Workers Unite!
l3wis 
Employment
State Government is corrupt? Get out!
Found this post below on Reddit, NONE of it surprised me. I knew an associate who used to work for Governor Daugaard in HR and the stories they would tell me about state employees and the certain ‘clubs’ that existed in Pierre. They told the governor at one point that it was a serious problem and needed to be handled. Of course nothing happened. I think the thing that stuck with me the most, that several state reps have confirmed to me, ‘NOBODY IN STATE GOVERNMENT WORKS ON FRIDAYS. NOBODY.’;
I am posting this on my burner account to avoid being recognized, and I will not be saying which department I worked in to protect the people who actually do their jobs.
A little less than a year ago, I moved to South Dakota to take a government position. The pay was $61,000 a year, which is more than enough to live on in Pierre. During my time working for the state, I have been horrified by the level of abuse that takes place within our government.
To start, there was literally nothing for me to do. At first, I thought this was just because I was new, but after about a month I quickly realized that this is simply how it is—everyone just pretends to be busy. I maybe had eight hours of actual work to do in an entire week, and that was it. It’s a free-for-all. Nobody does anything, and everyone seems to be okay with that.
Something really needs to be done about this. We have three people doing a job that one part-time employee could handle. It is incredibly wasteful and frustrating to see people watching Netflix or doomscrolling at work instead of doing their jobs. You could cut my department’s workforce by 75% and no one would even notice a difference.
Additionally, the cliques that exist among government workers in Pierre are ridiculous. The gossip is out of control, and if you are not from here—especially if you didn’t grow up here—they will make you feel unwanted very quickly.
I strongly encourage you to reach out to your local representatives and demand action. We are quite literally burning taxpayer money while paying out ridiculous benefits to people who couldn’t care less about being public servants.
There are much better things we should be spending tax payer money on!
Another Symptom of Closed Government in Sioux Falls; Nepotism
But this isn’t your average case. I guess the son of COS, Erica Beck, our part-time mayor, has been working in HR since at least 2022-2023, and is the recruiter for the SFPD (these are the salary listings for 2023-25);
Besides being blatant nepotism and a massive conflict of interest what makes it even more troubling is that he is management in the HR department. Who is Ethan’s supervisor? Mommy dearest? And look at those raises, almost 10K each year! Must be doing a bang up job!
So let’s review;
• Knowingly hiring your son to work in management in city government: NEPOTISM
• Putting him in a supervisor role in HR to monitor the HR department: NEPOTISM
• Massive raises without a promotion or increased job duties (this is a trick to bump up pension and benefits): NEPOTISM
This is the kind of crap you see in the private sector, but NOT on the taxpayer’s dime. Apparently Poops and Beck think the City of Sioux Falls is their private corporation to run. And we used to think Councilor Erpenbach’s kids mowing the parks was a big deal.
I guess the city of Sioux Falls employees are working without pay in 2025
I am always waiting in anticipation to see what kind of atrocious raises the directors and managers are getting each year as if they are working for a tech company that makes profits. Well, once again, they are late posting the wages (this is last years). Maybe the city employees are not getting paid this year? Maybe the mayor is trying to hoard even more money for the convention center?
The Smoke & Mirrors of the City of Sioux Falls recruitment efforts
Chief of Mumbo Jumbo for the City explains the city’s employment recruitment efforts
I was a bit confused when I saw this presser. Is the city having retention problems? Hardly. But why are they focusing on recruiting young people for city jobs? It’s the old game private companies pull, anybody over 50, tenured and at the top of their pay scale is human trash and must go. The city has been quietly pushing these employees out. I wish those who have already succumb to this pressure would go to the media about it. Story of the year (besides our murder numbers). But is this age discrimination? And is that protected by Federal statutes? Good question. Now don’t get me wrong if someone is a slacker, they need to go, but for very specific reasons. While younger employees may have more energy, innovation and creativity and save the city money in salaries and reduced benefits they have no idea how to steer a ship and you want tenured employees around to help guide these younger folks. Trust me, I detest that the city has so much mid-management, that is where I would start before going after the rank and file. The next mayor is going to have a real HR mess to clean up.