Witch Hunt

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Looks like city attorney Tornow ate too much of the US Constitution. I never knew the fifth amendment could be so filling (screenshot from KELO-TV video).

Here’s an update on the ethics complaint against Staggers.

Tornow also says he thinks the city’s ordinance is in conflict with state law, which is why Staggers says he wants changes to the way the board of ethics operates.

“I wish your best in the consideration of the proposed ordinance which would make it clearer or more explicit in allowing an accused person of an ethics complaint to allow the complaint to be made public. This ordinance that needs to be passed,” Staggers said.

Well isn’t it your freaking job to follow state law? If you know it is in violation, as a lawyer wouldn’t you follow state law instead of protecting the city? You should put a gigantic sticker on the City Attorney’s door at city hall, “The Fifth Amendment is not allowed here.”

Ethicsboardminutes. This is a PDF.

ethicscomplaint. This is a PDF.

response-staggers This is a PDF.

Tornow needs to get a fire estinguisher for his pants;

Owen asked Tornow whether he felt Staggers had adequate notice of what the board was investigating. Tornow replied: “It isn’t how I feel like, it’s how I read the ordinance.” And he said it was “absolutely untrue” that Staggers didn’t receive proper notice, to which Staggers replied, “What are you talking about, Shawn?”

This guy tells so many lies, he begins to believe them. It infuriates me that he still is collecting a paycheck from my taxes. He should be fired, disbarred and ran out of town for his violations against the US Constitution.

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Posted in: Ethics, Sioux Falls, Staggers

So who filed the complaint? Good question. UPDATED

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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.

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Staggers

Who is on Mayor Mike Huether’s transition team?

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Not just a pretty face, but a former SF city councilor who QUIT, and LOST his bid for mayor.

I have often joked, besides the obvious, people helping our new mayor (Dave Nelson, Metli and Hildebrand) there probably isn’t anybody else helping him. But a little birdy told me the other day, the guy who went crying to KELO-TV about Councilor Staggers’ councilor trips, former city councilor, Darren Smith, is probably one of Mike’s chief transition advisors. I’m not sure if it is true, but if anybody is feeling frisky, fill me in.

Posted in: Mayor Subprime Mike Huether, Mike Huether, Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Mayor Race

“And I would have gotten away with it . . .

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. . . if it weren’t for those meddling reporters and bloggers.”

First I want to start on the positive. Mike has agreed to experimenting with snowgates and upgrading infrastructure before building new roads. Good. These are only common sense endeavors. But he needs to work on the whole ‘transparency’ thingy.

Ellis’ column proves something I thought about Mayor Mike during the campaign; He talks out of both sides of his mouth and can’t give a straight answer to a straight question. I have often believed he took the positive aspects of Staggers, repackaged them and sold them as Huether USDA choice. Snowgates? Infrastructure first? Can you say; the hallmarks of Staggers two terms on the city council?

But let’s look at the run around that Ellis has so beautifully displayed about Mayor Subprime’s transition team;

• On May 4, Huether said he was still putting “the team” together.

• Then comes May 17, Turns out the mayor was still forming his team. Actually, he said, “it’s not so much just one team.”

• By May 22, the situation had changed in dramatic fashion. “The transition team is Mike Huether, that’s it,” the mayor said.

Was there a transition team? Is there a transition team? Or is the team really just My Man Mike?

Scooby-Doo, where are you?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_C2HJvtRDY[/youtube]

Posted in: Mayor Subprime Mike Huether, Mike Huether, Sioux Falls

We may just get those snowgates after all

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Mayor Mike promised to ‘experiment’ with snowgates during the campaign, something that has been long overdue. A friend of mine had a conversation with Mike about it the other day and he said he will budget to experiment with them. Something Staggers fought for his entire term on the council. The biggest argument against them was that they do not work, which is not the case. Many communities use them not only for 40 inches of snow, but for leaf removal from the streets (Cour De Lene, Idaho). I’m glad to see Mike will be taking on this endeavor.

Other things discussed were tree trimming in the boulevard and expanding Drake Springs Pool (since the city scaled back the main pool before building it) and I want to clarify this. In the original plans shown of Drake Springs Pool, the main pool was much larger, not sure why it was scaled back, but I’m sure ‘sour grapes’ had something to do with it. Mike said he will absolutely not expand the pool (which sounds reasonable because, quite frankly, it is too late and he has been chomping at the bit to build an indoor pool which I’m sure will be in the 2011 budget). And he seems to be confused about tree trimming, he sounded like he was under the impression that property owners have to take care of adjacent city property (and this is true according to city charter) but it still isn’t right considering the city is legally liable for the property. But since the constitutionality of code enforcement is in question now, the city may have no choice but to take care of their own property. They have no legal standing to fine you if you don’t trim their trees.

Posted in: Mayor Subprime Mike Huether, Mike Huether, Sioux Falls, snow removal