Category Archives: Mayor High Crimes

I saw this the other day in the Mayor’s Top 10 Alternative Facts, and just shook my head;

When Mayor Mike Huether established Sioux Falls’ first ever Human Relations Coordinator position in 2015, the idea was to have a point person at City Hall for the community’s underserved populations when dealing with discrimination and other civil rights issues. But after two short-lived hires – the city’s second-ever Human Relations Coordinator, Julie Briggs, resigned in March 2016 – City Hall decided to take a new approach: Do away with the coordinator position and add a full-time human rights attorney and a support staff member to assist.

So instead of the city protecting people’s human rights, they hire someone to protect the city from human rights complaints. Nice move – NOT. The city should be working for us and helping people when they have legitimate complaints. It seems our city attorney’s office under Huether has become an anti-citizen entity. Very sad. Heck, even a city councilor had to hire her own attorney to protect herself from unfounded ethics complaints. If I was the city council, I would defund the city attorney’s office and re-establish it under their budget and control.

I also found the mayor’s new war on the media lately to be quite comical, the Argus has been printing this line in their stories when it involves the mayor;

Huether declined to be interviewed for this article

If I was advising Huether, I would tell him pissing off the media is NOT a good idea. I guess he will find out the hard way. The irony is if he would even attempt to tell the truth he wouldn’t have to endure so much scrutiny. I sometimes wonder if he really believes some of the stuff he says.

He gave his comical presentation ‘Top Ten Wins’ again this year;

• Sioux Falls City government lived within its financial means by making tough choices. (actually, he went ape crazy on raising fees)
• A new city administration building, a first since 1936, will serve citizens and employees for decades to come. (Dozens of administration and operational buildings have been built since 1936)
• Economy flourishes with America’s lowest unemployment rate, four straight years of record development, and largest growth of new citizens in Sioux Falls history. (yet with such enormous growth, revenue growth is down, low and stagnant wages remain and housing is too expensive)
• Midco^® Aquatic Center is completed on time and under budget and opens to rave reviews. (yet low attendance and a high operational cost will plague our city budget for years)
• Downtown Sioux Falls is the place to be and invest with $50 million in construction, the Washington Square project, Main Avenue Road Diet, and more. (while true, this has been going on for almost 15 years)
• A $12 million hotel/conference center is the latest development near the PREMIER Center, strengthening our ability to compete for Division 1 NCAA events. (initiated by taxpayer subsidies)
• The honeymoon continues for the 88th busiest Events Center in the world with $2.1 million in net revenue, and our good news is spreading throughout the industry. (Yet we have no idea if the taxpayers are benefitting from this success financially?)
• Monster infrastructure improvements in sanitary sewer, the 12th Street Bridge, and roads, roads, and more roads. (something government is supposed to do with our taxdollars. Normal course of business)
• Bevy of software implementations increases employee productivity, improves service delivery, and maximizes taxpayer dollars. (Can we see the numbers?)
• Pension reform continues protecting retirees while fulfilling City government pension obligations. (while screwing over the unions. I actually think this administration wants to break the city unions)