Mayor Subprime Mike Huether

No wonder Darrin Smith threw Staggers under the bus during the mayoral campaign, he had a job riding on it

My little birdy was right, Smith was angling for a job in the Huether administration. It’s okay though, if Darrin doesn’t like the job he can always QUIT!

Mayor Mike announced his replacements today;

They are: David Pfeifle, city attorney; Jill Franken, public health; Darrin Smith, community development public parking; and Sue Quanbeck Etten, central services.

I don’t have a clue about the others, maybe some of my readers can fill us in.

Mayor Huether; “I can’t cross the street without women giving me their phone number.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_QxRBxf36I[/youtube]

Meet Mayor Huether’s new advisor

This video of ‘Ask the Mayor’ is pretty informative, here is a sampling;

(Paraphrasing) (Ahem) “Excited people across the city want to talk to me about issues, and not just about my awesomeness . . . I can’t go anywhere without people wanting to talk to me as mayor, it is great thing, even greater then my perfect politician haircut . . . It’s hard to cross the street in Sioux Falls, because people are calling out my name to talk to me, some want to share their ideas some just want to tell me to fuckoff. I think it will go on for the next four years, and I am excited about it, especially the fuckers telling me to fuckoff. Because I like that word. Fuck! Especially in radio studios”

He also discusses his transition team;

(Paraphrasing) (Ahem) “Many people have been asking about my transition team, well it is me. But I also have other people, for instance my wife, Cindy. Also, my close friend, president of Augustana, Rob Oliver. But I also have others. I bought Wilbur the Coyote from Gigglebees, he is advising me, I also hired a drag queen, Princess Falls to advise me on how to turn Sioux Falls into a gay haven, and of course a place to get a perfect politician haircut, like mine.”

He thinks he may have to move the listening sessions from ‘whisk and choop’ to the Orpheum theatre becuase of all the people coming to them (nevermind there is a building you can use rent free – Carnegie Hall).

(Paraphrasing) (Ahem) “The popularity of the listening sessions on Saturday has been very popular. I have never seen so much blue hair in my life! We all drink crappy coffee and eat bland breakfast food and talk about the issues.”

Who is on Mayor Mike Huether’s transition team?

Not just a pretty face, but a former SF city councilor who QUIT, and LOST his bid for mayor.

I have often joked, besides the obvious, people helping our new mayor (Dave Nelson, Metli and Hildebrand) there probably isn’t anybody else helping him. But a little birdy told me the other day, the guy who went crying to KELO-TV about Councilor Staggers’ councilor trips, former city councilor, Darren Smith, is probably one of Mike’s chief transition advisors. I’m not sure if it is true, but if anybody is feeling frisky, fill me in.

“And I would have gotten away with it . . .

. . . if it weren’t for those meddling reporters and bloggers.”

First I want to start on the positive. Mike has agreed to experimenting with snowgates and upgrading infrastructure before building new roads. Good. These are only common sense endeavors. But he needs to work on the whole ‘transparency’ thingy.

Ellis’ column proves something I thought about Mayor Mike during the campaign; He talks out of both sides of his mouth and can’t give a straight answer to a straight question. I have often believed he took the positive aspects of Staggers, repackaged them and sold them as Huether USDA choice. Snowgates? Infrastructure first? Can you say; the hallmarks of Staggers two terms on the city council?

But let’s look at the run around that Ellis has so beautifully displayed about Mayor Subprime’s transition team;

• On May 4, Huether said he was still putting “the team” together.

• Then comes May 17, Turns out the mayor was still forming his team. Actually, he said, “it’s not so much just one team.”

• By May 22, the situation had changed in dramatic fashion. “The transition team is Mike Huether, that’s it,” the mayor said.

Was there a transition team? Is there a transition team? Or is the team really just My Man Mike?

Scooby-Doo, where are you?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_C2HJvtRDY[/youtube]

We may just get those snowgates after all

Mayor Mike promised to ‘experiment’ with snowgates during the campaign, something that has been long overdue. A friend of mine had a conversation with Mike about it the other day and he said he will budget to experiment with them. Something Staggers fought for his entire term on the council. The biggest argument against them was that they do not work, which is not the case. Many communities use them not only for 40 inches of snow, but for leaf removal from the streets (Cour De Lene, Idaho). I’m glad to see Mike will be taking on this endeavor.

Other things discussed were tree trimming in the boulevard and expanding Drake Springs Pool (since the city scaled back the main pool before building it) and I want to clarify this. In the original plans shown of Drake Springs Pool, the main pool was much larger, not sure why it was scaled back, but I’m sure ‘sour grapes’ had something to do with it. Mike said he will absolutely not expand the pool (which sounds reasonable because, quite frankly, it is too late and he has been chomping at the bit to build an indoor pool which I’m sure will be in the 2011 budget). And he seems to be confused about tree trimming, he sounded like he was under the impression that property owners have to take care of adjacent city property (and this is true according to city charter) but it still isn’t right considering the city is legally liable for the property. But since the constitutionality of code enforcement is in question now, the city may have no choice but to take care of their own property. They have no legal standing to fine you if you don’t trim their trees.