Mike Huether

Mayor Huether stays delusional until the end

l3wis May 3, 2018 10Comments

Huether decided to remind us of his top 10 wins of his past 8 years. Where does he come up with this stuff. #1 really made me laugh.

#1. The City purchased the downtown railyard from BNSF Railway Company after a decade of planning and negotiation. Our downtown will never be the same, and economic development will be spurred on for generations to come!

As I have told the mayor and council a couple of times, this was one of most poorly negotiated deals in the history of our city. Besides taking millions from Federal taxpayers, city taxpayers will also have kick in on the cleanup. And the payback? Well the developers of the land will be making oodles of money, us minions, not so much. First off, this should have been negotiated in the public. Secondly we didn’t achieve the original goal of the project, to reduce train traffic downtown, in fact it has gotten worse and they are still switching cars only a couple of blocks away from the site.

#2. Sioux Falls has experienced five straight years of record-breaking construction, a bevy of jobs have been created, and we have a confidence level unmatched in America. Our economy is rocking!

While this is true, a large portion of this development has been by non-profits and public projects that produce ZERO property tax revenue. And something I could never figure out is if we have these record construction numbers why do we continue to handout TIFs and millions in new infrastructure upgrades? The development community is NOT hurting. Enough of the corporate welfare. We need to invest in our people.

#3. Quality of life has never been better thanks to our citizens’ incredible support of our new Events Center, indoor aquatic facility, beautiful parks, and so much more. No wonder 88 percent of Sioux Falls residents think we have good or great quality of life in our town.

The Events Center while needed was poorly funded and built in the wrong place unlike the aquatic center that was built on land controlled by the VA and cannot be expanded. The Denty will be bleeding our CIP for decades. Oh then there was the siding. Also, I must clarify that about 88% of 900 people who filled out a survey said this.

#4. Public and private collaboration and investment has made our downtown the envy of most. Mayor Mike’s goal of making downtown the chosen “place to live” is now a reality. No one now remembers what downtown Sioux Falls was like during the struggles of the recessionary years.

Downtown redevelopment started in the early 90’s. Because of the actions of Carole Pogones and Mayor Munson the ball was already rolling when Huether came into office. All he did was grab the baton.

#5. No matter what Mother Nature has challenged us with—including the unforgettable ice storm, 1,000-year rain events, and record snowfalls—our city has rallied together to conquer it. Sioux Falls is prepared for the next one, and yes, there will be “a next one” sooner than we think.

While the city’s response was great, I don’t think our city employees doing their jobs is a reason to put something on a ‘WIN’ list. Remember, these were natural disasters and they responded the way we expected them to. It also didn’t hurt that FEMA kicked in $10 million.

#6. Our city’s finances are rock solid thanks to centralizing services, tough prioritization, managing costs and FTEs, doing more with less, and running government like a business. Our piggybank is full, and debt per capita is actually lower now than what we had in 2010, even with a bevy of prudent and overdue investments.

This was mostly due to the over 50 increases in taxes and fees over the past 8 years.

#7. Our city’s infrastructure has regained its strength through an aggressive repair, rebuild, and replace strategy of roads, parks, buildings, and technology. It is a recipe all of South Dakota and American should heed.

As Jodi Schwan pointed out recently, the needle on road repair hasn’t moved at all. Our roads rated 7 out of 10 eight years ago and they rate 7 out of 10 today. At least we didn’t go backwards, so this is ‘sorta’ a win.

#8. Thanks to the trust and collaboration of our City’s employees, pension reform actually happened, saving taxpayers $300 million over the next 25 to 30 years. A monster accomplishment that most have no idea about.

Ask our city’s union employees how they feel about this? Or the police department who lost 30 experienced officers to early retirement.

#9. We celebrate good neighbors and neighborhoods and work with the others to instill those same values. Safety is a virtue and code enforcement is a commitment in Sioux Falls that helps us reach statistics where 91 percent of citizens think Sioux Falls is a good or great place to live.

Code enforcement is a mess and needs to be reformed. Once again 91% of 900 people surveyed think this.

#10. Sioux Falls has become the first choice for flying again with our grand airport upgrades, added flying options, and improved airfares. Leisure and business travelers are flying high thanks to Dan Letellier and the Sioux Falls Airport Authority!

With an airline that has the worst safety record in the industry and airlines that pay the lowest wages in the country.

There you have it, so many wins and not a lot of losses. Ha. I have coined Huether’s administration, “Progress at a Price.”

Disgusted with Mayor Huether

l3wis April 28, 2018 2Comments

Just when I was considering writing a letter to the editor about Mike’s term in office, someone beats me to the punch, and they don’t gloss over anything;

We elect council members Huether doesn’t want to listen to. Their opinions don’t matter to him, to the point where one council member even walked out of a meeting. Can’t say that I blame him. Now the frosting on the cake is the April 4 article where theArgus Leader had the guts to poke fun at one of the candidates who answered a question from the public. Why should he even comment? All he wants people to be aware of is “What I have achieved.” Accusing a candidate of finding a way to capture the attention of the electorate was very uncalled for. At least that candidate is sincere, not phony like Huether. Take your “big shot” accomplishments home and live with them. We elect the council members, so what gives Huether the right to make our decisions, ignoring their opinions? He also chose the out-of-state ambulance service. I hope he doesn’t have a need in his family and need to wait 45 minutes to one hour, like some people have. One man had to take his wife to Acute Care, as no ambulance ever came. Sound like a proper response to you? Not to me. He probably would get special attention that we average folks can’t get. Highly disgusted with him.

She missed a couple of things, but I do agree with her ending. It has been truly disgusting.

*For the record I have no idea who the person was that wrote this letter.

Did Mayor Huether, Finance Director Turbak and the City violate state law?

l3wis April 19, 2018 14Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, the city put this press release out rebuffing TenHaken’s 100 day strategy. Since this press release came from the city, is it a violation of state law?;

Universal Citation: SD Codified L § 12-27-20 (through 2012)

12-27-20. Expenditure of public funds to influence election outcome prohibited. The state, an agency of the state, and the governing body of a county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state may not expend or permit the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate, or for the petitioning of a ballot question on the ballot or the adoption or defeat of any ballot question. This section may not be construed to limit the freedom of speech of any officer or employee of the state or such political subdivisions in his or her personal capacity. This section does not prohibit the state, its agencies, or the governing body of any political subdivision of the state from presenting factual information solely for the purpose of educating the voters on a ballot question.

Source: SL 2007, ch 80, § 20.

The city cleverly will point to the last sentence;

presenting factual information solely for the purpose of educating the voters on a ballot question

But is a ‘CANDIDATE’ the same as a ‘BALLOT QUESTION’? I think not. I hope someone holds the mayor accountable for once.

Ironically, TenHaken accepting donations from minors is within the letter of the law;

The children, ranging from ages 6 to 15, each contributed the maximum yearly contribution of $1,000. McDonald, who created the medical software company in downtown Sioux Falls in 2000, also gave the maximum amount.

Those contributions don’t break any laws, city officials said, but they do point to the way savvy supporters can lend a little extra help to political candidates, especially if the kids are on board.

“They’re technically not signers on the account, but there (were) six separate checks with a memo with their name on it to keep it clear,” McDonald said.

But is it ethical?

Jon Schaff, a political science professor at Northern State University, said contribution limits are intended to limit the influence a single individual can have on candidates and elections. But when someone is politically savvy and invested in a candidate, they’ll almost always find a way around those limits.

“For better or worse, that’s the idea,” he said. “So when people are using children, there’s a possibility that people are avoiding the intention of the law – even if it’s not technically illegal.”

Yeah, Savvy. LOL.