Gee, I wonder what mayoral campaign these two ‘Union Leaders’ were helping out?
l3wis 
Staggers
So who filed the complaint? Good question. UPDATED
I UPDATED THIS ENTIRE POST, because I apparently am a dumbass and did not read the quote correctly
It doesn’t surprise me that an ethics complaint against councilor Staggers was filed only a few days before the city election (somebody was playing politics) and it also does not surprise me that it was found to have no merit;
City Clerk Debra Owen said “a former city councilor” had a complaint filed against him, which the Board of Ethics found to have no merit. But the ethics board instructed him not to speak publicly about it.
That could be a whole sleugh of people. If we are only talking about someone on the last council, that would narrow it down to Costello, Knudson or Beninga. My assumption would be that it would not have been Costello (since he was running against Staggers) so that means it would be Beninga or Knudson, which is a possibility.
My educated guess (and I have had ZERO conversations about this with Staggers – like he said in the article, he will not discuss) is that Darrin Smith filed the complaint. As it is well known, Smith cried to Stormland TV news about Kermit’s (supposed) junkets that he took while councilor because none of the other councilors would take the trips.
I have learned this, it WAS someone involved with one of the mayoral campaigns.
But like I said above, it is a huge mystery because ANYBODY can file a ethics ‘complaint’ but citizens can no longer file ‘opinions’.
What is not a mystery is that the rules were changed since I asked for an ethics ‘opinion’ When I asked for an opinion I had to fill out a form that asked me if I was okay with my name being public or not, I could have chosen for it NOT to be public, but I try to roll with the ‘transparency’ thingy. It is also not a mystery that Mayor Munson asked for a ethics opinion on Staggers when he was assisting the Drake Springs pool petition drive, another ethics issue that was found to have no merit.
This goes back to that whole ‘transparency’ thingy that politicians love to talk about during campaigns but quickly forget about once they are elected. But at least they are looking at it;
Councilors discussed amending the ordinance to make the process more public.
Anything. And I repeat ANYTHING that public officials do should be made public. Period. I understand that some things can not be talked about until after a change is made – and that is acceptable, but since this is a done deal, I see no reason to keep it a secret.
Publisher Randell Beck continues to peddle lies about a good man
Looks like the publisher of the Argus Leader fell off again
With only one day left of Dr. Staggers eight year term as city councilor, the publisher of the Argus Leader can’t resist to punch Kermit in the gut one last time. This of course is no surprise. The AL, there editorial board, and Beck were successful in misleading the public about Dr. Staggers and even though they have pretty much ended his political career, they cannot resist to rub it in;
The 42 percent of voters supporting Kermit Staggers generally rallied around ideas such as limited government and lower taxes, spiced by opposition to public financing of civic amenities such as an events center and the aforementioned distrust of business.
While I agree 100% with Kermit on limited government and lower taxes (not sure who would want higher taxes?) saying that Kermit is against financing ‘civic amenities’ is a flat out lie. Kermit wanted to increase spending on roads and infrastructure, he wanted to install snowgates to plow our streets better, he wanted to continue to fund our parks, he thinks the city should fix what they own, the sidewalks and tree trimming. These are all ‘civic amenities’ that we all use. Indoor pools, hockey rinks and events centers are used by a very small portion of our community. What makes more sense? Spending the taxpayer’s dime on things that benefit us all or on stuff that only benefit a few special interest groups? I don’t understand this culture of handouts you constantly are cheerleading for?
Toss in the shameful whispering campaign that suggested Huether was plotting some sort of “gay agenda” – whatever that is – and the result was a loose-knit coalition whose influence could well rise in future elections as voter turnout declines.
So now you think Pastor DooHickey has influence in our city elections? LMAO! I agree we were a genuine ‘grassroots’ coalition (something you call loose-knit) but Dr. Staggers didn’t pay any of us a dime, we did it because we believed in him. He didn’t have to pay some big wheel strategist to convince people to vote for him like his empty suit opponent had to. As for voter turnout being low, didn’t YOUR MAN MIKE win the election? If Kermit would have won, it would have proven your theory to be true, but he didn’t. I also find it ironic that more people voted then subscribe to your newspaper. How did all of these people find their way to the polls without the great guidance of the all knowing, 100-eyes, Argus Leader?
“What’s that Lassie? You mean there is other sources of media in Sioux Falls besides the Argus? Please lead me to them?”
While Staggers worked hard to convince voters he was more than just Dr. No, it was hard to identify his ideas for change beyond gutting pesky zoning regulations, cutting support for nonprofits and eliminating the city subsidy for the Washington Pavilion.
Lie, Lie, and another Lie. Your own newspaper ran several stories about how big of a mess code enforcement has become in Sioux Falls. After running an image of the flow-chart of code enforcement in your paper many people commented to me that they thought it was a satirical image. It was not. The reason Kermit has fought so hard to ‘gutt’ zoning regulations is because they are a FUCKING MESS, and if you cannot see that you need to open one of your 100-eyes. And when did Kermit suggest he was going to get rid of the Pavilion’s subsidy? Were you even listening to your own interview of Kermit? He said he wanted to work with the Pavilion to make them more profitable and possibly ‘some day’ eliminate the subsidy. As for non-profits, Kermit has worked hard to give tax breaks and other incentives to private non-profits. Recently he offered an amendment to extend those incentives to the St. Francis House and the Union Gospel Mission, but the rest of the ‘progressive’ council turned him down.
Huether made it out of the general election thanks to savvy campaign management, a base of loyal followers and a year of hard work,
While I agree entirely and predicted Huether and Staggers in the runoff 5 months ago because of those very reasons it doesn’t hurt to mention he spent three times more then Kermit, and the consulting fee numbers have yet to come in. Kermit’s are already in; $0.
but ultimately won the runoff thanks to a widespread fear that a vote for Staggers meant turning the Pavilion into a parking lot
While I am sure Beck is using his own special brand of sarcasm that earned him a lawsuit from Dan Scott and Bill Janklow, it is still a disservice to continue to spread this bullshit about Kermit. Besides I can think of a better place for a downtown parking lot; The SE corner of 10th and Minnesota.
and building an events center the size and cost of a Quonset hut.
Mike’s plan and Kermit’s plan were almost identical (because Mike stole all of his good ideas from Kermit and repackaged them) except for one big difference, Mike wants to raise taxes to build and subsidize the EC, Kermit does not. Do you even know what a Quonset is?
That dread found special traction among business people, arts advocates and people who’ve moved to Sioux Falls from bigger cities.
It got traction because of columns like this that have relentlessly spread lies and misinformation about Kermit over the years. Mike never once answered a straight question with a straight answer. I followed this election for almost a year, I spoke with both candidates and gave both of them advice, I know the issues, but if you locked me in a room for an hour and asked me a series of questions on what Mike would do for our city, I wouldn’t have a clue on how to answer them. I have no idea what he will do, and that scares the shit out me. You plundered Kermit’s campaign because he did something that no other politician running for office does, HE TOLD THE TRUTH about the problems facing our city. And really? How can we move forward in Sioux Falls if someone is constantly telling us we need to fix the problems we face in our community? The first step to renewal is first admitting you have a problem, Kermit was willing to do that.
Beck, you have a problem, consider this your intervention.
Only in Sioux Falls would someone complain about a great campaign idea
The Staggers campaign sent a letter of reassurance to city employees, which I heard about last week and thought was a great idea. But only in SF would someone have a problem with it;
Sioux Falls mayoral candidate Kermit Staggers sent a letter to every city employee who was registered to vote in Sioux Falls.
“This is basically a goodwill letter to let the employees know where I am coming from. I think it’s a legitimate thing for me to do,” Staggers said Friday.
Something I found startling though was the high number of city employees that are either NOT registered to vote, or NOT registered to vote in Sioux Falls;
Staggers said he mailed letters to about 740 out of the 1,100 city employees.
“An interesting thing we learned is that a lot of city employees live in Brandon or don’t vote,” he said.
Staggers doesn’t want to leave voters out just because they work for the city.
“They simply cannot be excluded from the political process. They have a right to hear from a candidate like all citizens of Sioux Falls,” he said.
And he is right, it amazes me that someone would complain about a candidate reaching out to them? Especially since the names and voter registration list of city employees is public record.
Here is the letter;
Results from the Stormland TV, Gargoyle Leader, Mason Dixon Poll • Congrats KERMIT!
Mason Dixon is very reliable – and this is good news to all the Staggers naysayers;
1: Staggers
2: Brown
3: Costello
4: Huether
5: Peterson
6: Janoct
I found this part of the poll interesting, while Kermit did well amongst all parties, Brown did very poorly amongst Republicans. This will be Kermit’s strength;
