaving I soaked my hands in hand sanitizer by the door.