We need to give credit where credit is due
l3wis 
Over $20 million spent, and they can’t even keep a fence from collapsing.
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls City Councilor Stehly Meet & Greet, Sunday
Stehly will be at the Benson’s Flea Market on Sunday March 8th from 10:00-2:00 to visit with the public.
Christine Erickson
Elections
Ethics
Greg Neitzert
Julian Beaudion
Mayor TenHaken
Sioux Falls
Theresa Stehly
So will Mayor TenHaken and Councilor Erickson publicly endorse Jensen now?
So now that the ethics debacle has taken place, will this now give Paul and Christine the green light to publicly endorse (not just give money) Neitzert and Jensen, essentially saying that Julian and Stehly are not fit for office? And if so will Brekke and Starr follow suit and publicly endorse Stehly?
Neitzert said this on FB about the decision;
Yesterday the board of ethics ruled it was not only legal but ethical for Councilors to donate, endorse, and host fundraisers for other Council candidates. Same goes for the Mayor. And thus common sense and free speech won. And those using the board of ethics as a weapon during the campaign season to try to malign good people and attack their political opponents failed miserably.
I know, it reads like a line from a Shakespearean tragedy.
The issue with this kind of endorsement is the reason Brekke asked the question. Why? They are not really endorsing anyone, they are just saying that Theresa and Julian are not fit for office, so she needs to be replaced and Julian shouldn’t be able to serve.
It’s a different situation with Julian because he isn’t the incumbent, but with Stehly, she has a record. All we have from Jensen is a short rubberstamp legislative career chocked full of discrimination and higher tax votes. They are certainly not going to endorse Jensen based on his record, all they are saying is we need a rubber stamping seat warmer to replace Stehly.
This has been my biggest frustration with the race so far. We know Stehly and Neitzert’s record, we also know that Julian has had several public events saying what he stands for, he even helped with Jolene’s campaign. But with Jensen we have heard virtually nothing. NOTHING.
How can you say he would be better than Stehly when we don’t even know what that ‘better’ means? It is pretty clear to me that an endorsement of Jensen isn’t an endorsement at all, it’s just a dig on Stehly, and it’s extremely unethical, and any logical adult can see right thru the charade.
Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, March 10, 2020
Informational Meeting • 4 PM
Presentations on,
• 2020 SculptureWalk Program. There is some pretty cool sculptures this year, you can look at the document link and see them, check them out!
• Water Reclamation Facility Improvement . There is NO attached supporting documents yet.
Item #20, 2nd Reading: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD, PROVIDING SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT TAX FUND. (Washington Pavilion, $355,000).
Item #21, 2nd Reading: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD, REPEALING SUBCHAPTER SIOUX FALLS VETERANS PARK ADVISORY BOARD OF CHAPTER 95: PARKS AND RECREATION OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF SAID CITY. After watching last week’s explanation of why they are disbanding, I totally understand. And while I support veterans and this park (it really is a very nice park), I think it is time we build a ‘Peace Park’ in Sioux Falls, and honor those who advocate for Peace. What a concept?!
When will the public know the salary of the new Sioux Falls School Superintendent?
So I have been getting a lot of phone calls today about what the new super will make. According to the school board those negotiations are still ongoing.
My question is why would you announce a chosen candidate before the background check and negotiated salary? Well you wouldn’t. You don’t except a job offer if you don’t know what that job pays. Like, duh!
Currently Stavem makes $295K a year, the last record I could find for her when she worked in Lincoln, NE as an assistant super she made $205K in 2014. Like I said, she could be getting paid well north of $300K.
My educated guess is that a ‘number’ is already floating out there, and I’m guessing the background check is complete. You certainly would NOT be having a presser about your potential employee if that was not done.
So how soon will the public know those mysterious numbers before the School Board votes on it? Hopefully we get more than a 48 hour notice, but I am not holding my breath.
In other SFSD news I was told the other day that the school bond ballots have all been destroyed. They only have to hold them for 60 days after an election or longer if there is a challenge according to state law. The election was in September of 2018. We did challenge them, but they would not let us view OUR PROPERTY as a taxpayer and voter without paying school district employees watching over us. All we wanted to do was use a high speed scanner that we would supply to scan them and have an electronic copy so we could review them later, it probably would have taken an hour at most.
But I still find it strange that the ballots, which probably only took up one large office box, would be destroyed before all the bonds have been taken out and before the school has even been completed. More things that make us go hmmmmm.