County Commission

UPDATE: Why is Minnehaha County Commissioner, Jeff Barth taking photos of petitioners?

l3wis January 20, 2013 4Comments

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39RzAASfv6I[/youtube]

As I have reported this past week, the County Commission plans to boot petitioners out of the lobby.

I found out this past Friday, commissioner Barth was taking photos of a petitioner, which is a form of intimidation and harassment, I am assuming to build his case.

UPDATE: I also found out today that Barth is the county commission contact person for the city’s park board. Curious if the Park board had anything to do with this decision to all of a sudden limit (pool) petitioners?

Not sure where all this hostility towards petitioners comes from, but oddly, it almost always comes from elected officials – gee, I wonder why?

I hope to speak at the CC meeting on Tuesday about their silliness and paranoia.

Agenda: agendacc

Good thing the county had an opt-out, otherwise there would be no raises for the part-time commissioners

l3wis January 3, 2013 8Comments

Am I the only one that catches the Minnehaha County Commissioners in constant contradictions?

Signaling Minnehaha County’s emergence from several years of budget austerity, county commissioners voted themselves a pay raise Wednesday.

The county has turned the corner on a period of “economic dire straits,” according to Commissioner John Pekas.

Okay, so just a few months ago we had to have an opt-out because of the increasing number of prosecutions, but now all of a sudden we have ‘turned a corner.’ Huh? Is Mayor Huether running the county commission also?

Let’s just overcharge you on property taxes so we don’t create more work for ourselves

l3wis July 13, 2012 31Comments

“You mean we will have to talk about the budget next year to? This job sucks!” (Image: KELO-TV screenshot);

And $4 million sets the limit of how much the county can collect, but that does not mean the Commission will need that much.  Commissioner Cindy Heiberger thought it was better to aim high.

“This is a beginning.  If we opt-out for $1 million this year, are we going to be back in the same room next year doing the exact same thing?” Heiberger said.  “I just feel like if we opt-out for a lower amount, we’re going to turn around and be back here in a few years saying we’re just squeaking by.”

Cindy, I have news for you, you are an elected official – it is your job 1) to look out for the best interest of the taxpayers and 2) to work for us. You act like revisiting the budget next year would just be ‘too pesky’ for you. Please tell us why you wanted to be a public servant?

We experienced the same crap with the city and water rates, let’s just overcharge, then if we realize it is too much, we can simmer it down a bit.

Huh!?

Oh, and then there is this nice little tidbit;

During the 1.5 hour discussion, they opened up the meeting for public comment from taxpayers.  However no one voiced any concerns about paying higher property taxes.

Gee, McFly, I wonder why? Because most of those taxpayers are working during the time of your meeting.