Believe it or not, I do want to commend him on his approval rating.
It’s not easy achieving that high of a rating, but . . .
I wanted to point out that this was put together by a private firm, and I question the use of the language ‘Rock Star’. I talked to someone who works for a private public relations firm (not the one Paul used) and he told me it was likely the questions were written by Paul and his PAC since he paid for the survey. In other words, if you ask the right questions you get the right answers. It is also obvious that this poll was put together to help raise money for Paul in whatever he plans on running for in the future. It had to look rosy. Lastly, when you have someone else run the city (COS Erica Beck) and do very little in your duty as mayor, it’s not hard to get a good approval rating. Most people in this city that vote in city elections tend to be conservative in nature (and older) and one of the reasons he got elected. They don’t like change, and TenHaken has really proven that he has not only NOT changed much, he hasn’t done much. While he touts 5G as one of his greatest achievements, it really isn’t that big of a deal, except for those investing in it (and I question if he is investing in it).
In normal circumstances, no matter who the mayor is, they will tend to get a good rating. I did however chuckle about the fact that 15% of the VOTERS that were polled didn’t know who our mayor was. The consultant I talked to said that number is low and expected more voters didn’t know who he is. I would totally understand if you were a non-registered voter, but I find it baffling that 15% of voters in Sioux Falls don’t know who leads the city. I have often argued if you stopped 10 people on the street DT and verified with them they are SF registered voters that maybe 1 of them could name all 8 city councilors. And I would be surprised if the rest of them could name 1 or 2. What I have found following city politics for over 20 years, not many people pay attention to who or what our city leaders are doing. Besides my blog and the Argus Leader, our other media in town follows very little city politics and if they do it is usually something positive our mayor or city council is doing. It’s sad really. I’m the kind of person that likes to hear the good with the bad and make my own decision on whether our local elected officials are doing a good job. This trend by the news (nationwide) of hiding bad things from us only builds mistrust or ignorance.
Paul really has the local media to thank for his popularity, because it’s NOT based on the fact that people are informed and our city government is open and transparent, it’s based on the fact that most city voters are oblivious to what goes on at city hall.