Sioux Falls Legislators Jamison & Nesiba on Dakotanews

It was refreshing to hear a Republican and Democrat share their feelings on the upcoming session. Notice they both have reasonable answers to the problems we face and how those opinions are pretty similar. I have argued for a long time that Sioux Falls is somewhat an oasis from the rest of the state, dare I say even cosmopolitan when compared to other districts. It’s just too bad our city government can’t stop acting like lazy cavemen.

UPDATE: A South DaCola foot soldier told me today that they heard an interview where Paul said he intends to run for a 2nd term as long as his COS, Erica Beck, is on board and she said she would stay on. I had to chuckle a bit, because Paul has to keep her on board if he serves a 2nd term, because she is the one running the city.

With about a year away from the 2022 municipal elections I’m sure most people have other things on their mind. For instance, Curt Soehl is also up for re-election as the Central District councilor, but he doesn’t have to announce for awhile, and I think that race will be quite crowded.

It seems strange to me that Paul hasn’t said one way or another if he is running again. He wouldn’t need some big news conference, just a simple press release saying he will or will not run again. At the very least, just to raise money.

If I was a betting man, my guess is that he will seek a 2nd term AND will beat his closest competitor in a landslide. I also think Paul knows the job is gravy train, that is why he pays his COS $177K a year to run the city for him while he makes supposed side developer deals with inside information. It’s win-win for everyone.

If he decides to NOT run again, my guess is there would be a long list of people that would think about running like Huether, Erickson, Neitzert, Jamison and Stehly.

If Paul does announce he is running I’m not sure if he will have any serious contenders, and it will sure be fun watching him debate David Z.

This Monday you can start voting early for the Sioux Falls Municipal Election at the Minnehaha County Auditor’s office. I highly suggest you do. I have voted early for at least the last 5 years. It is very convenient and I have NEVER waited in a line to do so.

While I know who I am voting for in all the races, I know not all of you agree with me. So I’m going to make my suggestions and tell you why I made them.

Mayoral Race

I’m voting for Greg Jamison, but my second choice would be Jolene Loetscher. Let’s face it, no matter how many times you throw the cards down, Jamison is the only one in the race that has the experience to run the city administratively on day one. While Jim and Kenny also have experience, Jim’s ties to Huether are worrisome. Kenny just hasn’t convinced me he is prepared for the job. Where Jolene lacks experience she makes up with passion and compassion. I really like these qualities about Jolene. If she would make the runoff and win mayor she would also do an excellent job, but she would have an enormous learning curve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnBzO-VK78Y

Central District

This one has been a tough one for me. I originally supported Zach DeBoer, but more and more I like the working class fiscally conservative values of Thor Bardon. Thor will get my vote. But a vote for Zach or Tom Hurlbert would certainly not be the wrong way to go. I think all three men are very talented and have immense qualities that would make them great city councilors. I know nothing about Scott Bartlett except that he was a teabagger at one time. Scary. Curt Soehl, while being a former firefighter is a great quality, his attachment to Huether and developers in his campaign donor list makes it obvious where his loyalties lie, not with the people. I was also put off about his comments about the media. Love or hate the media, let’s face it, as a city councilor or other elected official you have to be an open book with the media. It is essential to open and transparent government.

At-Large ‘A’

Janet Brekke is the obvious choice in this race, hands down. Janet’s experience as a former city attorney (she created the city attorney’s office) will help the next council be guided through complex contracts. She also has many great ideas on deregulation, code enforcement changes, customer service and strategic and budget planning. John is a nice guy, but he is running the same losing campaign he ran when he lost to Stehly two years ago. In the past two years he hasn’t offered us anything new. While I agree city government should be more positive he offers no solutions. Ritch Whoever is the really winner in this race because he took the high road and decided not to run this time.

At-Large ‘B’

I’ll be honest with you, I would probably be helping Erickson right now get re-elected if it wasn’t for new friendship with the mayor and her votes on the Downtown Parking Ramp. I have had many discussions with Christine when it came to the school start date, free swimming and bus rides for the kids and other citizen friendly programs. Something changed in Christine over the past two years, and it is worrisome. The Downtown Parking ramp wreaks of corruption and she was in on the deal from the beginning, sitting on the RFQ committee that picked Legacy. Nick Weiland will get my vote, and while Nick may have a learning curve, he has a great passion about redeveloping our core and making our city more digitally advanced which will help with customer service and save taxpayers money.

So on Monday, get out and vote!

Imagine you are running for mayor of Sioux Falls, and without asking, a national organization drops you a cool $47,000 to help you with direct mail.

That was the surprise the Jamison campaign got last week when they donated that amount.

But here is the amazing part of the donation, according to the finance report document, they gave the money without asking Jamison (DOC: National-Association-Realtors-DON)

WOW!

UPDATE: The latest mailing;