Sioux Falls Councilor Stehly asks for right to circulate petitions

by

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.

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

3 Thoughts on “Sioux Falls Councilor Stehly asks for right to circulate petitions”

  1. The D@ily Spin on September 7, 2017 at 4:58 pm said:

    Pretty bold. Citizens gave up when the 6400 petition got squashed. It is obvious there’s no democracy in Sioux Falls when councilors loose their right to petition.

  2. scott on September 7, 2017 at 7:57 pm said:

    good for theresa. i bet the lord mayor called her into his office.

  3. hornguy on September 8, 2017 at 10:43 am said:

    This is interesting. I’d be interested in the city attorney’s rationale. There are two possible justifications that come to mind…

    – That since the city council votes to schedule elections, it’s a conflict of interest to circulate. But I would think that would merely require abstention from the vote.

    – That city council members are paid as city employees, that a city council member is never really off the clock, and city employees are precluded from circulating petitions while on the clock through some general guideline governing their employment.

Post Navigation