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Sioux Falls

Ethics Janet Brekke SF City Council Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls Ethics Board Meeting, Friday March 6th

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A request for an open advisory opinion from the Board of Ethics was filed by Councilmember Janet Brekke. Councilmember Brekke is seeking guidance from the Ethics Board on appropriate local election related conduct. The request states: “The level of involvement of city elected officials in this current election cycle is unprecedented. I cannot assume these practices are ethical just because they are occurring now or have occurred in the past.  I am requesting a binding advisory opinion to guide my anticipated conduct in this and future elections.”

Brekke raises multiple issues regarding the propriety of local elected officials engaging in campaign financing and endorsement activities designed to influence the outcome of their own local elections. The ethical issues raised involve: 1) the use of public office for private gain for themselves or others, 2) the appearance of impropriety shall be avoided, and 3) refraining from engaging in political activities inappropriate to his or her office.

Councilmember Brekke specifically requested an open hearing so the testimony and deliberations will all be done in public.  Also, in an open hearing, opportunities for public input are part of the hearing process. This will be the first time issues such as these have been brought before the Ethics Board. The hearing is Friday, March 6, 2020 at 2:00 pm at City Hall in the old Council Chambers. Members of the public are welcome to attend and participate in the process by offering public input.

Elections SF City Council Sioux Falls Theresa Stehly

Misinformation Campaign about Stehly has begun

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I told Theresa that I didn’t think it would start until Monday, but today as I was perusing the SD blogosphere, a blogger that lives 40 minutes to the North of us (who seems to be suddenly into Sioux Falls politics) kicked off the misinformation campaign early.

He questioned why Theresa didn’t have any donations or expenditures listed on her latest campaign report, referring to her last newsletter and robocall.

Well, simple answer, Theresa didn’t file her statement of organization (announcement of candidacy) until this past Friday. Any expenditures out of her pocket don’t apply to her candidacy, and she didn’t raise money for her campaign, because the campaign didn’t begin until Friday.

In other words, when you fill out a campaign finance report for your candidacy, it has to be for the time you are an announced candidate (that time folks has been about 2 1/2 days).

You would think a former South Dakota SOS employee would know that . . . wait, he quit in disgrace due to extreme lack of ethics. But just for the record, ‘he didn’t break the law or steal anything’. LOL.

Alex Jensen Elections SF City Council Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Is Count Jensen setting up a hurdle track race?

l3wis 8Comments

UPDATE: This sign is placed in the boulevard which is a violation of political sign placement, but here’s what makes it even more ironic, it is in front of a house that is owned by a former city director.

Well, at least he isn’t putting them illegally in the boulevard. People in the neighborhood told me that showed up in the middle of the night, well duh (snark).

Planning Commission SF City Council Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, March 3, 2020

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Council Operations Meeting • 2:30 (3/3/2020)

• Review of Draft Edits to the Policies and Procedures Manual (mostly to do with public input).

• Committees

• Use of Electronic Devices

Council Informational • 4 PM (3/3/2020)

Presentations on,

Neighborhood Connect. It appears the Planning Department is rolling out some new software to do the following;

• Transparency
• Extend business hours
• Alerts
• Reduce inquiries
• Easy user interface
It integrates with the City of Sioux Falls Land Management software

While on it’s face, I think it is a good idea, over the last couple of months the city hasn’t had a very good track record with their online presence. Their videos have been crashing, the CityLink live stream has been taken down, the search engines are complicated and a mess and the pilot program for on-demand transit may not get off the ground. I guess if the city wants to be innovative, maybe that innovation should work.

Also presentations on the upcoming election and 2021 Budget Prioritization.

Regular Meeting • 7 PM (3/3/2020)

Item #45 & #60, 2nd Reading, Supplemental Appropriations. Not sure how this vote will go, or if it will be amended, but I have a feeling it will get at least 4 votes to pass (Mayor tie-breaker). They really should censure him for violating the charter and proposing budget changes.

Item #54, 1st Reading, Supplemental Appropriations of $355K to Pavilion for planning the repair of the roof.

Item #55, 1st 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. (I’m not sure why this board is being repealed, hopefully there will be more details Tuesday night).

Item #56 (57-58), 1st Reading: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD, AUTHORIZING INTERIM WATER RATES FOR CERTAIN CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS. (Prairie Meadow Area). This has to do with a future annexation agreement.

Item #64, A RESOLUTION ADVISING AND GIVING CONSENT TO THE APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO CERTAIN CITIZEN BOARDS. (once again the biographies are missing, I have requested from some councilors to ask the administration why the BIOs are no longer listed on agenda).

Planning Commission • 6 PM • (3/4/2020)

There have been a lot of strange changes lately to the city website and agendas. The latest is in the Planning agenda, instead of numbering the items, they are now using this labeling system; Ex: REZ-011688-2020. More confusion for no reason.

Cynthia Mickelson Elections Greg Neitzert Julian Beaudion Marshall Selberg Patrick Starr Sarah Stokke SF City Council Sioux Falls Theresa Stehly

Sioux Falls Municipal Election Roundup

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Here is what we know as of 5 PM.

• Cynthia Mickelson seems to have a challenger, Sarah Stokke is a nursing instructor at the University of South Dakota. I am not familiar with Sarah, but I have heard her name before in certain circles. This will make two races for the citywide ballot, but the interesting twist is that NOT everyone voting for this race can vote in the city election because the boundaries are different. In other words there will be people who can ONLY vote for school board or ONLY vote for At-Large council. I know, complicated.

• Marshall Selberg (SW District) and Pat Starr (NE District) do not have challengers, so they will get 4 more years.

• Greg Neitzert has a challenger, Julian Beaudion (NW District). This is a district seat only and not city wide.

• Theresa Stehly and Alex Jensen will challenge each other for the At-Large position. Since there are only two, their will be no run-off election (The ‘Stehly Rule’ won’t be used again). This will be the ONLY city-wide position on the ballot besides the Charter Amendments (and those living in the SFSD who can vote for school board).

I suspect a very low voter turnout of about 5%. The interesting part is this will be one of the most expensive elections in city history for only having two horse race. All precincts will be used, and the money Jensen plans on spending will probably be a record for a council race (the rumors going around are $200-250K). I’m not even sure how you can spend all that?

But this will be fun to watch, because all the attention will be on the At-Large race. This will give Stehly the advantage, besides her incumbency.

Let the Games Begin!

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