When I first saw that Smith was a possible candidate for mayor in a recent news article, I just chuckled and wondered who was concocting this story. Sources told me at the time that Smith was NOT considering a run and even blew off speculation. Until recently. The Dems were successful in getting Duffy elected to the school board, even though that was NOT a heavy lift, so I think they want to try their hands at a mayoral race. I welcome it if it is true. Sources tell me Smith plans to announce next week at a staged event in Downtown Sioux Falls. We will see. I have had only two candidates confirm to me they are indeed running but don’t have a launch date, but I would assume IF Jamie announces next week the dominoes will begin to fall.
CAN THE COUNCIL LEGALLY DETERMINE THE DATE OF THE NEXT ELECTION?
The council is tasked with determining if our municipal elections will be in June or November of next year. I lean towards November, but only two councilors currently support that idea, so our elections will likely be in June. But can the council determine this? Some are saying since there needs to be a change in charter, that change should be determined by voters in a special election. In other words the city council should be calling a special election BEFORE January 1st allowing the citizens to make the determination. I will let the lawyers hash it out, but like the pool bonds, I would just let the citizens decide and wash your hands of it instead of all the hand wringing. This is a decision that will likely hold for years, so you best make the right one.
This was Huether’s strategy in 2010 – court the loyal Dem vote in the first election in order to overcome a long list of more qualified Republicans, leaving him in a runoff with Kermit “35%” Staggers. Then appeal as a centrist to the masses in the runoff. It worked. Of course, later, MMM flipped the bird to the Dems and many loyal supporters. But, by then, he had amassed his power and satisfied his own ego. Jamie will have to win them over.
Scott,
You make a fair point related to can the City Council change the date of our local election. The charter that the people adopted, places the ‘city election’ on the 2nd Tuesday, following the First Monday of April”. So there is some confusion between the city charter vs State Law. I imagine, since the law has not yet gone into effect, not until July 1st, someone still has time to challenge the law considering they refer it back to a public vote or ask the legislature to reconsider, let alone challenge in court. Even so, the city council would have to at some point bring forward a “Charter Amendment” to amend the that particular section, thus asking the voters what point during the year do they wish to hold their city election every two years. The Council can make ‘recommendations’, but I expect they may bring forth an agenda item to the C.R.C this summer and allow this topic to be discussed by the commission, to who would make their recommendation sometime in January 2026. If I was a city councilor, I would have this debate this summer, letting people like myself, Scott, RIck Knobe, and Joe Kirby chime in.
While The Charter allows for state law to preempt any such change, ‘we’ as a community would want, should want to vote on the date regardless. My question, does a HOME RULE COMMUNITY get to choose its own election date regardless of state law? We are not a county governed by state law, we are no longer a municipality as governed by state law, nor are we a township. HOME RULE is HOME RULE, and I would suggest, if the voters so choose to keep the election in APRIL, that is our decision to make. “WE” elected to become a Home Rule Community, fully allowed to make our own decisions.
He’ll do well until the Taupeville vote comes in. It’s like running for the legislature in 12, 13, or 14 as a Democrat. Jamie is very popular, well-liked, but he’s never ran in one of the aforementioned legislative districts, just saying.
On another note, should Kamala run for governor of CA? I know that strategy didn’t work for Nixon 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo9FlPeKKzA
You see, this is the kind of thing that can happen if you get an online degree from State:
https://www.keloland.com/hill-politics/hassan-noem-lock-horns-over-habeas-corpus/
#StateACTRequirementIs18 #USDRequirementIs22 #GoYotes!
Now, an online graduate from State is trying to tell Harvard what they can do, but at Harvard, they know the definition of habeas corpus, while others who don’t should probably go back to school.
AND, oh yes, what was that SDSU jingle from about 18 years ago?….. I think it went something like:….. “You can go anywhere from here”….. #Apparently #ThePeterPrinciple #WTF
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/us/video/harvard-trump-revokes-international-students-enrolling-zeleny-digvid
I am not a Jackrabbit therefore have no Leporidae honor to protect, but …
According to EduRank.org, average ACT score for enrollees into SDSU is 23 [25th percentile = 19; 75th percentile = 26].
Average ACT score for enrollees into USD is 22 [25th percentile = 19; 75th percentile = 25].
Those with test scores of 19, or below are as likely to attend USD as they might SDSU.
The smart kids go to SDSU.
#minimumsdonotmatter
#stoptheacademicelitism
If Jamie Smith does run for mayor, I hope he makes the Big Sioux River an issue. I run on the greenway path nearly everyday and I am disgusted and shocked at the amount of garbage and other materials floating on the water, particularly downtown. It feels like City Hall could not care less about the river. Millions of dollars have been spent to improve the downtown greenway yet the parks department employees seemingly don’t remove litter from the river. I spent a Saturday in April volunteering and picked up litter along the banks of the river. The city needs a boat that employees can use to remove trash that isn’t reachable from the shore. Mayor TenChicken and his staff are completely useless.
TGfG
State allows you in automatically with a 18, but for the ‘U’, it’s a 22. Averages are merely an average of smart and dumb combined 🙂 ….. Plus, State has more Master’s programs, I believe, which attract undergrads with higher scores to their school, which then throws off the average in their favor. I never said that everyone at State is dumb or inferior, but it is easier to get into State…. Or, as the ‘U’ alumnus once said to the State alumnus…: “State?”….. “What happened, couldn’t you get into the ‘U’?”….. 😉
#MinimumsMatterIfYourScoreIsLow
#PeopleGoFromStatetoUSD&NeverTheOtherWayAroundJustAskLawyers&DoctorsWhoAreOurLocalElite;-)