It has been brought to my attention that a small southeastern town city administrator is pushing to get a bill submitted (hasn’t been yet) taking municipal referendum and initiative signature requirements to 20 percent of registered voters from 5 percent. This will eliminate yet another safety net to keep city councils in line. That would change the required signatures in Sioux Falls to jump from around 6k to over 24K. Ironically it would take more signatures in Sioux Falls to get an initiative or referendum on the ballot then the amount of people who typically vote in a municipal election.

I often remind people that 1) we need to make the referendum process easier not harder and 2) and signing a petition doesn’t mean you approve of the initiative just your right to vote on it. For example, I signed the slaughterhouse petition even though I already knew I would vote against it. Direct Democracy is a beautiful thing and any opportunity we have to use it and promote it is good for the public.

I know, I know, a little early, but you would be surprised how much chatter has been going on already about the next mayoral race. The below predictions are PURE speculation based on convos I have had with city government nerds;

• Mike Huether, the former mayor has been actively reaching out to potential supporters and it is highly likely he will run.

• Greg Jamison, Greg currently serves in the SD legislature, but I have a fishy feeling he would love another round with Mr. Huether.

• Christine Erickson, she is coming off a very successful campaign against the stinky folks, and she has the ego to take a stab at this.

• Alex Jensen, not sure what to think of this, but his name has been floated out there by TenHaken worshippers.

• Greg Neizert, not sure if he is interested, but it seems like the most logical next political step.

• Theresa Stehly, I doubt she will run, but I can almost guarantee if she does run she will be in the runoff.

I’m sure there will be a couple of other Zombies (SNARK!) entering the race, but I have a feeling we will see a very crowded and diverse group.

During the working session recently, the school board was considering how they are going to do elections and board member terms moving forward. They want to switch to 4 year terms for school board members (I think they are 3 years right now) and sync them with the city elections in the Spring. They looked at this as helping voter turnout. The other big droning argument in the room was ‘saving money’. It irritates me when a group of non-elected government workers and elected officials get giddy over saving money on elections. I’m all for being prudent when it comes to elections, and I think this will be a cost saving measure to do so, but to make it your main argument OVER voter turnout makes me wonder what this is really about?

I was wondering if the club was going to say anything about Kristi lifting footage from Jamie Smith’s appearance, oh, but they are concerned;

Some members of the Downtown Rotary Club in Sioux Falls were not happy that Gov. Kristi Noem’s campaign pilfered video of a meeting the club had with Democratic governor candidate Jamie Smith.

In a note to club members, President Cindy Peterson acknowledged the discontent.

“Please know there has been extensive discussion on if, when, and how to respond,” Peterson wrote. “Downtown Rotary is a nonpartisan organization and prides itself on being a place where important conversations happen. Our club’s neutrality cannot be compromised by implying a side in what is a political debate.”

The ‘time’ to respond would have been immediately after the ad was posted. It does no good to slap people’s hands after they clobber their opponent in a statewide election. Kristi doesn’t give a sh!t!

“As we look forward, the board will discuss our current process and policy regarding meeting content and determine how our club regulates the rights to the footage and how it is used in the future,” Peterson wrote.

I certainly am NO expert, but they could have posted a disclaimer on the bottom of the video that says the Rotary requests permission to use their videos in political and non-political ads. They also can put a copyright on the videos. They can do very little about people who may share their videos on social media or blogs, but those are NOT campaign ads.

I think the Rotary knew what she did was ethically wrong, but since a large majority of members are Republicans and small business owners, there was no way in Hell they were going to slap her around before the election. What members of Rotary were upset? The two democrats and one independent that belong to the club?