UPDATE: Last night before I posted this I was told by some upstanding members of the SD Democratic Party that the vote for chair would be decided by a simple plurality. Basically ONE vote, ONE election. Well since than, a new ruling has come down. Now they are claiming there are no specific rules in the Constitution saying it is a simple majority or 50% of the vote. The Constitution does say, however, anything that is not specifically written in the SDDP Constitution will defer to parliamentary procedure and that the Executive Board will be reviewing the rules during their next monthly meeting.

So what does that mean?  If they defer to Robert’s Rules, then we keep having balloting until a candidate gets 50%.  It could go all night.

All this rule changing and indecision is the EXACT reason why the party needs new leadership.

Another hat in the ring;

I am Paula Hawks, former state legislator from District 9 (Hartford) and 2016 Congressional candidate for the South Dakota Democratic Party.  I am announcing my candidacy for the State Chair of the Democratic Party, along with Jack Mortenson for Vice Chair, and Caroline Hansen for Secretary.  Bringing a united, strong leadership team is important to the success of the Party at a time when we need to be developing a strategy for success in 2020.  From the top of the Congressional ticket to local elections all over the state, we must focus our attention on building the Democratic Party’s ability to identify strong candidates and support them in their endeavors.

This adds to the current list of John Cunningham (SF), Ann Tornberg (Beresford) and Tom Cool (SF). There is also another announcement of another Sioux Falls resident that will be running coming soon (who I support). Since the vote is based on plurality, it’s anyone’s game, but I think it will be a close matchup between Hawks and one of the three candidates from Sioux Falls.

Nice knowing you Ann . . .

I do know that Randolph Seiler did consider the volunteer position but decided not to run.

Well, their idea is a ‘little’ different, but within the same scope;

“We have a real housing shortage on every level. Starter homes, upper-level homes, multifamily, you name it, we could use it,” city manager Amanda Mack said.

So about a year ago, the community decided to get serious about it.

Canton passed a program to rebate the city’s portion of new residential property taxes for five years. After that, five houses were built.

“And they all came because of the housing initiative,” Mack said.

Canton is using the tax rebate for NEW growth, while my idea would be to fix up older properties in the core of Sioux Falls. But either way, it encourages people to invest in housing, whether that is a NEW home in a smaller town, or to fix up a property in Sioux Falls. I actually believe if implemented, the program would be so popular, we could probably clean up a majority of core housing within 7-10 years, while actually increasing tax base after 5 years (once the rebate matures the homes will be worth more).

bill-bill-and-bill

“So I got pardoned by my father in law?”

Small town politics in South Dakota often make me chuckle. The Hartford email kerfuffle has been entertaining (and prove anyone can govern, whether they have brain waves or not).

But I found this comment from Bill Haugen, Bill Janklow’s former son-in-law that he pardoned, hilarious;

But before it was complete, Johnson resigned. Which, Councilman Bill Haugen believes brings forth more issues.

“We no longer are bale to have a quorum,” said Haugen.

In November, two other city council members stepped down after controversy erupted over a petition to recall Mayor Bill Campbell.

“So, I’m not really sure where we go from here,” added Haugen.

Cuz, like, my mentor is dead. What shall I do? Maybe they can pardon Bill Campbell?

You know what they say, all Bad Bill’s come in 3’s.

Not sure when this article was written (somewhere between 2002-2009?) because there is no published date or author, but it is an intriguing interview with the last Democratic Treasurer, his take on secrecy and corruption in Pierre, and how the media contributed (ignored) the secrecy;

Since serving as Treasurer of South Dakota, Dick Butler has overhauled banking practices, overhauled primary banking contracts of colleges and universities, overhauled collateralization of public deposits and in six years returned unclaimed properties accounts that totaled more than 500% of what had been returned to citizens during the previous 20 years combined. Millions of dollars have been returned to South Dakota citizens through his efforts.

During the time Butler has been Treasurer his actions have been the impetus for the creation of a gag law intended to silence his efforts. The Commissioner of Banking in South Dakota, Richard Duncan, wrote a memo to all state banks in South Dakota advising them not to give information to Butler regarding executive accounts, and a bill was proposed that was intended to strip the State Treasurer of his banking authority for colleges and universities.

The controversial gag law, spurred by Janklow, was passed in 1996. It closed some corporate records and prohibited state officials from discussing information on investigations into the actions of corporations.

Isn’t it ironic that Butler rightfully performed his job, and what does the GOP do? Pass a law preventing him from doing so. Fast forward to 2013, where are current governor is bragging about all this money the state is receiving in unclaimed property. Why does the governor have this money? Because the state treasurers since Butler have made ZERO effort to return it.

I also find it ironic that Butler calls out Mercer for not reporting any of this while it was happening, fast forward again to 2013 where Mercer is crying to AG Jackboots for not giving him information on Benda’s death. Geez, Bob, are you surprised? Oh that’s right, when Janklow’s administration did these things, you turned the other way . . .

And here is another classic from 2009, about the secrecy of ‘The Governor’s Club’. Same cast of characters protecting the past while securing the secrecy and money of the future;

The Governor’s Club has been a discrete part of political fundraising in South Dakota for more than 30 years. For a $1,000 donation, contributors buy a place at the table – and a position of potential influence – with South Dakota’s governor at club events that are not open to the general public.

Lucas Lentsch, executive director for the South Dakota Republican Party in Pierre, said it would be wrong to presume that $1,000 club members get “perks or additional access” to the governor.

Oh Lucas Losemylunch, you are a funny one;

And there are state contract holders on the Governor’s Club list. They include former state Attorney General Roger Tellinghuisen, a Spearfish lawyer with $75,000 legal services contract; Dr. Michael Rost of Sioux Falls, whose company has about $400,000 in contracts; Tom Adam of Pierre, a partner in a Pierre law firm with a $350,000 in contract; and Sioux Falls lawyer Doug Hajek, a member of the Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith firm, which holds a $700,000 state contract.

Knudson is with Davenport, Evans, too. But he says the corporate structure is designed so that he doesn’t benefit financially from the state contracts.

Maybe so, Hauffe said, but the whole mix of money, personal connections and no-bid contracts is more proof that the public needs more details on how where the money starts, how it flows, and where it ends up.

Now we are here, 4 years later, the same corruption, secrecy, back door deals and same old characters involved. Here’s the deal folks, Janklow is dead, we don’t need to be scared of the man anymore (like we should have when he was alive), one of his appointees is dead (Benda), it’s time to blow the lid off of the SD GOP and their destruction of this state for their financial gain.