UPDATE: Sioux Falls City Councilor Pat Starr slams the secretive operations committee

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If you go to the end of the city council meeting tonight (last item) councilor Starr slams the city council over the secrecy surrounding the operations committee;

• The committee meets in private with NO quorum

• If you are a councilor that is NOT on the committee or the mayor you CANNOT attend the meeting

• Decisions that are made in meeting are NOT available to the public unless it makes it to the council agenda for an ordinance change (but the discussions that lead up to the change are NEVER shared)

• The agenda and times of the meeting are NOT available to the public

• Only NOTES/Minutes approved by the council chair are shown to the rest of the council

Starr points out that the committee is what it really is, a secretive committee that makes decisions about the council operations without public oversight. It should either be abolished or opened to the public.

UPDATE: The operations committee was created by former councilor Aguliar and current councilor Erpenbach RIGHT AFTER former city clerk Debra Owen was terminated, February 21, 2012, while interim city clerk Sue Roust was serving in the position.

 

Posted in: Patrick Starr, SF City Council, Sioux Falls

10 Thoughts on “UPDATE: Sioux Falls City Councilor Pat Starr slams the secretive operations committee”

  1. Emoluments Clause on September 5, 2017 at 10:27 pm said:

    This sounds a lot like the problems Jeff Barth was having with the County Commission, when he first became a Commissioner. I think we all remember when Barth turned the County Commission in for violating the public meetings law back in 2007…

  2. Bald-n-Surly on September 5, 2017 at 11:42 pm said:

    Good for Pat. Seems suspicious.

  3. The D@ily Spin on September 6, 2017 at 10:27 am said:

    Is the Secretive Operations Committee the same as a Mafia Sit Down? Form the limos into a circle in a remote field. Station bodyguards with tommy guns along the perimeter.

  4. Common sense citizen on September 6, 2017 at 12:18 pm said:

    What is preventing someone from following Barth’s example and turning in those involved on the city council for violating the public meetings law?

  5. Emoluments Clause on September 6, 2017 at 12:56 pm said:

    Or, the Council could be seen as the Supreme Soviet and the “Operations Committee” could then be better known as the Politburo…..

  6. anominous on September 6, 2017 at 2:17 pm said:

    “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member”

    ― Groucho Marx

  7. LJL on September 6, 2017 at 9:48 pm said:

    If the meeting is held without a quorum, how can it make decisions that affect the city or it’s residents?

  8. l3wis on September 6, 2017 at 11:00 pm said:

    LJL, how you jest.

  9. Say What? on September 7, 2017 at 10:07 pm said:

    LJL guy (or gal) is sure looking through rose-colored-glasses…everything is perfect…all our politicians have solely OUR best interests and are not self-serving AT ALL! No corruption in government…it is all OKAY. Rest assured they have our best interests at the forefront…just ask LJL.

    I’m thirsty, maybe I should have drank the kool-aid too so’s I’d be as informed and in-the-know as LJL.

    Keep up the good work Pat…accountability (and transparency) in government, at all levels, is severely lacking.

    Narrow-minded pinheadedness is apparent, in others.

  10. LJL on September 8, 2017 at 8:13 pm said:

    You really don’t get sarcasm???

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