The Stehly Report, Fall Newsletter

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You may or may not got a copy of this in the mail today. Sioux Falls city councilor sent them out to a select group of voters (several thousand). I also have a guest column in there. SHE PAID FOR THE PRINTING AND POSTAGE HERSELF! She did not use tax dollars OR campaign donations. (FULL DOC: Stehly-NL)

Sioux Falls Councilor Stehly asks for right to circulate petitions

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Theresa has contacted the media by sending out this email after being told last year by the  city attorney that she CANNOT circulate a petition for a city initiative or referendum. She is hoping the assistant city attorney, Danny Brown, will have a different opinion on the manner, especially since there doesn’t seem to be any state laws banning the practice.

There has also been some rumblings amongst cititizens that if the city council with the assistance of the mayor passes an amendment to raise the threshold for city councilors to be elected to 51% there would be a petition drive. The petition drive would also include numerous other charter amendments.

From Stehly;

Good Morning Danny,

I am requesting that your office give me a public statement on my legal right to circulate municipal petitions.

Please address :

  1. My right to circulate a Sioux Falls municipal citizen petition. (This could be an initiative, referendum or charter revision effort.)
  2. My right  to lead a Sioux Falls municipal citizen petition drive. (This could be an initiative, referendum of charter revision effort.)

I know of several City Council members who have participated in the circulating of municipal petitions in the past. We also have had our Minnehaha County Commissioners leading a petition drive. I am inspired by Mark Mickelson’s leadership of the statewide petition drive that is happening at this time.

I will be sharing this information with the public.

Thanks for your response,

Theresa Stehly

What do you think about an elected official running a petition drive? Personally I don’t take issue with it. I don’t agree with Mickelson’s petition, but I do think he has the right to circulate it.

Belfrage & Epp defend Stehly’s idea for districting parks board

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Greg and Todd discussed the ‘logic’ behind the districting and questioned why anyone in the administration would be against it.

But Todd took an interesting twist on it and asked why a director of a department (Don Kearney with Parks and Rec) would take such a public stand against a city councilors legislative idea. Belfrage said that has been the mayor’s ‘style’ having his peeps gun against the councils ideas when it goes against his.

When you have Belfrage and Epp defending Stehly’s idea, you know the Mayor doesn’t have a leg to stand on.