Yeah, I know, you never thought I would agree with Mr. Brown, did you? We will get to that shortly, but first with councilor Theresa Stehly’s idea of having separate legal council for the city council;

The distrust, she said, stems from conversations with City Attorney David Pfeifle in which she was told she was vulnerable to ethics violations if she continued to speak out against city-backed initiatives, policies and projects. She said those comments were made in an attempt to stifle her efforts to generate public opposition to the city administration building and a Terrace Park improvement project that the city’s historical preservation board put a stop to earlier this year.

“The agenda and wishes of the mayor are coming first,” she said.

Many would argue that another attorney would cost us more money, not the case at all. They could easily move one of the 6-8 attorneys that already work for the city over to the city council position. You wouldn’t have to hire anyone new. I think we should have learned our lesson when we fired an incredible city clerk (Debra Owen) and had to hire 3 employees to replace her. Not only did Owen do all 3 of their jobs for a lot less then the unqualified city clerk is doing now, she also had a law degree and advised the council on legal issues (one of the reasons I think the city attorney broke open meeting laws to get her fired).

In 2012, after the council voted to fire former City Clerk Debra Owens during an executive session, the city was brought up on open meetings violations in front of the South Dakota Open Meetings Commission.

I was at the meeting where the city attorney attempted to Fiddle Faddle his way through violating open meetings laws. He looked like a fish out of water and was chastised by almost the entire board of very seasoned government attorneys. As I said above, whether he is qualified or not, the council had excellent legal representation with Owen, who also championed transparent government. I have often been puzzled why it took three positions to replace her, and I still don’t know what these guys do besides making power point presentations and stamping official election documents with a blind fold on.

However, making the office of city attorney an elected position would alleviate perceptions that the city attorney is beholden to the mayor, he said.

“You know who hires and fires if you’re the city attorney,” he (Vernon Brown) said. “But should the city attorney be elected? Because then there’s some accountability besides to the mayor.”

I have suggested this in the past, making the city attorney an elected position would be excellent.

As for how Stehly has been treated, I haven’t been privy to those conversations, but there are some obvious missteps by the city attorney that reveal his vindictive nature towards councilor Stehly, for instance shouting from the crowd to stop her while she is being gaveled by Rex Rolfing. We know where David gets his marching orders from, that is obvious from how Debra Owen was fired and how he handled the siding settlement;

Former council chairman Kenny Anderson Jr. said there were times during his tenure that he felt outside counsel would have benefited the City Council.

When the city attorney’s office was negotiating the Premier Center siding settlement, the council was mostly kept out of that process and had to defer to Pfeifle throughout the process.

“There were times I felt we should have had a second opinion. I don’t disagree with Councilor Stehly on that,” he said. “I would say one good discussion point would have been the contract that the mayor and administration signed with the parties in the event center and where the money was placed as part of settlement.”

If you don’t think David is keeping things from the public and the city council, all you need to do is look at his track record and his loyalty towards the mayor. When he became the mayor’s personal attorney during an ethics hearing because the mayor couldn’t walk a 100 feet to defend himself, is another prime example.

Either way, I believe city charter has changed now so that the next mayor will have to have the consent of the city council before appointing a future city attorney. Spring of 2018 can’t come soon enough.

10 Thoughts on “I agree with Vernon Brown about electing a city attorney

  1. An elected chief council is a great idea. We elect the position and the position has full control of all legal issues and legal staff within the city. How do we get this on a ballot?

  2. There are two options;

    • You could appeal to the Charter Revision Commission to put it on the ballot to change city charter or

    • Do a petition drive to change the city charter.

    The first option would be easier since our current city attorney has a habit of throwing out petition drives.

  3. The D@ily Spin on October 18, 2016 at 8:08 pm said:

    Why is it that Pfeifle only represents the mayor? Other cities have a city attorney’s office that represents everything city. Pfeifle’s staff is other attorneys and legal staff. Why does Huether have a whole department? Maybe Huether can assign himself Pfeifle but he should be known as the mayor’s attorney. The rest are the city attorney’s office representing all city business and the council.
    Like everything irregular, only in the sovereign monarchy known as Sioux Falls.

  4. grudznick on October 18, 2016 at 8:14 pm said:

    Best option: No attorney for the mayor or council. Outside of that, the city attorney is an employee of the city and works for the mayor and at his pleasure. Council wants another attorney, have them raise taxes and pay for it. BAH

  5. The D@ily Spin on October 18, 2016 at 8:47 pm said:

    Grounds for disbarment is misrepresentation. You can’t call yourself the city’s attorney when (in fact) you only represent it’s mayor. Pfeifle is not the city attorney. He’s a mafia lawyer.

  6. Enough of shape places and legacy of mmm on October 19, 2016 at 12:48 am said:

    Just like the Feds, the govt no longer represents the voters. MMM and his liaisons of idiots (the council) except Starr and Stehly have worn out their welcome as we are all broke now.

  7. Warren on October 19, 2016 at 7:46 am said:

    Right now the mayors attorney, fifle, makes $154,752 a year. Fifles deputy attorney makes $121,056 a year. Five more of fifles assistant attorneys make $99,528 a year. Another paper shuffler with a large title and large payscale makes $95,638.40 a year. There are also 9 more positions in the attorneys office domain, 7 of whom make between 50k and 70k a year. The remaining two make $10 an hour, no benefits, and can work no more than1400 hours a year.

    Out of this group the city cannot find room for a council attorney?

  8. Reliable Voter on October 19, 2016 at 11:54 am said:

    The council could investigate organizing staff like the Public Utilities Commission, which is also is a law/rule making body with quasi-judicial and administrative duties, like the council. Attorneys are designated as Commission Attys, as in assigned to the elected commissioners, and staff attorneys, who work with other Commission staff and often in response to public input. They are expected to investigate and make recommendations independently to provide the elected officials with policy options to better inform their decisions.

    For starters, a current city attorney is a former staff attorney for the PUC who understand how the “Chinese wall” works.

  9. The D@ily Spin on October 20, 2016 at 6:47 am said:

    24 in the city attorney’s office. There were 3 for Munson. How did this happen? City ordinance denies appeals into court. What do they do? One got arrested for DWI. The one who represents police. Maybe one floor of the new city building will be a bar! Next, hire a planner staff for private events, card parties, & bingo. Gotta somehow keep them busy.

  10. The D@ily Spin on October 20, 2016 at 7:03 am said:

    Thanks #7 for your report. Looks like each of the Problem five has 5 in the city attorney’s office who can’t make a case against him. As for me, I’m proud I’ve used the Internet to not pay sales tax that supports this.

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