Advice to Sioux Falls City Councilor Erickson; When doing business with the Public, it’s Public.
l3wis Councilor Erickson was on The Good Ship Lalley show today talking about city business.
She touched on several topics with city business. A couple of things that stuck out;
• She questioned if a ‘Million dollars’ (in reference to the siding settlement) is really ‘A Lot’ of money. I felt she was downplaying the settlement as not a big deal.
• She did admit that there should have been more transparency with the settlement.
• She defended the secrecy of RFP candidates proposals saying they may use the plans for other projects. First off, there is nothing ‘special’ about many of these proposals. Most affordable housing projects in this town look exactly the same. 2nd, you could share the proposals with the entire council in executive session. And Lastly, most important, WHEN DOING BUSINESS WITH THE PUBLIC, IT BECOMES PUBLIC. When a private contractor is receiving PUBLIC money, our money, they must be an open book. There is NO excuse to keep these things secret.
• She isn’t publicly supporting any mayoral candidate. I agree with her that is a smart move. It could cause issues in the future with whoever becomes mayor.
