I was pondering this today, what if I didn’t know any of the candidates running for mayor? I didn’t know them personally or even knew what they looked like and I was asked to review their professional resume (non-government experience) who would I lean towards? Well, just based on resumes it would be Joe Batcheller.

I know this sounds odd, because Joe has NOT announced yet, but it sounds like he is running, and he checks most of the boxes;
• Non-partisan moderate (not even sure if he is a Dem, Repug or Indy)
• Lead a non-profit for several years
• Worked as an urban planner (his degree)
I think the last point sealed the deal for me, because we had no mayor since Hanson that had any government experience, especially planning.
This is NOT an endorsement of a fella who hasn’t announced yet. It’s just something I thought I would look at. Joe is going to have to show some enthusiasm and some pizzazz when he is out on the trail, and I’m not sure he can pull that off, BUT on paper, he’s a winner.
We know how it rolls in SF, it comes down to looks and personality, and if you ain’t got it, you are toast.
I am encouraging citizens to actually research the professional resumes of the candidates running instead of just looking at a wink and a nod from another salesperson.
The next mayor will be handed a giant stinking turd; half the directors will be gone, the operating expenses on all the new play palaces will drain tax dollars and we will likely be in a ‘light’ recession by the end of the year, and like the last one in 2008, it will take several more years for the middle class to get caught up in Sioux Falls. I still know people who are still behind the 8-Ball from that recession.
We are going to need a leader who knows city government and how to pull it’s levers.
I kind of like the fact that 50% of the Directors will be gone, I have been a long time supporter of changing the charter to term limit these directors to no more than three 4-year terms. This allows them appointed by 1 mayor, serve alongside that mayor, but means, they must vacate their office after that third term. Thus restricting them to 12 years or less. This means we can easily change our “adminstrative beaucuracy more frequenlty. The last thing we want is a career job in government. We have at least two directors that have served in their present roles since the year 2000’s.
As for the Mayoral Candidats – most of these candidates will always come from one of the 4 Major Organizatins – Downtown Sioux Falls, Forward Sioux Falls, Chamber of Commerce of Greater Sioux Falls, and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation cause many of the people that ‘chair’ the boards and committees within these organiizatons are being handpicked to also sit on our public standing committees related to planning, zoning, economic development, and include real-estate speculators, financial wizards, top ten property holders, to big businessmen – all to which gives them connections to Big P.A.C funds where they pool assets to get them elected.
Common everyday residents rarely get chosen by these people, and that is why you rarely see ‘common residents’ in our At-Large Chairs whether the Mayors Office or the 3 At Large Council Chairs.
And because the Common Residents only have 5 Chairs at the table, while the Big Wealthy Groups have 4 Chairs, we have basically a 50-50 division in our City Council and the commoners voice is drowned out.
This is why we must change our charter, so we can more easily add districts as the population grows, and get rid of districts as the population goes down. Today, I feel there should be atleast 7 District Chairs to 2 At-Large Chairs, and the Mayor on that council, then the Commoners have 7 voices to their 3 voices,