South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

July 2010

Ethics Sioux Falls

The Sioux Falls Board of Ethics doesn’t want us to think (or know) that they are A-Holes?

l3wis 2Comments

The ethics board chief advisors

I am amazed that in such a small town that we have such huge egos and arrogance by the few in power;

The Sioux Falls City Council wants to make the ethics complaint process more public and give the Board of Ethics less authority to impose penalties as it works to amend city law.

Right now, the board has the authority to impose several penalties on city officials or employees if they are found to be in the wrong.

The penalties include a reprimand, suspension or removal from office or a fine.

“They serve as the prosecutor and the judge at the same time,” Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr. said Monday at the council’s Public Service Committee meeting.

Oh, but wait, even though Kenny is right, and it is LEGAL, the boo-hoo ethics board doesn’t want you to think it is all their fault.

Chairman Michael McKnight said the board simply was following the city ordinance.

“We are the favorite whipping boy. What can we say? There’s not much we can say about the specific incident because the process is confidential,” McKnight said.

That is just it. Instead of just responding to the one complaint about the city employee addresses they went on a ‘fishing expedition’ and tried to find other ethics violations against Dr. Staggers. This WAS political, and it so f’ing obvious that heads should role. I mean, C’mon, these people are volunteers, boot their asses. The job of a GOOD and FAIR ethics board is to look into complaints and make recommendations. That’s it. Seems pretty simple to me. Instead, they have the city attorney’s office and their TOADS digging up empty graves like no tomorrow.

Huether and the council need to remove everyone from the ethics board and city attorney’s office and start fresh.

Sioux Falls

You mean the ‘cheap labor’ mantra isn’t working for Sioux Falls? Who would have guessed?

l3wis 21Comments

It seems the ‘all knowing’ Randell Beck at the Gargoyle Leader and Slater Barr, President of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation figured out something most of us working class stiffs in Sioux Falls have known for years; attracting businesses to Sioux Falls based on the ‘cheap labor’ mantra doesn’t build a strong local economy. The more you pay workers, and the more skilled labor you have, the more they can invest in the community. Keep paying shit wages to the average Joe, and he will continue to shop at Walmart and live in trailer parks.

One person interviewed for the study put it a bit more bluntly: “Growth has been driven by emptying out of South Dakota’s small towns. What’s next? Where are our future workers going to come from when that trend slows?”

I call it the Sioux Falls ‘vacuum’. Instead of trying to attract ‘skilled labor’ businesses we attract ‘cheap labor’ businesses and those who want to get out of the small towns see Sioux Falls as a beacon. Until of course they get here and realize they are working twice as much just to get by.

“It used to be that economic development was shoot anything that flies and capture anything that falls,” Barr told Argus Leader reporter Anna Bahney, explaining the way most cities, including Sioux Falls, once tried to attract prospective employers. “But now we’re asking, ‘Does it boost wages? Does it raise the bar? Does it create, attract or retain wealth for the community?’ “

No. Fuck NO! And why would you think it would? It amazes me (and trust me, I do have great respect for Beck and Barr) that these two guys with all of their experience and knowledge cannot grasp simple economics, and that they have to come to some king of ‘realization’. Pay people shitty wages and you will get a shitty return on your investment.

Compared to most regional cities, Sioux Falls ranks near the bottom in metrics such as advanced degrees and, of course, income. While we are rightly proud of our small-business heritage, we have a limited capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Gee, I wonder if there is a freaking correlation between the two? Dead end jobs, that employee dead end people, pay dead end wages. I also find this column to extremely hypocritical. Do you know what the Gargoyle Leader pays their staff? It is embarrassing.

Why not set an example Randell instead of just pissing and moaning in your weekly rant. Of course, that might cut into your bonuses and wages . . . huh . . . and we wouldn’t want that, would we?

Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether SF City Council Sioux Falls

90% of all money transfers should be approved by the Sioux Falls city council

l3wis 4Comments

But the Gargoyle Leader Editorial board thinks that is unnecessary if the Mayor’s office just ‘communicates’ a little bit;

Perhaps prompted by Huether’s lack of communication, the City Council’s Fiscal Committee now is considering an ordinance that will require some oversight over such money transfers.

City Clerk Debra Owen has suggested having a threshold of a particular percentage or dollar amount that would automatically trigger a City Council vote to approve a transfer by the mayor.

That sounds reasonable, but it might be unnecessary if Huether would take the time to communicate with the council.

Give me a break. We went through this with Munson and we ended up paying someone over $100,000 a year to be his puppet. Enough with the communication bullshit. The mayor’s office SHOULD be talking to the councilors, duh. But this isn’t always the case, that is why we have the council as checks and balances. As a councilor recently said to me, (paraphrasing) “What’s the point of approving the budget if the mayor can change the appropriations the next day?” And they are right. Why even have a city council if they don’t even have control over the purse strings?

It is time the council took the bull by the horns and approved most money transfers. We don’t need more ‘communication’ we need more ‘common sense.’

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