Category Archives: Theresa Stehly

Now they are going after Stehly over a in-kind donation of less than $30;

Stehly, though, told the Argus Leader Monday that her 2016 campaign website was renewed on her behalf by Sioux Falls resident and political ally Bruce Danielson. She said she would file an amendment to her campaign disclosure report showing an in-kind contribution of $29.98, the price Danielson paid on Feb. 11.

But she has no intention of listing those other expenses because they weren’t related to her campaign, she said.

First off Theresa was made aware of this donation by the Argus employee and intends to file an amendment to her campaign finance report (which isn’t officially due until March 4).

As for the other expenses, anyone with common sense knows that 1) Stehly paid for those out of her own pocket and 2) they were public information mailings, etc. None of it was campaign materials. You don’t have to believe me. Read any of it, and no where in those materials does she mention to vote for her in the upcoming election or NOT to vote for her opponent. Even a dead person knows the difference between a campaign ad and public information. I guess according to them any thing Stehly has bought over the past 3 years was a campaign ad. Seriously, that is their argument. Gee, she better report that pork chop she grilled for me two years ago, must have been a nefarious attempt to buy my vote 🙂

But this is how low in the gutter Jensen’s surrogates will go to try to muddy the waters about Stehly. While they are concerned about an in-kind donation less than $30, their candidate is going to spend thousands of dollars donated to him by the well connected special interests of Sioux Falls. This is what should truly scare us, trying to buy a city council seat.

As for their argument about Stehly’s finances, what about all the PACs and LLCs with Fed Ex PO boxes that donated to her opponent? Let’s talk transparency.

I didn’t think it would hit rock bottom this soon, but I suspect by April 14th Jensen’s minions will be below the wreckage of the Titanic with their attacks. Pathetic.

I have often said that this race is not about Jensen being a better candidate than Stehly, he is simply a pawn in this game. This is about the monied establishment getting rid of Stehly. If they could have legally ran a monkey or a dog against her, they would have. As commenter and supporter of Jensen said on that ‘other’ blog; ‘a ‘dead’ person could beat Stehly.’ They probably wish they could run a dead person against her.

Here are some reasons why I think this group of mucky mucks want Stehly gone (this is strictly my opinion and I have not consulted with Theresa or anybody else before scribing this post).

• Misogyny & Sexism. I call it more of a light hearted, passive aggressive version of it. Not only does it exist with those outside of government, it is within also. ‘Certain’ men in power don’t like being told they are wrong by a woman, especially a middle-aged woman who has never been married or ran a major corporation or small business. Let’s face it, Theresa has a big mouth, but I don’t think this has anything to do with wanting to be the loudest person in the room or embarrassing her male counterparts, I think it has to do with the next point.

• Transparency. Theresa likes to get information out to her constituents. She often does this during public meetings that are live and video recorded and broadcasted to constituents, sometimes asking strange questions that befuddle her colleagues, but it is an unique way to get the answers on record out of city employees. This inflames the establishment and those within city government who like doing things thru the ‘Good Old Boys’ network system of closed door meetings, private phone and email conversations, and back door handshake agreements. She sheds a light on this practice, and they want to silence her.

• Money & Greed. Many business people in this city have been the recipients of millions of dollars in corporate welfare handouts like contracts, TIFs and tax breaks. While Theresa does support some of these programs, her questioning of the practice drives them crazy because they don’t like getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I think if Theresa wins a 2nd term you will see her go after this more intensely, and that scares the bejeebers out of them, because she does not need a majority of the council to question it.

• Responds to constituents. While there are others on the council that do respond to constituents, Stehly spends a great deal of more time on it. That is one reason she has such strong grassroots support behind her, she often is the only one to look into a city issue while the rest of them hope they just run into you at the grocery story. The establishment doesn’t like someone in city government standing up for the little guy. The little guy in Sioux Falls is supposed to go to his crappy paying job, pay high rent for his crappy apartment, shut up and don’t complain. Theresa is their voice, and she often encourages them to come to public input and share their story.

• Spends her own income on informing the public. I think this alone perplexes the establishment, because they would never in a million years do something like this if they were elected to office. I know Theresa and a little about her finances, and I can vouch 100% she has no secret donors paying for these informational mailings, it all comes from her bank account. In fact, she has had to cut back a little on teaching when she became a councilor and has lost some revenue from that, because she treats it like a 24/7 job. Yes, Stehly does receive a paycheck of a little over $19K a year from the city, but that isn’t any different than a city employee receiving pay for the work they do for the public, and Stehly is free to spend that income on whatever she wants to. Councilors also don’t receive a pension or healthcare benefits.

• Challenges the special interests play palaces. Theresa has fought hard to oppose ridiculous projects like the Bunker Ramp and City Administration building. She is often in the minority, but has never faltered and has been 100% spot on in her criticism. Special interests don’t like that she questions these unneeded projects, and they want to return to the super majority, rubber stamp council of the last administration. It also doesn’t help that she often very accurately predicts the outcome of these disastrous projects.

• Treats everyone with respect when she is treated with respect. Some have accused Theresa of being mean and a bully, but Theresa applies the Golden Rule, if you smack her down, she smacks back. If you help her, she will hold out a hand. It goes back to my first point about sexism. When men do it, they are considered courageous and brave, when women fight back they are bitches and mean. Theresa stands up for her beliefs, even if she is wrong sometimes. “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”

I know it is going to be a rough 5 weeks until the election, and big money just might buy this seat for a monkey rubber stamping vampire, but make no mistake, certain special interests and special people in this town want her gone, and you will soon see more of the vitriol that already started today. Trust me, I know Theresa has learned from how Jolene was treated in the mayoral election, and she certainly isn’t going to let that kind crap happen to her.

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.