Todd Epp’s silly little blog war

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Anti-blogger (blogger), pro-censorship, praying at the altar of Hildebrand, Todd Epp has suddenly become a cheerleader for Mike Huether. I have to laugh, and warn Mike, everyone Todd supported politically usually loses. As a Sioux Falls resident who has lived in the central district the entire 8 years of Staggers’ council term, bought a house in the central Sioux Falls and has watched almost every informational and city council meeting over the past two years, I can tell you that Epp doesn’t have a clue about Kermit;

The choice facing Sioux Falls voters in two weeks couldn’t be starker.  A career politician who has never been able to build consensus and opposes every single innovation for Sioux Falls (Dr. No) versus a political newcomer who has actually run businesses, managed multi-million dollar budgets, knows how to bring people together, and is still a nice guy (The Heat).

Huh? First off, Epp, doesn’t have a dog in the fight, he is a resident of Harrisburg. Secondly his comment about ‘consensus building’ is completely off base. Has the rubber-stamp city council opposed Staggers? Sure. And everytime he has proven that he was right and they were wrong. See, Kermit votes on what his constituents want, not on what a mayor, a council or special interests want. His NO votes have always equaled praise from his constituents, why do you think he got first place in the general? Often Kermit presents amendments before voting NO. It’s not like Kermit just votes no without presenting a logical solution to the problem. And that really is Kermit’s advantage on his opponents, his progressive solutions and alternatives to going along with the flow, and that is why I think he will make a great mayor.

As for saying that Mike knows how to ‘bring people together’. Back it up with proof. I didn’t have a freaking clue who Mike was until he started running for mayor. Why is that? Because Mike is hardly a man of the people. He worked in an industry that raked in billions of dollars taking advantage of poor people with bad credit. Not sure how that qualifies him to be mayor, in fact, it scares the living shit out of me.

I often wonder if Todd’s opposition to Kermit has to do with Kermit’s strong beliefs in the 1st Amendment and transparent government?

Posted in: Mike Huether, Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Mayor Race, Todd Epp

Sioux Falls mayoral runoff dilemma

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Vote for the man with the Kangol hat.

As the Gargoyle Leader points out today, the runoff will probably give Staggers the edge because of his supporters and the low voter turnout;

An analysis of voting at precincts across the city shows that Staggers won in more polling sites – and he won big in many of them. However, Huether picked up enough voters citywide to come within 49 votes of Staggers to make it into the April 27 runoff.

Staggers did well in central Sioux Falls precincts and also some on the city’s north side. Huether claimed victories in several precincts on the city’s far west side and also in southeastern Sioux Falls.

Staggers is confident that his supporters, whom he described as very intense and very committed, will vote in the runoff.

“I certainly hope people come out and express their views because the city government has such a strong impact on all of us here,” he said.

Trust me though, Kermit IS NOT A SHOE-IN

Some things he will have to accomplish to get an edge on Mike;

1. Make sure his supporters show up on runoff day (this will be an easy one).

2. At least get the endorsement of two if not all three of his past opponents. I don’t think it will be a stretch to get Peterson’s and Costello’s endorsement, but even if he does not, I think real conservatives who voted for them, will vote for Kermit. I just don’t see a lot of conservative Republicans casting their votes for Huether (a Hildebrand Democrat). I also see an opportunity with some of Vernon’s supporters. It is no secret that Vernon is a registered Indy but he leans towards the left when it comes to city spending. I think Kermit will be able to pick up some support from Vernon in the senior citizen department. To tell you the truth, I will be surprised if Vernon endorses either candidate. He seemed to be rather miffed at Mike for the Events Center ad. I think Vernon knew all along the he couldn’t beat Kermit in the general and Mike was his main opposition.

3. A low voter turnout by Huether supporters will also boost Kermit. While I have no doubt that Huether has passionate supporters, I don’t think a lot of his supporters are as entrenched as Kermit’s are. I call Huether supporters ‘Obama-like’ who were caught up in the moment. Kermit supporters have supported him for years and don’t get all wrapped up in that Hopey-Changey stuff. We’ll see if Huether can keep them energized for another two-weeks.

4. Kermit must hammer Mike about his association with the Democratic party, unions and Hildebrand.

5. Kermit needs to ask direct questions of Mike about what he really did at First Premier Bankcard. I have yet to hear directly from the horse’s mouth about his role in fee-harvesting that resulted in the Feds making the practice illegal.

6. Kermit must make some calls. While I deplore robo-calling, there is no doubt in my mind it put Mike and Erpenbach over the top.

7. Kermit needs to keep wearing Kangol hats but ditch the tan suit.

Posted in: Kermit Staggers, Mike Huether, Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Mayor Race

Sweet Vernon ‘The Velvet Hammer’ Brown, thurd place, again . . .

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While I would have loved to seen a runoff between Brown and Staggers, his 3rd place does not surprise me one bit. While Vernon is a nice guy and a decent councilor, he just can’t resist to spend taxpayer’s money on crap we don’t really need, and the voting public has noticed. Remember, the first candidate to talk about fiscal responsibility and has practiced it his whole political life is Staggers, and guess what, he got first place last night. Huether, who has followed the ‘fiscal responsibility’ road came in second. I will give Vernon credit for one thing, he has never shied away from bragging about spending our money on monkey crappers, in fact, he has bragged about it. But at the end of the day, people prefer a (tax-cutting) knife over a sweet velvet hammer.

At least Brown and Erpenbach now can play patty-cake on the city council together.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Sioux Falls Municipal Election: Predictions

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After following this since last summer, this is my best guess;

MAYOR

1- Staggers

2- Huether

3- Brown

4- Peterson

5- Costello

6 – Ajda

At-Large (A)

1 – Hart

2 – Rolfing

3- Kooistra

4- Gaetze

5 – Ramirez

At-Large (B)

1- Jim Entenman

2- Michael Jones

SE District

1- Christensen

2- Aguilar

3- White

Central District

1- Stehly

2- Erpenbach

3- Milne

4- Hemmer

Posted in: Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Mayor Race