The Sioux Falls Argus Leader got what it wanted: A City Council of Paul Tenhaken’s hand picked supporters.
Never mind that they never, ever have mentioned the $120,000+ that people like Alex Jensen are spending on Council campaigns now to win.
They wanted less debate and scrutiny from Council members. They got it!
Council members voting for projects that benefit their employers? The Argus doesn’t mind.
Councilor Janet Brekke brought an ordinance, supported by the board of ethics, to mandate ethics training for employees, Council members and ethics board members. It was voted down on second reading last night, without discussion. Does the Argus care? NO!
God knows what the Argus Leader’s motivation has been, personal relationships, concern for business advertising, or just plain lazy reporting. But their bias and lack of balanced reporting has worked to rip away the representation, transparency and accountability for the average citizen and their concerns. Since things will run so smoothly now for City Hall and Chamber / Developer interests, perhaps the Argus does not even need a City reporter?
We can trust that City Hall will take care of everything without public oversight. AMEN.
EDITOR’S NOTE: While I am just as much upset as Stehly, I saw the writing on the wall with how the local media was treating Poops and his Endorsed Candidates. Not one single source asked Sarah Cole why she has never voted in a city election (her first vote was for herself ironically). Or the ethics of a mayor and council endorsing the opponent of an incumbent. But the worst was the zero coverage of what Paul has actually accomplished over the past four years even when he admitted he hasn’t done anything by saying his first four years were for setting up the chess board. Also no mention in the debates why he said, “I didn’t sign up for this.”
I will tell you the real reason why Poops won by such a wide margin, people don’t like change, and they know from his first term, he won’t change a damn thing except more closed government, more handouts to rich friends and higher taxes and fees.
As you can see from Megan’s story that years of voter suppression is what lead up to this. The sad part is in the poorer neighborhoods;
Voters in Sioux Falls’ southeast district had the highest turnout (about 32 percent), and voters in the northeast district had the lowest turnout (about 20 percent).
Turnout data showed some correlation to income (note: correlation does not equal causation). The two precincts with the fewest voters casting a ballot were also in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty.
There are many factors. One is the lack of media coverage and lack of the city providing information (sample ballots). This has been going on for awhile. Like when the school district holds an election, they don’t put any polls in the Northern part of the city. Then we wonder why the poorer neighborhoods don’t vote?
“What we have to do is figure out as a society that it’s OK for everyone to vote,” Erpenbach said, “and then make it as easy as possible.”
Weird, because if you look at Megan’s chart, Michelle was serving on the council during this flatline and spearheaded firing a City Clerk who was trying to make city elections better who was later replaced by our current clerk who wasn’t even registered to vote when he got hired for the position.
And we sit around and wonder why voter turnout is so low? It’s not an accident, it’s by invention.
How could you post this? She mentions God! You hate anyone that believes.
I have never said I hate people who believe. I have total faith in God. Many of my close friends are devout Catholics and I was born Catholic and raised Lutheran. What I don’t like is religious hypocrites who hide behind their religion to justify their actions. Whether you go to church or not, I don’t think anyone likes a hypocrite.
TenHaken won because the other candidates were flaky. Much of their platform seemed out there somewhere. TenHaken was like that when he took over after 2 terms of Huether. There’s obvious bordering upon criminal irregularity from the Mayor’s office. However, there must be even just a low level of confidence the next 4 years when there will be better choices for Mayor.
What’s disturbing is the new councilors are brown nose rubber stampers. There’s going to be even worse budget waste and misappropriation. The city needs infrastructure and social services. It’s become a lottery winner for insiders.
Have you noticed how ElevenHaken and his followers all have best friends who are not like themselves but they would never vote for them? They encourage the BFFs to run for office then it appears to prop someone else up to run.
Their racism is quite unsubtle. Kind of like how it is again today in certain red states like South Dakota?
The only thing which the Sioux Falls Argus Leader wants is to get to the next business quarter (and maybe a constant supply of new food trucks in order that they have material to place in the Business section).
‘CaGB?’
Despite that PTH wraps himself in the crafted imagery of Diversity and Inclusion, I was not aware that he or the other of the Capos in the Dutch Mafia have best friends “who are not like themselves”.
I am open to persuasion by examples which you might provide, but I consider PTH to be perhaps the “whitest South Dakota politician ever”. He might even be the “straightest” too.
Perhaps the Mayor of Diversity and Inclusion will include himself in the Sioux Falls PRIDE celly this summer?
In before “Woodstock” with this musing, “Whitest ever? Even whiter than Mike Rounds!?!? Wow! That IS white!”
Ms. Reposa offers nice graphic analysis of the City election, only to tank the credibility of her reporting with the final paragraph.
Asking Michelle Erpenbach to comment on the woes of the underclass in Sioux Falls is a lot like asking James Dewar, the inventor of Twinkies, to offer comment on obesity. And note, Erpenbach contributes nothing toward solutions, only hand-wringing.
Michelle Erpenbach was part of City governance which made more difficult life for those in this City of lower economic means. As an example, a dismantling of the already-spartan-at-the-time mass transit system was initiated while Erpenbach was on the City Council.
Hey Megan, it’s OK to simply ‘lose’ some of those contacts from your digital Rolodex. Erpenbach’s would be among those.
“Not only is Rounds really white”…. “He even has a really white man’s kind of job”…. “He’s an insurance agent”….
“‘…digital Rolodex’?”… “They make those?”…. “I still have a manual one and an organizer planner book”…. “And say, does anyone know where I can get some new ribbon cartridges for my Brother Word Processor 500?”….. #NotABigFanOfDOS