SF City Council

The Bickering and Backbiting continues

l3wis March 18, 2020 14Comments

While things are becoming more strange by the day with the corona virus, our local government has been reacting very well. I will commend the city, county and school district for the continued updates and staying vigilant. I will say however, the Federal government has been flailing for weeks. But one thing didn’t change at last night’s council meeting, the continued fighting between councilors, especially the riff between councilors Erickson and Stehly. When the city council was set to vote on the operations manual updates, Stehly suggested an amendment (that got the support of councilors Brekke and Starr). She asked that city council employees be respectful of citizens (FF 1:25) This was the second time in the meeting in which Stehly was attacked, and told she doesn’t know what she was talking about.

The first time was over the RFP for the sewer plant. Theresa asked for a deferral, due partially to the economic situation we are facing, but mostly because there is a ton of unknowns because of how the RFP was handled. I also question the $9.5 million in CMAR fees to the Manager of the project (6% of $159 million). While I don’t always agree with Stehly’s logic on some of her deferral ideas and amendments, I agree 100% with her on this deal. It seems like they are trying to push this thru as fast as possible with nobody’s really looking on how this deal was concocted. Remember, the last administration basically kept this expansion from the public, only mentioned it in passing a few times and never had a price tag attached to it. This, I believe was done on purpose so Bucktooth & Bowlcut could build his play palaces. If the public knew a $200 million dollar sewer plant was looming, they would have never supported these other projects. On top of that, two new jails (Minnehaha and now in Lincoln county) and $300 million in school bond debt.

I’m afraid we are not going to see a lot of things going on behind the scenes during this crisis. Greed and corruption lurks in dark spaces. If there ever is a time that we need to be open and transparent with the public, that time is now.

Also, during the meeting, two councilors chose to call into the meeting, those two were Brekke and Kiley. Even on the phone, Kiley continued to tell us how smart he was while defending the bureaucracy. I’ve have always been kind of irritated by his tone, and I finally figured out why. He is always defending government instead of citizens. It must be from all his years as a teacher. Kiley has never grasped that he is elected by citizens to represent us, that is why we have an elected council. If Kiley wants to defend the city instead of the rights of the citizens, maybe he should resign his seat and apply for a job with the city. I’m sure they could find something for that know it all to do.

The blog up North continues to make unfounded accusations about Stehly. The latest was her comment at the council meeting about the possibility of Marshall Law. This isn’t far-fetched at all. Many major cities across the nation and world have shut down. While the mayor may not have the power to declare a curfew, the Governor or the President could. While Councilor Soehl calls this ‘hysteria’ he may be eating his words in a few days. There was also a dig on Stehly for not attending last week’s emergency meeting. She informed me that she got a ‘text’ from COS Erica Beck late in the afternoon about the meeting, and couldn’t attend due to a teaching appointment. But she also told me that she could have called in if someone told her that was the option, which they did not. Trust me, Stehly wanted to attend the meeting, she didn’t just blow it off.

Theresa sent this email to the Governor today;

Dear Governor Noem,

Our Catholic Masses have been cancelled, our schools have been cancelled, our employees are being told to work from home, our restaurants are closing their eating areas,  stores in the malls are closing, and our City Council is restricting public gatherings.

In light of all the precautions we are taking to keep our beloved citizens safe, I am begging you to intervene and reschedule our upcoming April 14 City Council/school board election.  Absentee voting is slated to start on March 30 at our Minnehaha County administration Building. However,  The Argus has just reported:

 “Second Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Robin Houwman issued an order Wednesday restricting who can enter the courthouses through April 30. “

There is rampant confusion about what is happening with this election. If you and our city officials don’t reschedule the election, 

You need to personally ensure that all voters  and election workers will be safe and protected from illness.

According to yesterday’s  Argus Leader  you were quoted as saying the following:

“She said the state is having ongoing discussions with local officials regarding the Sioux Falls election in April, but no decisions have been made to delay it at this point. “

Thank you for your consideration. Know that you are in my prayers.

Theresa Stehly

The word now is that the SOS and Governor do not have the power to postpone the Spring municipal elections across the state but she has asked the legislature to rule on it on veto day, March 30.

Also today this text message is going around;

I am not sure who sent it, but Stehly said it was NOT from her campaign. The word is this was NOT an independent survey and the Jensen campaign was behind it. IF THIS IS TRUE it could be a violation of campaign rules. More to come on that.