I recently wrote a post about the council candidates favorite buzz word this election season, ‘Transparency’. A word that almost all of them are embracing except John Paulson. He likes the word ‘Positive’ better. So much that when he spoke at Democratic Forum this past Friday he said his only weakness is being ‘too positive’. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, puke or tell Mike Huether to sit down.

Either way, I would like to talk about Paulson’s record on transparency so far in this race.

So a foot soldier says to me, “Did you know John’s office was in Vermillion?” I told them I was unaware of his working situation, but it seems odd to me that an executive with Sanford Health (based out of Sioux Falls) would have to drive to Verm town everyday to his office when he lived in Sioux Falls. Hope he drove a Prius. But I did find this bit of information when his retirement in 2015 was announced;

John Paulson, vice president for corporate administration, will retire after 4o years of experience in health care administration. Paulson joined the health system in 1987 as a system vice president. During the past three decades, he has served in a variety of roles for the organization, including foundation director, chief executive officer for Sanford Vermillion Medical Center and executive chief of staff. Most recently, Paulson has worked closely with the organization’s governing board of trustees.

Apparently John and his boss needed several miles between their cubicles. But my googles did find some other interesting ‘resume’ information, and the many hats he wore with Sioux Valley/Sanford over the years. In his announcement to the Argus he was running in October, he said this;

Paulson, who recently retired after 40 years in the health industry and most recently served as vice president for corporate administration at Sanford Health,

He served in this position for about 2 years after his co-worker, Mark Johnston got promoted (Mark’s resume below);

It seems that Mark Johnston held that position 6 years before Paulson got promoted to it according to this 2007 article;

The core of corporate activities that provide day to day support to the organization will remain under Kelby Krabbenhoft including: the Legal Department, Finance, Compliance and Human Resources. John Paulson will become Executive Chief of Staff to Mr. Krabbenhoft (2007) while Mark Johnston will assume the job of Vice President of Administration and coordinate the activities of Marketing, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications.

So is Paulson NOT being transparent about his resume? Not at all, he did retire as VP of Administration, that much is true. But doesn’t it seem odd that a guy who started his career 30 years ago with SV/Sanford as a VP had to take another 26 years to get promoted to a similar position within the organization? Talk about coming full circle.

Maybe I’m just being either to transparent, negative, or both. Good thing I’m not running for city council.

 

By l3wis

4 thoughts on “Sioux Falls City Council Candidate John Paulson’s ‘Corporate Administration’ experience”
  1. No wonder I’ve not seen him around town. He lives 50 miles away. But then, Huether lives 70 miles away. When you recognize the quality of life in Sioux Falls is inferior you move out further. Fine for the general population but unacceptable for public office.

    My private comment to Paulson last night was: When you grow up you should be a councilor. He thought it a joke. I meant it blasphemous and irreverent.

    When you walk into city hall, is there anyone who doesn’t work for Sanford or bank at First Premier?

  2. D@ily Spin – Thank you for your continuing astute observations. To avoid any confusion though, ‘Blasphemo’ himself made no actual private comment to Paulson – blasphemous or otherwise – following the Carnegie Town Hall Forum Thursday evening. Blasphemo DID, however, notice Paulson’s propensity to answer questions with, oh, say . . . . 65 words, when 3 would suffice, i.e “I don’t know.” He uses lots of PC municipal/development buzz terms, but actually communicates little to nothing of substance.

    When Paulson has been heard answering questions publicly during this campaign, he’s not demonstrated a willingness – or apparent ability – to rank/prioritize the relative importance of public issues according to his POV, or to critically evaluate any existing public policy/City Hall agendas; in short, he won’t/can’t take a stand on anything. His “Positive Approach To City Government” campaign platform confirms he is little more than a “come along, get along” kind of foot soldier. Sioux Falls taxpayers don’t need another corporate/developer mynah bird on the City Council.

    Blasphemo encourages critical thinking & voting on April 12. . . and, believes a vote for Stehly would be the thinking voter’s choice.

  3. Can’t wait for the scavenger hunt looking for my polling place.

    When it’s time to vote for president, vote for Harrison Ford. He was good in ‘Air Force One’. Not Trump without an addition to the White House for his ego. I don’t like the idea of a Spanglish speaking First Lady. However, she has Kevlar implants and doesn’t need secret service. Now why didn’t Cruz use this for the attack on wives?

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