My Final Post • July 7, 2020

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Trust me, it is NOT with heavy heart that I will stop posting here. The blog will remain as is but the comments will be shut off and there will be no more posts moving forward.

Over the past couple of months I have had many POSITIVE things happen to me, and the Blog is no longer a part of that and it time to cut the strings. While I enjoyed it, I did speculate shutting it down for at least 2 years, it just took me awhile. It’s just not fun anymore and really not part of my life anymore. I got stuff to do and it doesn’t involve city politics.

It also has nothing to do with Stehly leaving the council. I think we will see her come back into the political spotlight after a short break and I expect her to be an even stronger citizen advocate – one of the reasons I did not want her to run for re-election, she gets more done when her hands are NOT tied down by haters.

I guess the real reason I am quitting is because I don’t think I am making a dent in stopping or even slowing city government corruption. The elected officials over the past 6 years have become more corrupt, more unethical, hypocritical and quite honestly a lot dumber, unprepared, sophomoric and naïve. Just look at the response to Covid. It has virtually been ignore the problem and it may go away. Or 5G which has virtually done NOTHING to improve the lives of the citizenry. Dumb people lie and cheat because they have no problem solving skills, and they don’t want to solve social ills, they want to line their pockets. We need to stop electing these idiots. They represent one class of people, and it isn’t you and me.

There is also another glaring problem in our little town, a Fourth Estate that is non-existent. We have a daily paper where we can count the number of employees on one hand ran by a person who is more concerned about Fernson’s latest beer than what is going on in our community politically. And our local TV stations seem to be more concerned about food trucks, car dealerships and golf tournaments put on by the hospital industrial complex. The sad part is, the best news source in town comes from a two person operation that gets paid for content. How ironic is that? What makes it even more funny is this person was the target of one of my first posts on this blog. How the times have changed. Keep rocking it Jodi!

Trust me though, just because I won’t be commenting on city politics anymore does NOT mean I won’t be paying attention, I just encourage others to get more involved. The voters have chosen these fools, and now they can live with the results. It is just unfortunate that I also have to. But there is very little tying me down to this town. I could pack up my crap in a couple of days and be gone. The main reason I stay is because it is quiet, when I want it to be quiet.

No matter what I say or do it won’t make much of difference. The hatred and disgust towards towards openness, transparency and simple honesty is the cancer that is eating away at our local government. And it’s not just the council and mayor, it’s city directors, public employees (mostly management), school board members, county commissions (both of them) and yes the citizens who support these people. You are your own worst enemies. Stop making everything a partisan issue. Good government is good for all of us!

It’s just best I don’t say anything, anymore. It’s better for my mental health. I just want to sit in front of a canvas and listen to old time roots country and watch BBC art docs.

There will be something I will miss about it, all the colorful comments and hundreds of friends I have made over the 13 years. Some of these friendships have been life changing. One of my fondest memories is how I changed my relationship with Greg Jamison, who I once revered as an enemy but became a local government confidant, heck even his father warmed up to me a bit. Or my relationship with Dr. Kermit Staggers, a person who always put integrity above everything else and swatted away the detractors like gnats. Or the bond I formed with former city clerk Debra Owen who has always been forthright with me about her positions and has stood by those positions while listening to my side. Her kindness, depth of knowledge and understanding has often gotten me through some rough patches on the blog. Heck, I even got Sioux Falls School Board President Cynthia Mickelson to listen to some of my suggestions over the past few months after she reached out to me with an open hand and open mind. There are a few good people in local government, but there needs to be more of them.

I want to give one last thank you to two people. One I will name, one I will not. Cameraman Bruce has been vital to this fight. My links to his YouTube page transformed how I covered local politics and his fight has always been my fight. While he never had access to my blog, ownership or editorial control, his contributions have been insurmountable. While I have had several guest posts over the years, I have always been the soul writer and editor of the blog. There is also someone else, a person I would never mention by name, but they stood behind me the whole way and sacrificed a lot over the past 13 years (actually over 20). They know who they are, and I will be eternally grateful, because without them, there would have never been SouthDaCola. I will never be able to repay you for the countless hours you have put in consulting me along the way, you are good friend, remember that. Now go saw some logs!

Detroit Lewis – Signing off!

Posted in: South DaCola Fest

VOTE STEHLY! A Good Friend to Have

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In this endorsement of Stehly I could certainly go on and on about her citizen activism and record of getting things done on the council (even if her initiatives don’t garner a single vote) But I won’t, because many know her record. In a recent online poll done by the Argus Leader 40% of the respondents recognized her by seeing an image of her. I’m not sure if I have ever known a city councilor to have that much recognition in Sioux Falls.

Today I want to tell you another side of Stehly that most people never hear much about; She will do ANYTHING for a friend. I could go on and on about her kindness and generosity. She has literally spent thousands of dollars of her own money (not campaign donations) putting out mailers and updates to citizens, because she felt it was the right thing to do. She has tended to the sick and dying spending numerous hours each week visiting people in the hospital and hospice. She probably spends another 20 hours a week responding to citizens questions and needs and is constantly trying to get transparent answers from public officials.

Theresa and I don’t always agree, in fact we have been in a disagreement about how she has been running her campaign, but that is what makes her a good friend. When most people disagree and they blow it off, it means they really don’t care about your point of view OR you personally. When I argue with Theresa (and many of her close friends do) I know it is because she cares about your point of view, which means she cares about you.

She often tells me and the media when she does things for the community, it is because she wants to give them a ‘big hug’.

Theresa may be a bit controversial and outspoken but she certainly isn’t deceptive in her ways, she does those things to bring issues to the forefront.

I bet if I took the time I could find a financial benefit every single councilor has received that has served on the council since the Home Rule Charter started except for Stehly (Brekke, Staggers & Starr). Theresa has never financially benefitted from being a citizen activist or councilor, like I said above, it has actually cost her money.

Theresa does all these things because she loves people and wants to help. That’s it! NO hidden agenda, no backdoor schemes, no financial benefits simply because of her belief in others and having good government.

There is a lot you can say about how Theresa approaches things and it may not be as polished as we would like, but I know as her friend, she does it because she loves us and that love is something that lacks these days in city government, we need 4 more years of her love and support.

Re-Elect my friend Theresa Stehly, there really isn’t another choice.

Posted in: Elections, SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Theresa Stehly

Sioux Falls City Council Candidate Count Jensen lacks the transparency it takes to be a leader

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So there is a lot of talk about transparency as a candidate for city council but little action. While the blog up North wants to rip on Stehly for a tiny donation from a well known Democrat, there has been little mention of Jensen getting endorsements and donations from two well known Democrats, Jack Billion and Scott Heidepreim. I will commend the Count for at least talking about it.

But what is startling is the lack of transparency on his financial report. You spent all this money on ‘advertising’ but didn’t break it down? How much on consulting, meals, TV ads, Social Media, radio, publications, postage, printing, etc.

So why is this? I think he hired the blogger up North to run the whole campaign. So no one knows how much money is being made and where it is being spent.

The way one runs a campaign is comparable to how they will govern. If you can’t even tell us how much you spent on stamps, how can we trust you as an elected leader? We can’t. There is a lot of people running a cottage industry from making money from suckers like Jensen, and the ring leaders are cashing in. I took very little in when running 4 successful campaigns. Why? Because I believed in them and didn’t care about the payola.

And for the record, I have received NO money from the Stehly campaign and the only consulting I had with her was contentious conversations about how she was doing it wrong. That is why I respect Big ‘T’ because I can have disagreements with her and it is water under the bridge. I don’t owe her a damn thing, and she doesn’t owe me.

Jensen is running a ‘big money’ campaign not because he wants to win but because he is lining the pockets of those who are supposed to be helping him. It is pathetic, disgusting and the reason why politics have become so gutter.

While I have my issues with Theresa sometimes, I would NEVER question her intentions, integrity or looking at the bigger picture. Theresa could give ‘two-sh*ts’ about what it takes to win a campaign, she learned from the best of them (Staggers) that it is about human contact and connecting with constituents, you can’t put a price tag on that. That’s why I think she will pull this off. Trust me it will be close, but I know who her supporters are, and they vote. If she loses, oh well, it will only fortify that scheming and scamming is the only strategy that gets BAD candidates elected.

Posted in: Alex Jensen, Elections, SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Theresa Stehly

Former Sioux Falls Mayor Knobe writes another FB post on money in local politics

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Rick gets into the thick of it again;

A word on Sioux Falls City Election Campaign funds.

You learn a lot about a person by the way they handle other people’s money. Both tax dollars and those monies raised to run an election.

When a person runs for office obviously they need money to run a campaign so they can get their ideas out to the public.

When the campaign is over and the bills are paid, what should be done with leftover cash?

To me it’s simple.

It’s not your money.

Whether you win or lose, you don’t keep it. You don’t save it for your next election. You don’t give it to others running for office.

I agree, as I said a few days ago, the responsible thing to do to your contributors is spend every last penny up until the day of the election. Your campaign chest should really be empty or in debt on election day. That is called running a responsible and fiscally wise campaign which reflects on how you will run government when elected.

If you can figure out how to return it on a per donor or pro rata (an equal percentage goes back to each donor) that would make sense. Remember, It’s not your money. It belongs to your donors.

If that is too cumbersome, then donate it. Maybe the Community Foundation, the United Way, or the local government you love.

I think it would be difficult to give it back, but I do agree with the charitable idea.

Also I think it is dishonest to raise money to run for a city election and use the leftovers to run for another office later on. “I gave you money to run for mayor. I didn’t give you money to use it to run for Governor, Senator, Congress, or any other position.” I’m not targeting the current mayor. Just using that position as an example.

You kind of are, especially a politician who has money left over by skirting campaign finance rules and receiving donations from toddlers. Yes, toddlers.

I like level playing fields. People who have accumulated big war chests while holding office have both the name identification advantage AND the money advantage.

That makes it nearly impossible for smart motivated unknowns to make a dent.

If you run for office to be a true public servant that’s where your energy and time should go. Not to endless fund raising.

This is local government. It’s supposed to be non partisan and with few exceptions be part time.

Let’s not allow lucre (money) to interfere with good local government.

There have been several local races that have won spending a lot less than their opponents. Staggers (versus Knudson), Stehly, Brekke and Starr all spent less than their opponents and even though DeBoer lost to Soehl (by a handful of votes) he spent a lot less. It is possible to beat big money, you just have to find creative ways to get your message out there.

Posted in: Elections, Mayor TenHaken, SF City Council, Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls City Councilor Stehly was on the attack yesterday, and it was the ‘Good Fight’

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First, the obvious – The First Amendment DOES not protect free speech when comes to using tax dollars to promote a political candidate. This doesn’t even take a Constitutional scholar to figure it out. This is why Trump was impeached in Congress. He was withholding tax dollars to help his presidential candidacy.

While I understand a local entrepreneur casually mentioning a city council candidate he is helping out in an article funded by two institutions that receive some tax funding (state and city) may seem not as grand as what our president did, it is still worth talking about and correcting.

I was extremely irritated that some elected officials on the council chose to defend this obvious violation of free speech rights and state law.

Just because you violate campaign rules ‘a little bit’ doesn’t make it alright. That essentially was their argument.

While what councilors Brekke, Stehly and citizen Bruce Danielson said may have been uncomfortable, it was very appropriate to say and the right time to say it, in a public meeting. No one was advocating to arrest anyone, no one was going to throw some one in jail or fine them. This was simply an effort to ‘nip it in the butt’ before it became common place. People make mistakes, we get it.

Over the past day, I have told several people that Matt Paulson (Alex Jensen’s quasi-campaign manager, treasurer and fundraiser) did nothing wrong, neither did Siouxfalls.business. Stehly wasn’t attacking them, she was simply telling the Sioux Falls Development Foundation (and I guess DSU) that moving forward they should not promote certain candidates because they receive public money.

This isn’t an attack, it’s a fact, and many journalists and citizens agree.

We know what’s going on here, and we have been seeing this across the state for several years. The Republican establishment (a very small elitist group) has controlled our State House for almost 50 years, and they are trying to take control of our County Commissions, State’s Attorney offices and other non-partisan government entities like city councils and school boards. I want to clarify, I have voted for ‘good’ Republicans (like Stehly, Brekke, Staggers and Jamison) on these non-partisan bodies, because they have integrity and want to keep party affiliation out of politics. The group I am referring to is a very small group of ‘know it all’ elitist, establishment Republicans that want to control their business interests, and they see an opportunity here, though their actions look more like ‘amateur hour’.

I have said it already, they are using candidates like Jensen for city council, Cynthia Mickelson for school board and State’s Attorney candidates like Haggar and Bengford to stack the deck and implement their pro-corporate welfare of government, these are NOT Republicans in the sense of tradition, these are elitist greed mongers that only pray to one God; money. Don’t believe me? Why else would the South Dakota GOP Chair, a Jewish Iowa businessman lobby for an Islamic theocratic government? Because party doesn’t matter, only money and greed.

So yes, Stehly was on the attack yesterday. She was attacking greed, corruption, partisanship, lack of integrity and lack of open government. And not just ‘a little bit’ but a lot.

Posted in: 1st Amendment, Alex Jensen, Dan Lederman, Elections, Republicans, SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Theresa Stehly