South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Mayor TenHaken

1st Amendment Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

Maybe TenHaken needs to take his own advice when it comes to employees and social media

l3wis 17Comments

I’m guessing the city’s wellness coordinator may have an issue with this.

Remember what TenHaken said in 2012 about employees sharing political views on social media;

Ten Haken said he is no stranger to a good political debate on his Facebook and Twitter, but airing out your political feelings online can be a social media ‘don’t’ because it can come back to haunt you.  Rants and fights online can not only wreck personal relationships, but even put your job in jeopardy.

“It’s just safe to kind of walk the middle of the road and if you’re going to post about politics.  There’s nothing wrong with engaging in politics, but just not in such a polarizing way,” Ten Haken said.

Paul went on to comment in the thread;

Paul Ten Haken on 09.24.12 at 6:50 am

The takeaway from the story is that employers (self included) don’t necessarily appreciate overly controversial bantor and talk that can create a rift in a company’s culture. Politics, religion, sports, etc. are certainly not taboo, but extreme left and right views can make an employer question the “fit” someone will be in a work environment that the employer has painstakingly built.

And who can forget his Deputy COS’s comments just months (7/11/17) before being hired to work for the administration;

It seems Paul needs to step back and take his own advice before hiring certain individuals to work for the city.

Jason Reisdorfer Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

Former Pizza Maker & Parks Board Member gets nod for new IT Director for city

l3wis 41Comments

Not since Paul appointed that FB cusser, TJ Nelson, as his deputy COS has he made a flub in an important appointment. Today that changed;

Mayor Paul TenHaken today announced the appointment of Jason Reisdorfer to the new position of Director of Innovation and Technology.

Where to begin with Jason? When he was appointed to the Parks Board, we decided to check his voting record. While he was registered to vote, he seemed skip the important part of that registration by voting. In anything.

You may also remember Jason’s very public attacks on FB towards councilor Stehly for trying to convert the Parks Board into districts and get their meetings video recorded. I guess I am not real keen on Jason’s disdain for government transparency and fairness when he will be running our secure data for the city.

But let’s move on to his stellar resume;

In 2012, Jason sold his restaurant business to go work with his long-time friend Eric Weisser.

I guess I am puzzled what business he sold? Or was it more like a liquidation? As I understand it the business he is referring to is a very successful pizza chain in the region that is still alive and well. I think Jason had a small ownership in a branch of the business that has since closed in Harrisburg.

Together, they built Weisser Distributing into one of the fastest growing companies in South Dakota. They recently earned their fourth consecutive selection to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the United States. As the Director of Operations, Jason led Weisser Distributing’s growth from four employees and $1 million in sales to over 130 employees with warehouses in three cities and are on pace to record over $65 million sales in 2018.

So this part of his resume actually has me asking more questions than anything. If he was just an employee that helped build the business this much, why would they let him go? If he had actual ownership in the business, why isn’t he staying? Did he sell his part? Or will he still have ownership and involvement while working for the city? Is that a conflict? I don’t know.

Also, I find it curious that he wants to work for the city of Sioux Falls when this company decided to move to Tea, SD to grow and not stay in Sioux Falls. How can you have pride in working for Sioux Falls when you decided to grow your business in Tea?

There is a lot of questions the city council needs to ask before approving this appointment.

Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

Mayor TenHaken announces new department

l3wis 4Comments

Yesterday Paul unveiled his ‘Department of Innovation and Technology‘;

The City of Sioux Falls Mayoral Office has established a new department focused on innovation, technology and data.

“I’m excited for our new dedicated resources to help advance our city’s priorities by being an innovative and forward-thinking community,” says Mayor Paul TenHaken. “By embracing innovation, technology and data to help make key decisions, Sioux Falls will be well prepared for the next several decades.”

The Department of Innovation and Technology will include the divisions of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Information Technology, and Communications (formerly named Multimedia Support). These divisions will be under the leadership of a new Director, who will soon be appointed with the advice and consent of the City Council.

The new Director and their team will continue the great work these divisions already do, with a focus on how the City can do things better, more efficiently, more effectively, more sustainably, and with greater community impact. The Director will also work with other departments to foster innovation throughout city government.

“Initiatives like 5G connectivity for our city, autonomous vehicles, adaptive traffic flow technologies, mobile notification systems, and many other items will continue to move Sioux Falls ahead,” said Mayor TenHaken. “This restructure will ensure we stay on the leading edge of smart city government.”

It will be interesting to see who the new director will be. I like the idea. The past administration pretty much put the IT department in a holding pattern and tasked them more with ‘keeping secrets’ than opening government up and making it more customer friendly. If Paul pulls this off successfully, it could be the greatest ‘WIN’ in his first term.

Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

Mayor TenHaken planning a big party for city employees?

l3wis 13Comments

Well, not really a party, but a discussion? I guess he has invited city employees to one of two meetings to have a ‘Rah Rah’ session with them. Not only has he asked city employees to attend, he has promised a ‘gift’ for attendance and has asked city councilors to NOT attend.

I am still waiting for more details, but I find it troubling that the public (at this point) is not asked to attend.

If the mayor has a citywide directive, he can easily put that forward in a employee citywide memo. He can even go a step further and actually take a week to visit each department and shake hands and personally ask city employees their opinions about city business.

Please Paul, tell me it isn’t true.

Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Did Mayor TenHaken ‘Reorganize’ another department?

l3wis 6Comments

UPDATE: The Mayor’s office confirmed today that the director of Central Services was let go last week due to a reorganization of her department. I guess she sent out an email over the weekend to city councilors telling them she was confused as to why she was let go. I’ll give you one reason, Sue; Huether Appointment.

The story from city hall is that Paul ‘reorganized’ another department yesterday. In other words, he ‘organized’ a departure of another director, and I heard he has a replacement already.

I have a pretty good guess who it is and what department, but I’m sure there will be an announcement this week, so I won’t rain on Erica’s, uh, I mean, Paul’s parade.

Let’s just say if it is true, DaCola approves.

. . . And no, it wasn’t Kelby 🙂

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