South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

February 2017

State Funding State Legislature

The South Dakota Legislature really is an international embarrassment

l3wis 9Comments

Pretty sad it takes a foreigner (and a teenager to boot) to observe the absurdity of our state legislator;

We have a foreign exchange student staying with us from Venezuela. Recently, her class went to Pierre to see democracy in action. She came home stunned.

The students were to listen and take notes on debates about issues they had studied including Initiated Measure 22. The Majority Whip, called to speak several times, was absent. He wandered in with a “huge” burger, then visited with friends during testimony. When votes were called, my friend observed that all the lawmakers she could see were on social media. Several looked around and voted the way their peers voted.

“I don’t think they even knew which bill they were voting on. I don’t think they cared!” She shook a paper at me. “Look,” she said, pointing at a paragraph. “It says, carefully … lawmakers will carefully consider all the information and then vote.”

Later, the class went to committee to witness citizens give testimony. “They were so rude!” my friend exclaimed. “They could have at least said, ‘Thank you for coming.’ They didn’t even pretend to listen.” A final insult, “They didn’t even take notes. What are they doing?”

It’s time for us voters to lay some tile in Pierre.

Or maybe just fire all of them.

Kristi Noem Rounds Thune

The 3 Stooges holding Town Hall meetings? Yeah right.

l3wis 1Comments

Ellis stuck it to our triple R’s in DC;

But sometime, between now and the end of the August recess, they’ll need to put their big-boy, big-girl pants on and hold some town halls. They need to show the state’s voters that they can stand down blubbering bounders, paid provocateurs and those who are genuinely concerned. They need to have the courage of their convictions to explain why Obamacare must go and why its replacement is better for the country. Because if there’s one thing people dislike more than a hypocrite, it’s a coward.

This is why I often tell people to get involved with local politics, DC is just full of silliness. These three could care less how the average South Dakotan lives their lives. Noem pretends to care on occasion because she wants to be governor, but Thune and Rounds have been disconnected for years. Of course the Stooge protectors say this is a setup for the left wing to attack them. First off, if there is a ‘left wing’ big enough to attack people in SD, please point them out to me, I would like to meet them, and secondly, this isn’t about just attending a left leaning town hall, it’s about having ANY town hall that is held in front of the general public.

Sioux Falls

2017 City Salaries; City Attorney’s office

l3wis 5Comments

I will be evaluating some of the different city departments and the salaries. The numbers are interesting, especially when it comes to upper management and the recent denial of a 3% COLA to the FOP.

Today we will look at the city department that seems to have a habit of contracting out the ‘tough cases’ to other law firms. The city spends millions each year contracting out legal work that could be easily handled by our city attorney’s office. If there was only one city attorney, I would understand all of the contract work, but quite the opposite.

Of the 15 employees in the office, 8 of them are attorneys that make close to or over 6 figures a year making about $967K of the 1.3 million dollar salary budget.

I’m starting to wonder if the city should have only one main attorney with a couple of assistants instead of so many, and contract out all of our cases (which we do anyway).

Here is the full doc: 2017-Wages

 

Mayor High Crimes Mayor Hubris Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Sioux Falls

And this is how you don’t become lame

l3wis 5Comments

He may have the tail, but he is dodging the title

Well doesn’t this quote say it all?

If you ask Huether, the added resistance hasn’t done much to curtail his agenda. He still only needs a simple majority to pass a budget and get contracts approved, he said.

“In the end, as long as we keep getting things done, that is what I care about,” he said. “I’m not trying to denigrate the Council in any way shape or form but it is the way that it works. And now I have found you can still get things done with three votes.”

Huether said no matter what the Council throws at him or how it responds to his ideas, he’ll continue to “run government like a business” while trying to find compromise with Sioux Falls’ other elected leaders.

I suppose I could write all kinds of thoughts on his thoughts, but for once, Mr. Huether was being honest about how he feels he needs to run the city.

And it’s a crying shame.

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