And her mumble-jumble, mambo-jambo style of speaking did not disappoint during the Charter Revision Commission meeting (she sits on the board). She gets all flustered trying to set a meeting calendar.
They also invite Joe Kirby, via telephone, to talk at the meeting about changes ‘HE‘ thinks should be made to the charter, cause gosh darn it, the councilors work too much (even though they get paid as much a year as probably someone who works full-time at a Fast-Food restaurant for a part-time gig). They are not overworked, if they didn’t want to serve, they should not have ran for council. Ellis gives us a preview of Joe’s crazy ideas.
Joe Kirby, who was an author of the first charter draft more than 17 years ago, offered a proposal recently that would eliminate runoff elections in favor of an instant runoff. Under that system, voters rank candidates as their favorite, followed by their second and third favorite.
Want to eliminate runoffs? Whoever gets the most votes in the general election wins. Done deal. What if I only have one choice?
Kirby said he thinks instant runoff voting discourages fringe candidates from being elected.
WTF is a fringe candidate? As far as I am concerned everyone who runs for office is FRINGE. You have to be a little bit crazy to want to do it.
And he thinks them poor councilors are working too hard and have too much power;
Sioux Falls voters in 1994 decided to change the form of government from a commission to a strong mayor, city council form. The founders of that change envisioned a part-time council, people who would work 10 to 15 hours a week, so that people of all walks of life would have time to serve on the body.
The council was envisioned as a board that would establish policy. It would then be the mayor’s job, as the city’s CEO, to implement that policy, Kirby said. But over the years, the council has asserted more power than originally envisioned, and now councilors find themselves with what’s almost a full-time job.
I did have to laugh at Quen Be’s response;
But De Knudson, who is on the charter revision commission and who also served on the council for eight years, challenged Kirby on that point. “I didn’t feel like it was ever close to a full-time job. I felt like it was just about right.â€
That’s because she was watching TV during the meetings. Of course it wasn’t work. De also dropped this intelligent statement during the meeting;
“I just welcome input from the public,†Knudson said. “I’ve been trying to find some already.â€
Here is some advice De. Stop rambling for about 5 minutes and listen to people.
In other city news, there was a task force meeting today about chickens and vegetable gardens and code enforcement. I guess councilors Dean Karsky and Tex Golfing think we should limit people’s gardens. Horse Shit. In this economy, people should be able to use their entire yard for growing space.