Mayor Subprime Mike Huether

Mayor Huether makes some interesting comments about the media

Mayor Mike lays out his vision for the press

During the informational meeting, Mike had this to say about the media concerning the recent audit of Global Spectrum

“. . . why I think it is important to verify the recommendations is that it will help us manage the press as well, not that we want to tell the Argus Leader, KELO, KSFY or KDLT what to report on but I think it will help the public understand that having this business audited is a good thing, and that’s how they started the process, when I was in business, I wanted my department to be audited, because I wanted them to find recommendations and mistakes prior to the press, or 60 Minutes or some Eide Bailley or whoever will be find it, and in this case I think it got out of hand, and I think the spirit was good and then I think oh my gosh, the sky is falling when in reality it wasn’t . . . “

Mike sure has a skewed view of ‘The fourth estate’ It is their job to report everything; the good, the bad and the ugly. One reason why blogs have gotten so popular is because the MSM isn’t reporting that way anymore. This is also an interesting comment, because this is a guy who has had hissy-fits with several media people for simply reporting the facts about his campaign. The media needs to keep an eye on Mr. Huether, I think he will be a Slippery Pete when it comes to the press.

It also seems that the council doesn’t want him to continue the King Dave practice of money transfers;

Sioux Falls city councilors Tuesday set the stage for the latest battle with the mayor’s office over who controls tax dollars, an ongoing struggle that former mayor Dave Munson’s administration also confronted.

If Huether wants to shift money among projects, he might have to get the City Council’s approval first. Councilors are looking into requiring their authorization on certain money transfers – an action Huether opposes.

Which is interesting, because if Mike wants to be a ‘fiscally prudent’ mayor, wouldn’t he want more checks and balances in place?

“I think it’s a good form of checks and balances, and we are protecting our constituents,” councilor Rex Rolfing said.

It is possible to put a process in place without disrupting our form of government. In Omaha, which has the same form of city charter, I believe, the council has to approve any money transfer over $20,000. While that may make the council meetings last longer, there may be a way to streamline that process.

Brown later said, “It’s like handing a big bag of money to one person, in this case the mayor” and allowing him to spend it on projects of his choosing.

But Huether doesn’t think council approval is necessary.

“City government already moves slow enough because of all the controls that are in place,” he said. “At some point, you’ve got to allow government to work, and you have to trust government to work.”

That is the problem, the council trusted the last mayor on this issue, and where did it get us? $300 million in debt. This isn’t about TRUST anyway, it is about checks and balances and I hope the city council moves forward on this issue.

Why would our mayor show up to a building razing announcement?

(Image; KELO-TV video screenshot)

Mayor Subprime doing what he does best; blabbing.

I found this story and video a little odd considering our mayor has time to do press conferences about a building demolition. Of course, this probably shouldn’t surprise me, considering he makes a political speech any chance he gets;

“This is where they’d stay when they would go to the State A’s or State B’s. It was a hot bed and I think that’s what David is planning to turn it into in the future,” Mayor Mike Huether said.

It was a hotel. Big deal. And this comment in the AL story scares me even more;

“Sometimes in code enforcement you get people who won’t respond, they don’t want to be a good neighbor, they want to take advantage of the system,” Huether said. “We are going to take this code enforcement, and we are going to take it to a new level, we are. Folks, if you’re not going to be a good neighbor, you need to find a new place to live.”

We need LESS code enforcement not MORE. Taxpayers would prefer their money be spent on services to them not on legal fees.

You’d think he would rather be hanging out with these guys;

The Sioux Falls 2011 budget; A lot of unknowns.

It’s hard to be critical of Mayor Huether’s 2011 budget when you read a statement like this, which just leaves you scratching your head;

Huether said he has made room for the proposed events center and streets – two major issues he ran on during the election.

Well, first off, the 2nd penny is supposed to be mainly for streets and infrastructure, so at least the new mayor gets that part of it, but squeezing in an Events Center when we are expecting zero growth in tax revenue? I can’t wait to see how he proposes to do that.

And it seems Vernon ‘The Sweet Velvet Hammer’ Brown hasn’t figured out what tax dollars are for?

Veteran Councilor Vernon Brown said he preferred the performance-based budget, which is result-oriented and uses goals and objectives to explain why money is being spent. “We live in a time with limited resources and unlimited wants and needs in city government,” he said. “Are we providing a level of service that customers expect and that the citizens are willing to pay for?”

In other words, Brown prefers we spend every last cent as it comes in. He also seems to be under the impression that the citizens are being very well served for our taxdollars. I think I bumped my head on my office base board while rolling around on the floor laughing at that statement, so if what I write seems a little goofy, please forgive me. While I agree our parks and public safety are top notch in Sioux Falls, I struggle with denying citizens constitutional rights as a ‘service’ to us. Something Brown defends, as long as we are ‘safe.’ While I may not be a big fan of Subprime Mike, he still makes more sense then Brown.

Which leads us to Bob Litz, who scares me even more;

Councilor Bob Litz told the new councilors that they have to go with their gut. “Trust me, you people have the intuition. You just have to rely on it,” he said.

While I make a lot of life decisions based on my ‘gut’ I try to make my personal budget decisions based on this little thing I call ‘math’. I wonder if Bob builds houses based on ‘gut’ feelings.

“I suppose I’ll just cut this stud right here, sure, I could measure it, but my gut tells me it is about 8 foot and 3/4 inches”