It has been rumored that Chellee Unruh will take over as the new Community Development/Housing Manager for the City of Sioux Falls (the previous director is retiring). This has been confirmed to me by several city councilors. She supposed to start at the beginning of March.
Chellee currently works for SE Tech as Foundation Director.
I have long had an issue with city directors NOT living (and paying property taxes) in Sioux Falls. I get it, some are more important than others when it comes to those priorities. Like our Library Director being a Minnesota resident. Does it matter? How about our Fire Chief? He lives in Canton.
How about our housing director? Unruh currently lives in Tea. Tea is considered the fastest growing small town in South Dakota, far exceeding other small towns in the region. So why would the city of Sioux Falls hire someone to help solve our affordable housing issues in Sioux Falls who doesn’t even reside here?
That’s the least of our worries. If Unruh is actually confirmed and takes the job with the city (I’m starting to wonder if this is some kind of joke) her residence is one thing, but if elected to the Tea city council, she could be presenting a HUGE conflict of interest, not just for Sioux Falls but for Tea. So who do you work for Chellee? According to her FB campaign page;
I will focus in the areas of economic development and funding, and protecting the safety of our families.
Isn’t that the job the City of Sioux Falls is hiring you for? While I encourage people to run for office, especially local races, I also encourage people to be very careful about conflicts and ethics. No doubt that Unruh has many talents and probably will make a good city director. But these circumstances are highly questionable.