A few weeks ago I was leaving the Jones building and the gentleman pictured above approached me; “Mr. Southdacola how are you?” I replied, as I always do when strangers approach me about the blog, “How is your day?” He did not tell me his name but did say he was a nurse and started a NON-PROFIT;
We had a short but engaging conversation about city hall leadership and how our local elected officials lack the knowledge and leadership experience to be effective (I said this, he just listened).
I enjoyed talking to him and glad to see he announced today he is running for Central District city council. Only one piece of advice, when introducing yourself to strangers, especially if you are running for office, tell them your name 🙂
I was thinking about this tonight; ‘Have I ever been attacked physically for my political views?’ I have. And I am not talking about the losers on Reddit that troll me anonymously or the other set of losers (probably the same folks) that attack my grammar.
A few years ago a very angry mayor decided to kick my chair while elbowing my friend in the head, cracking his tooth. The video evidence was scrubbed immediately and the courts wouldn’t allow a hearing because of the lack of evidence. So not only was I the victim of political violence I was also the victim of corruption because of the cover-up. I could care less that he kicked my chair. At the time, I had no idea what was going on, I knew someone either shoved or kicked my chair and my friend was keeled over in pain holding his jaw. I guess my point is that political violence isn’t about the left or the right, it is about rage, people who commit it are enveloped with rage. I still have no idea what his motive was to kick my chair, but it wasn’t political.
MIKE IS RUNNING FOR SOMETHING
After someone was suckered into nominating Huether to the SD Hall of Fame and after he cut them a big check he had his acceptance speech Saturday night. Those in attendance said he cried, of course, and said that he is likely running for mayor because he referenced that he wanted to get back to the work he cherishes, public service. I welcome him into the race, because I will be the one asking him the question, ‘Do you condone political violence?’
These were my final words to a mayoral candidate today after we had coffee. I really believe that. While this candidate wanted me to be on their team, I told them my mind is not made up yet, and I am going to weigh all of them equally. This wasn’t an interview for the blog, we were just touching base and talking issues. Let’s just say a municipal ambulance is in our near future and Erica Beck ain’t running for mayor (she’s a bit busy running from her past command post).
They also asked me what I would like to see in my city, knowing that I was a biking advocate. I said I had to think about it;
ITS TIME SIOUX FALLS SUPPORTED AN ARTIST COOPERATIVE
There is an artist cooperative in Downtown Omaha that is really cool, and I always thought we could have one here with the help of the taxpayers. We used to have such a space at Falls Park, the Horsebarn Art Center, but the city kicked them out because they needed the barn for lawn mower storage (no f’ing lie). The reason I started thinking about this is because I have been watching our fine stewards 🙁 on the council give away $1 a year leases for city property to for profit businesses. There is tons of space downtown the city owns that they could lease for a $1 a year. The bus barn would work perfectly (if they build a replacement). The location is awesome, plenty of parking in the back and enough space for an amphitheater, gallery space and workshops and studios. The best part is on nice days you can open the garage doors! You could also set it up as a non-profit with a partnership with the city (they would do all maintenance to the facility (externally) and cover utilities and provide a used city van for facility transport. While we are at it, put the Arts Coordinator’s office in the building. We can do good artsy things in this community without kissing the ring at the Bazillion (Wash Pav). I think the city is considering cutting their subsidy substantially which is way over due.
What Hubris!I heard that Selberg was seriously still considering a run for mayor. A word of advice, Marsh, probably need to move back to Sux from Hartford 🙂 you know, that whole district thingy.
OH, and still not sure where MMM stands on the election. I guess the bride isn’t too keen on it (like the rest of the city) but peeps have been seeing him appear in public like those parasites on that new Alien TV series. I saw him on the bike trail the other day with his grandkids(?) it was quite the scene 🙂
We saw it this past time around in the school board election where an outgoing board member recruited a replacement.
Now Sioux Falls city councilor Cole is chairing the campaign of an At-Large council candidate that wants to replace her. It doesn’t really matter who he is because he will NOT be getting my vote. I will spread the news about this unethical behavior.
• Councilor Cole is NOT running for re-election, in other words she is quitting but wants to make sure she can pick a replacement.
• This is highly unethical and not sure why local yocals are doing this lately (Poops was precedent on this).
• As a highly skilled medical doctor, Cole should know this is unethical behavior.
Guess who decides who will serve us on the council? THE VOTERS!
While it is certainly NOT unethical to advise this candidate or even volunteer for his campaign, recruiting him, endorsing him publicly and chairing his campaign isn’t right.
I hope Sux wakes up before the next election and start looking at candidates for who they are ETHICALLY instead who racks up the most donations and endorsements.
I also heard another candidate running for council MAY HAVE put down a false address. I will investigate and update (from what I found so far, he lives at the address listed on his campaign finance forms.
We knew Joe was running, and as I have mentioned in the past he has the best resume. I have been telling folks lately though I am seriously looking at ALL of the mayoral candidates since they all have great qualities to be mayor, they also have their faults, but it will be interesting to see who will rise above those obstacles.
Erickson no doubt is the favorite, mainly for her exuberate personality, and this will be a hard to combat. Also, with likely being the ONLY woman running, she may garner a lot of female support. I did hear her on a podcast recently and she leans MAGA and seems to be supporting deportation efforts in Sioux Falls. If she continues the ‘Trump Talk’ I’m not sure this helps her, except amongst those mouth breathers, and when you are campaigning to 7% of the voting public in Sux, it’s wise to stay on a clear message.
I have no doubt if Jamison decides to run, he will have a polished campaign that is consistent on policy ideas, I also have NO doubt Joe will do the same. Couldn’t tell you much about the Smith campaign since it seems their strategy so far is let’s keep it a secret he is running and when individuals reach out to you for help or promotion you just ignore them. If I had a dollar for every DEM that told me about the unresponsiveness of his campaign, I could fund his campaign. Not a good look. I do like Jamie though and believe he would be the most populist candidate wanting to get things done for the citizens and not just for the Developer Welfare Queens (though working in Real Estate may present conflicts). Also, his unresponsiveness may be a sign of how he will do as a mayor.
If any of the candidates tell me they will end TIFs in this city (or at least make them only for affordable housing) I would support the candidate, hands down. TIFs are straddling our city with uncontrollable infrastructure needs and no way to pay for them. It also hurts our county and school district with property tax dollars they have to make up for from the state (which withholds crucial funding). I think if there is a candidate that addresses property taxes and TIFs they will have a good chance of winning. In fact, if any of the candidates running put property taxes as part of their campaign agenda they would at least get people interested in your other campaign promises.
This next city election will be about the economy, hands down, and by election time next year, it will likely be in the toilet. The candidates will need to talk about kitchen table ideas, because swimming pools and event centers are a thing of the past.
l3wis 
