Vote for the ‘Democracy ‘ candidates in the Sioux Falls City Council race Tuesday

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I have been blogging about this city government for over 15 years, I may not be an expert on all it’s ins and outs, but I have watched its deterioration from an open government.

I used to think the Munson administration was bad, but he was a light weight in comparison to the last two mayors who have destroyed any shred of transparency and open government.

This is why voting for the ‘Democracy’ candidates for council is important, Janet Brekke, Emmett Reistroffer, Cody Ingle and Pam Cole.

We need to bring openness back and shine a light, we also need to put the mayor back at city hall to run the day to day operations and keep out of the council’s policy objectives. This isn’t an ask, this is how the charter is written. The mayor runs the city by directing its employees to implement the policies the council adopts. I have argued for a long time the past two mayors have been violating charter over and over again, and the rubber stamp council has been derelict in their duties of writing good policy and controlling the purse strings.

If we don’t elect at least 3 of these candidates you will see a downward spiral to darkness and we will never be able to crawl out of that hole.

What would happen;

• Government action will be done in complete silence.

• The mayor will introduce all policy and his hand picked rubber stamp puppets will implement it.

• Taxes and fees will skyrocket to keep up with the reckless spending on special interest projects.

• Crime will go thru the roof.

• The core neighborhoods will crumble to dust.

I know this sounds dire, but we are already moving in these directions and it needs to be stopped. While a 4/4 council might not be able to stop all bad legislation (The mayor can still break ties and veto) it will at least be slowed and hopefully we can turn this around.

What does mean to elect the ‘Democracy’ candidates?

• More open and transparent government (which saves us millions).

• More interaction with the citizenry to shape policy.

• Building density and cleaning up our core neighborhoods.

• Fiscal responsibility and holding the line on handouts to wealthy developers, banksters and bondsters.

• A strategic plan for the city written by the council with interaction from the citizens.

• Creative ways to build affordable and workforce housing.

• Safer streets and neighborhoods.

• A modern, safe and practical bike trail.

• More opportunities for small businesses.

I am not asking you to vote for the ‘Democracy’ candidates, I’m BEGGING YOU!

After Tuesday, if we don’t elect these 4 candidates, we can’t go in reverse, and I am afraid Sioux Falls will never be the same.

Mayor TenHaken says to vote NO on his salary increase

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Here is the ‘reason’ he is giving;



For Charter Amendment A, which would raise the mayor’s and City Councilors salaries, I am voting NO on this issue. During a time of record inflation and extremely tightened budgets for families across our community and country, paying our mayor and City Council members more is not warranted or timely.



While he is absolutely correct and probably the reason most voters will be voting NO, this is purely political. He knows damn well that this will fail and now with his endorsement of failure it will probably go down in the upper 70 percentile range. It’s easier to admit failure in advance then to ask for forgiveness in the future. Well played Poops.

Some have speculated this was cooked up by Councilor Marshmellow Selfish and the mayor had little to do with it, but I do know they are close, so I have trouble believing it.

I also find it ironic that he doesn’t think he deserves a raise right after giving $2.5 million in bonuses to city employees, before an election, then receiving union endorsements. So which is Poops?

He also endorses his hand picked candidates (probably would have been weird to hand pick puppets and endorse their opponents). They are clearly selections / recruits. In order to endorse someone you would usually at least have a conversation with the other choices. Many people have told me Poops recruited Sarah Cole because her kids attend the same school as his and that is where they met. We know image matters more to Paul than substance, so it makes sense.

While commenters rail on him about it being inappropriate, which a personally agree, when it comes to the 1st Amendment, Poops has the constitutional right to publicly endorse whoever he wants to, if it makes him look like a jerk, oh well – ethics and integrity really are not tools in his toolbox.


I think this comment from candidate Pam Cole sums it up;

This is Pam Cole and I’m running for At Large B. I bring local and state level policy building experience to the council as a former school board member and state senator. I’m a community builder and leader of policy driven equitable solutions. What on earth are you doing, mayor TenHaken by getting involved in this way? You have refused to meet with me since January 10th. I have given you my card twice…(thanked you for your service while doing so), I’ve filled out the online meeting request form as you suggested, emailed your assistant Julie, given my card to Erika Beck, and other members of your staff, and I stopped in your office in person. You don’t know me, you don’t know my abilities and the heart I have for people. You refuse to meet with me, even though we may get to work together for the greater good of ALL the people in this community. Please go to www.coleforcouncil.com or call me at 605-695-1996 or email me at pam@colefor council for more information, everyone! I WILL MEET with YOU!!
Here’s who you get with Rich Merkouris: someone that left an ELCA Church (as associate pastor) and started his OWN CHURCH. after the national ELCA decided it is OK that pastors are gay. (I’m an active member of Spirit of Joy ELCA Lutheran in Sioux Falls) And, Rich’s position as President of Kingdom Capital Fund garners him $75,000 (as per IRS.gov) to dispense hundreds of thousands of dollars OUT OF STATE activities that attempt to reprogram people such as anti-gay radio personality Dawson McAllister. 260194811_201912_990_2021040517880016.pdf (irs.gov)
Being an authentic Christian means acceptance of others. Please speak truth about us as candidates. Meet with me. Get to know me. My ability to accept others their religions, their color, their sexual orientation, their social and financial status, that is what we NEED for our City. Not judgment, not control. Open hearted care and conviction of everyone’s right to make more of themselves. I CHALLENGE everyone on this post to seek out information. PLEASE call or email me. I’m here for you. 605-695-1996. pam@coleforcouncil.com
https://www.facebook.com/PamColeForCouncil
And, I urge you to VOTE EARLY. This post may solidify your support of those the mayor mentions. That is fine; please go vote for them. If it causes you to question an imbalance of power, then please vote for me. I am ready to serve you and this city.
KnowThyNeighbor.org: Top 40 Radios Stations Nationwide Including Kiss 108 in Boston Promoting Ex-Gay Movement, Exodus International (blogs.com)

There will never be ‘Regular People’ serving in Sioux Falls city government ever again

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We saw the writing on the wall when Alex Jensen and his cabal of donors had to spend $127K to beat a self-employed piano teacher by around 90 votes. The regular guy/gal is no longer allowed to compete.

Just look at the usual donors on the financial reports (someone should tell Andera that she can’t add her smaller contributions up twice 🙂

It is the same group of rich Republican businessmen and mysterious dark PACs (so some of these rich people can hide their identities) that are once again funding the campaigns of the NON-regular people (except Islam who seems to have half the state of Michigan gunning for her and they all work at the same hospital 🙂

You have to chuckle when Clowncilor Marshall Selfish actually suggested that the reason the members needed a bigger salary is so more regular people could run. That’s rich considering he never mentioned that you actually need the money up front.

We could change this with a couple of easy steps;

• Get rid of the Home Rule Charter as it exists and give more power back to council and,

• Publicly finance the races so everyone is on the same playing field.

We of course first must throw out the current charter, and there is a stew brewing on that one along with some other goodies I will share very soon.

So it looks like we will have yet another city election where a handful of people vote for the very people who are lining their pockets with donations from the banksters, bondsters and developers that are turning our city into a corporate welfare state.

This is the current lineup for the election;

Mayoral Race; Paul TenHaken, David Zokaites, Taneeza Islam

Central District; Curt Soehl (No challengers)

Southeast District; David Barranco (No Challengers)

At Large (A); Janet Brekke, Bobbi Andera, Dr. Sarah Cole

At Large (B); Rich Merkouris, Pam Cole