Well, it only took a few days, but a local politician had to go there;
“We are finding it very hard to get people who want to put their hand in the air and serve,” TenHaken said. “Who would want to serve? Who would want to step up and lead, especially when you see things like what happened in the last 24 hours? Who would want to be bold and be a leader? And what that’s creating is a big leadership gap that we have right now.”
Participation by young folks in local politics has been bad for decades and I am not sure what the answer is. I know that trying to eliminate the city workforce of anyone over 50 in the union ranks may not be the best approach, or trying to compare the recent murder of a political activist as to why people shy away from local politics, or maybe it is because we have a closed government that can’t even be transparent about a mural!
I have ran many campaigns for council, some Repugs, some Dems, each election cycle presents new challenges as to WHO is paying attention and how to reach out to those folks. If there is one constant in political races, it is constant change and you need to adapt. I don’t think young people are as concerned about their safety as older people are at political events. I think what keeps participation low in local government is our low unemployment rate. Why do we have such a low rate? Because most people have 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, and when you are constantly working, you don’t have time for much else, and in your free time, it is highly unlikely you will be watching city council meetings or attending a protest. Because as a right to work state with little rights to organize for better wages and a terrible social safety net from the state, people are forced to work whether it is good for them or not.
Local government participation is low, that has been obvious for decades, but I’m not sure recent events sparked this disinterest, this cake has been baking for quite awhile, and Poops is one of the original chefs.
Public service starts at the grassroots level – cutting our teeth on volunteer committees, non-profit boards, civic groups, etc. The City of Sioux Falls is doing our community a great disservice by leaving dozens of seats currently open on its various boards. Case in point, City Hall has pretty much abandoned its once active Events Center Complex Advisory Board. Note that ALL member terms have expired without reappointment: https://www.siouxfalls.gov/government/boards-commissions/eccab.
Spend a few minutes randomly scanning membership on the other city boards and you will see many vacancies – some that have been open for more than a year despite applications from interested citizens. And don’t let “filled” positions fool you because some of those people moved out of Sioux Falls years ago.
You want more participation in local government, Mayor? Please make filling these board vacancies a top priority over the next 6-9 months.
Young people, for the most part, don’t fight our wars anymore unless they are willing to. When you take war out of the political equation, especially when it used to be a war or wars that the youth might have had to fight in, then the youth become less involved in politics. Sure, many of the young are concerned about social rights, but those rights, lost or gained, are less tangible, or politically animate as seeing a dead body in a coffin, from a war.
Plus, young people have so many medias in which to engage in and or to remove themselves from the greater society. We are not all watching Walter Cronkite each night anymore, and developing a common sense of community and awareness. This spintering of our society has thus caused many to remove themselves, especially the young, from the greater community and the duties that come with it.
So, although, economics is part of the reason, I believe an equal or greater reason is the buffet of opportunity that many have today, especially the youth, in being able to tune out without any upfront apparent consequence.
( and Woodstock adds: “Not me, boy, I’m still watching the CBS Evening News!…. 🙂 ( …. “Although that Katie Couric period was somewhat painful”…. 🙁 ))
TenHaken was left with Huether mistakes. City credit was affected. Citizens wanted no more extravagance. A manager left with disasters deserves respect when he manages to fix or restore. Unfortunately Fake News Huether will be remembered while TenHaken will disappear in city history.
Great point MMM !
Run an insular government operation which lacks transparency (“you’ll know about things if we think you need to know about things”) and then complain that “people just don’t want to engage in/with government”.
But Mayor MisTaken is like all of the other chamber crony RINOs ensconced in political office in this state (see also, Thune, John R.; Rounds, Marion M.; Johnson, Dustin M.), if they take action to solve a situation, they aren’t able to wring their hands and TALK about the deep impact that [pick the political issue du jour] has on their constituents. They simply want to demagogue issues with talk rather than action to solve them.
The only swift and urgent action is when said action will fill the pockets of a member of the chamber crony society with money from government coffers.
Or perhaps those positions on Citizen Boards in Sioux Falls remain unappointed because no one who is “correctly connected” is interested in applying and serving?
The Parks and Rec Dept doesn’t need and isn’t interested in input from citizens. People who have donated money have already designated the direction of priorities and spending for the department.
JFC, he really went “holding public office is a modern form of martyrdom” on this?
Just more of “I didn’t sign up for this” from this guy?