Former Sioux Falls Mayor Rick Knobe endorses Stehly and Beaudion for city council

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Obviously the virus and info about it is the big story.

Like after 9/11, we are entering a new normal.

As you know I’m a local government guy. That’s where the rest of this post is going.

City Council Election Day is April 14th. No provision in State Law to postpone it.

Local government has a profound impact on the quality of your life.

Streets, the quality and quantity of your drinking water, police, fire, public health(including the Covid 19 virus) are responsibilities of local government.

The people elected to the City Council need to be visionary, intelligent, articulate, independent thinkers, and when needed leaders, which may mean disagreeing with the “pack. “

I know the two incumbents and one of the challengers.

Since we are entering a new normal I want the voice of Julian Beaudion to be on the City Council. The qualities and resume of Julian Beaudion impress me. He’s in the trenches being a state law enforcement officer and also with his family running an Independent restaurant in downtown Sioux Falls. His campaign is about diversity and inclusion. We need that on the Council. He has my vote and yes, I gave him a modest donation. The incumbent is a decent man. He has a loving family. I like him. However voting isn’t about liking someone.

It’s about putting people in a responsible position who can represent ALL of us and has the ability to deal with the complex issues facing us. To me that’s Julian Beaudion.

The At Large seat has the outspoken incumbent, Theresa Stehly being challenged by an unknown challenger. I haven’t met him. His donors have given BIG money, including $10,000 from our former Governor. The list includes the moneyed folks in town.

None of that is evil, but to me it is a sign. The power people usually don’t like outspoken people. They want somebody they can manage/handle/ control.

The incumbent, Theresa Stehly, is not automatically against the moneyed people, but she is not afraid to disagree when she thinks they are wrong.

I like that quality in an elected official.

I want, and the City Council needs, alternative ideas. Ideas and suggestions different from the administration and moneyed folks.

The challenger to Theresa Stehly has chosen to go negative in his first two presentations. First, a public challenge to Stehly’s privately funded Stehly Report, and second, a negative postcard.

I want people in office with ideas to make Sioux Falls better. So far, the challenger, and his handlers, have gone negative. Not a good sign.

He might be a nice fellow. But so far his actions are those of a negative thinker. We don’t need that.

Finally, Theresa Stehly has been right on the big issues. She has fought for, and won, more transparency from the city administration.

She was right about concerns over the now defunct hotel and parking ramp project, now in litigation.

She was right in her attempt to collect law enforcement and other expenses, from the PRIVATE fundraiser held by then governor candidate Kristi Noem, which featured President Trump.

I know she has been an irritant to some. But, I think we need people to challenge our thinking and our habits.

Theresa Stehly has my vote and will get a modest check to support her campaign.

That’s it from me.

Early voting starts March 30th.

The Bickering and Backbiting continues

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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.

Puzzling mailing in Sioux Falls City Council race

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As a person who has helped get FOUR Sioux Falls city councilors and a Democrat elected to the legislature in a conservative district, I often shake my head when I see things like above. While I could certainly go on a very long rant about everything wrong with this mailing, I will only say one thing. If you are running against a popular incumbent, you never, ever attack them in your introductory mailing. I am incredibly baffled as to who is giving this poor soul campaign advice (well I do know who). FAIL!

Will the big announcement be tax relief?

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Doubt it, probably more pallet humper jobs at Flopdation Park. What I find odd is that in less than two days from the announcement and city councilors have not been told what it is. So much for transparency.

We do have a new innovation director, this time someone with an actual degree.

He aided Kansas City in testing innovative ways to provide public transportation, an effort being undertaken by the city of Sioux Falls. Like the on-demand pilot to be rolled out in Sioux Falls this summer, Grigsby told the Argus Leader Monday in an exclusive interview that during his tenure in Kansas City, he assisted a similar effort there.

“It was a successful failure. We did not get it to work the way we wanted to because of how vast Kansas City is, but we did get a success in our paratransit service,” he said. “Being a part of that success on the paratransit side, I’m hoping to be able to share any kind of insight and the history. Sioux Falls has a much better opportunity to have success with its microtransit service simply because of the size of its footprint.”

Aside from public transit, Grigsby also has history with providing innovative efficiencies in public safety technology and digital equity and inclusion.