Joe did a great blog post today about the charter. While I disagree with some of his premises and anecdotes he is right about ONE thing;
City government would be improved if we established a better separation of powers while at the same time, strengthening the role of our legislature. Here are some changes I think are worth considering in the charter and/or the way city government operates.
Take the next mayor off the city council to establish better separation of powers.
I think this would FORCE the council to do policy because they would be running their own meetings and agendas. This doesn’t mean the mayor could not still present policy but he would have to get at least ONE sponsor on the council and if it really is HIS policy and not something a department head cooked up, he needs to come to the council and present.
I think the charter has worked well also, but the biggest problem is the laziness of the councils since and the corruption at city hall. This of course spells incompetence.
Some rules and regs really do work, but you must apply them, this city has NOT when it comes to policy and our legislative branch.
The Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce announced Thursday that Mitch Rave has been hired as the organization’s vice president of public policy.
The son of former South Dakota House Speaker Tim Rave, he holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of South Dakota.
Debra confirmed to me she left the Sioux Falls Chamber and is happy to be moving on. Her husband David leads the State Chamber. Debra’s title was VP/Director of Public Policy, so I am assuming Tim is replacing her.
Mitch has some big shoes to fill. Besides years of government experience working for the City of Sioux Falls as clerk and a top legal advisor to Governor Daugaard. Debra also has a law degree and has extensive knowledge about city and state government.
In my dealings and conversations with Debra in the past, she was always fair and listened to your side, she didn’t always agree but was never combative and would always dig for answers, probably the reason former Mayor Mike Huether* pushed for her termination. City government has a knack at getting rid of the good ones.
Mitch’s dad, Tim Rave, is president and CEO of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations and sits on the Board of Regents.
*SPEAKING OF MIKE, WHO IS RUNNING FOR SIOUX FALLS MAYOR?
The list is still pretty short but it seems Mike Huether and Christine Erickson may be in. They have both been reaching out for early support (Mike more then Christine) I have not heard any more rumblings about Alex Jensen. Greg Jamison will also probably be exploring a mayoral bid, and I think if Huether officially announces he will jump in.
Another name that was floated was Vaney Hariri. I guess friends and colleagues have been asking him to run. I don’t know him personally so I have no idea if he is taking the encouragement seriously but he would be a great addition to the field.
I want Christine and Mike to know I have been greasing up the way back machine, and once I get it running it will probably start smoking once it’s gets to your government careers. Erickson has a much better record, and has shown to be a good campaigner. Winning both a school start date ballot initiative and the slaughterhouse vote (even though they mothballed the place).
I think any outside candidates are going to have fun watching these two duke it out on the debate stage.
I know, I know, a little early, but you would be surprised how much chatter has been going on already about the next mayoral race. The below predictions are PURE speculation based on convos I have had with city government nerds;
• Mike Huether, the former mayor has been actively reaching out to potential supporters and it is highly likely he will run.
• Greg Jamison, Greg currently serves in the SD legislature, but I have a fishy feeling he would love another round with Mr. Huether.
• Christine Erickson, she is coming off a very successful campaign against the stinky folks, and she has the ego to take a stab at this.
• Alex Jensen, not sure what to think of this, but his name has been floated out there by TenHaken worshippers.
• Greg Neizert, not sure if he is interested, but it seems like the most logical next political step.
• Theresa Stehly, I doubt she will run, but I can almost guarantee if she does run she will be in the runoff.
I’m sure there will be a couple of other Zombies (SNARK!) entering the race, but I have a feeling we will see a very crowded and diverse group.
At another bizarre city council meeting last night 3 councilors (Neitzert, Cole and Merkouris) decided to vote against a Pride month resolution because they felt it was setting some kind of precedent. Let’s pretend for a moment that was true (it is not) wouldn’t you still support it without supporting the process? They could have easily voted for it while stating they didn’t like the process. It is NOT precedent. During the Huether administration there was a proclamation almost weekly. The only difference between proclamations and resolutions is that proclamations come from the mayor’s office and resolutions come from council (according to the city attorney last night). Here are the proclamations from 2016 that were presented at the regular council meetings;
Sex Trafficking Awareness and Action Month (January 2016)
Sioux Empire Water Festival Days – March 9 and 10, 2016
World Kidney Day – March 10, 2016
Social Work Month — March 2016
National Service Recognition Day – April 5, 2016
National Walking Day – April 6, 2016
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Action Day – April 19, 2016
American Legion Poppy Days – May 13 and 14, 2016
Historic Preservation Month – May, 2016
Bike Month – May, 2016
Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month – June 2016
National Health Center Week
Suicide Prevention Week – September 5-11, 2016
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month – September, 2016
National Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 2-8, 2016
Native American Day – October 10, 2016
Domestic Violence Awareness Month – October, 2016
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month – November, 2016
American Diabetes Month, November, 2016
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month, November 2016
The practice of presenting proclamations at the council meetings seemed to end in 2018 after Mayor TenHaken was installed. Not sure why, but that was a decision made by his administration (he still releases proclamations discreetly). But for Neitzert, Cole and Merkouris to argue this is out of the ordinary is just flat out false. In fact, TenHaken replaced it with the Siouxper Hero awards at council meetings. Why weren’t there any objections to that? Weren’t we setting a precedent?
As I told councilors last night, they are entitled to their personal opinions about the gay lifestyle, but as a non-partisan governing body they should all be in support of inclusiveness in our city which doesn’t infringe on their personal beliefs as individuals or their crazy beliefs as councilors about a broken process.
“. . . I am PROUD to stand with friends and colleagues who oppose bigotry, violence, segregation, and hatred. This is not the moment to argue. Rather, let us link arms, unified in our support for tolerance, acceptance, inclusion, and love.”
They can make whatever excuses they want to as to why they voted against the resolution, but at the end of the day they just looked petty and I applaud the councilors that voted for the resolution and especially councilors Starr and Soehl for challenging their fellow councilors to do the right thing, even if 3 of them can’t figure out what the right thing is.
I just got a call from a polling firm based out of N Sioux City SD (based on my caller ID). Â It asked if I would support Noem or one of the following Dem opponents, either Sutton, Huether, or Seiler.
I had heard about a week ago that there was going to be polling out there in an effort to push Sutton into the race. But what I find interesting is they would include someone who I thought was now a registered Indy (MMM) and someone who lost to Rumblestrips. While they were at it, why didn’t they also mention Michelle Erpenbach 🙁
l3wis