I agree, the mayor shouldn’t be using insider information to sooth his followers hunger for pop rock, but that is small potatoes compared to giving city employees a bonus right before an election.
In an interview Monday afternoon, TenHaken said he’s “always looking for different ways to communicate with people,” and said he liked the “pure, 1-on-1 communication” someone could get via a texting service.
“People like to know what’s going on in their city,” he said.
LMFAO! Yeah Paul, I have been asking for almost 4 years! What is going on? Backdoor meetings about bonuses, deals with Sanford, deals with developers, all done in the secrecy of your armed guarded offices. When were you going to drop us a text about over stepping your boundaries and secretly negotiating a bonus for employees from a mystery fund?
Islam added if elected mayor, “I’ll always be transparent about any news involving one of our taxpayer funded buildings.”
Mayoral hopeful David Zokaites had similar concerns, calling it “a disgusting abuse of mayoral privilege.”
“This is unethical and appalling but not surprising. Sioux Falls government has corruption problems (a massively-overpriced parking garage) and tries to hide bribery (gifts of third party paid travel) ,†Zokaites said in a statement to KELOLAND News. “What’s a little insider information compared to bribery and corruption? Certainly this abuse of insider information should stop immediately and an apology should be issued.â€
David is right, this is highly unethical it may even violate campaign rules but that didn’t stop Poops massive ego from spilling out;
TenHaken said in response that in any election with an incumbent, candidates are going to be “envious” of the platform that provides and the advantages that come with it.
“That’s part of what comes with being the existing officeholder,” said TenHaken, adding he remembered the feeling from his run four years ago.
Sounds like something one of his campaign GOONS would write.
First off, the obvious, there were NO incumbents last time around and the other candidates that would have had access to that information certainly didn’t use it to their advantage since they both lost miserably. Secondly, just because you are the current mayor doesn’t give you the right to use information that WE own against your opponents, as Taneeza points out;
“The Premier Center is owned by Sioux Falls taxpayers,†Islam said in a statement.
Any information about what goes on at that facility should be public information shared to everyone at the same time, even if the mayor knows in advance.
As for the comment about being ‘envious’. WOW! You really are more arrogant than I thought. Trust me, I have had a lot of emotions about how you have run this city, like your lack of courage, ethics and transparency when you make decisions. But trust me, I don’t think I have ever been jealous of those qualities, just embarrassed that our city is being run by a bunch of toddlers in a clown car going around a track in a secret room in the basement of city hall. AND I can pretty much guarantee your two opponents are not jealous either.
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.
There have been a lot of moles telling me he has been telling people he is running and raising money, and NOT for governor.
Whether this is true or not, it should not surprise anyone. He has been chomping at the bit to get back at city hall.
It will certainly set up an interesting scenario, especially with Erickson also looking to run for the position.
I still stick by my prediction that Paul will not run for re-election. I guess he has been getting advice from friends on whether to run or not.
I think if Paul decides to bail, you will see a whole host of people running besides Bucktooth and Bowlcut and Heels. I think you could see a possibility of 8 solid candidates. I also don’t think Mike’s chances are as good this time around. If you look back just on his 2nd term he had a mountain of failures like The EC siding fiasco (still not fixed) and the fact that the revenue from the place is practically zilch and no development is in that area, also the Bunker Ramp, Administration Building HVAC, ignoring the water plant upgrades, transparency, etc, etc.
If Paul does decide to run against Mike and Christine, I still think he has the power of incumbency on his side and will win easily. Either way, whether it is Paul, Mike or Christine, were screwed in any scenario.
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.
I will be very careful with my words. Because being accused of being a homophobe a racist or a mysonygist is not a party. I’ve been accused of all three and it is hurtful. I judge people on face value. If you are an A-Hole, your other designations don’t matter to me. If I don’t like you, it is merely based on the fact that ‘I don’t like you.’ I could care less if you are female, gay or a minority. In some ways I actually feel bad for Paul, because I think he wants to say something, but feels like he cannot.
PTH said during the campaign at a mayoral forum hosted by Dem Forum that he was not ‘Homophobic.’ but his actions seem to speak louder than words.
‘Pentecostal congregations have historically condemned homosexuality, and most Pentecostal denominations have doctrinal statements condemning homosexuality, such as the International Pentecostal Holiness Church’s statement, “We have maintained a strong position against premarital, extramarital, and deviant sex, including homosexual and lesbian relationships, refusing to accept the loose moral standards of our society. We commit ourselves to maintaining this disciplined lifestyle with regard to our bodies.â€
I get it, it may go against his religious beliefs. But I often remind people the teachings of Jesus Christ (the guy they supposedly follow) and his whole ‘love your neighbor’ rant.
I have found when you treat people the way you want to be treated, all of that other stuff doesn’t really matter. One of the best things Paul could do right now is raise the rainbow flag above city hall, and say nothing. The actual symbolism of the rainbow flag goes beyond gay rights;
Equality is a beautiful thing, it puts us on a level playing field and what your pastor says on Sunday doesn’t really matter, and the main reason I haven’t walked into a church since I was 18 unless it was for a funeral or a wedding. Your faith in God and your beliefs are between you and God. Pulling a flag up the pole won’t change that. Don’t fight this Paul.
Mayor Paul TenHaken next week will introduce a resolution to the city council condemning hate, a move endorsed by the city’s Human Relations Commission.
“Hate has no place in Sioux Falls,†TenHaken said in a news release Thursday afternoon. “I’m proud to stand with the Human Relations Commission and condemn bias, discrimination and hate in Sioux Falls.
“With this resolution we reaffirm our belief that hate has no place in Sioux Falls and remind the public of ways to report discrimination to the City,†he added.
We should all disavow hate. I am actually embarrassed that in 2020 we have to pass resolutions to tell people to stop being racist jerks.
But this resolution has many procedural and intent problems. It’s nothing but some feel good reach around more than anything else. I also find it ironic that this resolution is being proposed right after the human relations attorney with the city announced he is running for State’s Attorney.
Kawinky-Dink? I think not.
So what are the issues;
1) It has no teeth. It just basically says that the city doesn’t like people being racist. Well Lah-De-Dah. I guess I am unaware of ANY city official, whether elected or employed who thinks it is a good idea to be racist. And in my personal life I ‘try’ to stay away from these people. So basically this is just a ‘memo’ or ‘sticky note’ from the mayor’s office.
2) The mayor should not be legislating. As I have told you fine folks in the past, according to charter, the city council is responsible for legislating and the mayor should run the city. As I mentioned above, this is just a campaign hat trick for the city’s human relations attorney, Daniel Haggar.
3) The mayor avoids gay pride events. I can’t tell you if PTH thinks gay peeps are ‘Icky’. Many have suspected that he does, but I have never seen him say anything publicly about it except at Dem Forum when he was running for office in which he stated that he was not ‘homophobic’. But what I find interesting about this resolution is that it did not include the LGBTQ community, or many other minority groups, like people of Muslim or Jewish faith that are discriminated against consistently. If we are going to pass a resolution disavowing hate, shouldn’t it cover all the bases?
This isn’t a Paul TenHaken issue, it is a bigger issue with politics in general starting with the top down, it’s all about ‘image’ instead of ‘substance’. If we really want to take a stand we need to pass ordinances that has teeth, otherwise this isn’t worth the paper it is written on. On top of that, hate speech is protected by the 1st Amendment, so is this a violation of our constitution?
We make change through education, and teaching people how not to hate. A more fitting resolution would be for the city to set up a grant program that funds seminars on teaching people about different cultures, creeds and sexual preferences. I have often told people that moving to a suburb of Seattle from a farm in South Dakota when I was 16 to live with my dad was the best cultural education of my life. I will sum it up really quickly, everybody has the same hopes and dreams as you do, no matter their color or creed. The city needs to educate people about cultures instead of handing out back rubs, sticky notes, lapel pins and pens.
There is a story in the Argus today (I can’t read it because it is for subscribers) but the headline suggests that Rounds may not run for re-election due to his wife’s illness.
I have felt for awhile that he would NOT run anyway, even before his wife was diagnosed. I have heard from several Republican insiders that he doesn’t like Washington so much, and secondly, six years is a long term.
I have been suggesting for awhile that he will choose NOT to run and Dusty Johnson will run for the seat. This is the gossip going around, and one of the reasons he is so upset with Borglum.
As for money raised, both Rounds and Johnson can easily move those funds.
So who would run for Congress on the Republican side? I think it is Paul TenHaken, who I don’t think has the appetite for another term as Mayor.
I think this will open it up for a special election (if TenHaken wins) for Sioux Falls Mayor, which we will see Huether return, but I could also see other opportunists like Greg Neitzert looking at running.
This of course is all speculation, and just some early predictions.
In the Trumpist sphere, I agree with a letter writer Cory Heidelberg scrounged up. I have been thinking for awhile that the reason Romney is supporting impeachment is so he can be the GOP’s presidential candidate in 2020. Think about it, he has ran before, he has name recognition, and he is a moderate (more like a corporatist). He will still lose, once a loser always a loser. I’m still on the fence whether or not the Senate will kick the bum out of office, but that political circus changes by the day. If the polling is 55% or higher with American support for resignation, the Senate will remove him. Guaranteed. And our Nightmare maybe finally over with . . . for awhile anyway.
I won’t get into the argument about whether we needed an indoor public pool or not in Sioux Falls, that ship has sailed. But I do know the neighbors of Spellerberg opposed the location, mainly due to parking issues with the VA. We all knew at the time that the VA wasn’t going anywhere and was expanding. We also know that the VA has a quit claim deed on Spellerberg, so if they want to expand either buildings or parking, they have the right to do so in Spellerberg park. SAVE Spellerberg warned of these issues before the vote. They fell on deaf ears. Now we have an expanded VA, which needed more parking, so they cancelled their lease with Lifescape and we have an indoor pool with a parking lot next to the VA that sits empty most of the time. Earlier this week, a member of SAVE Spellerberg and a Veteran and Volunteer at the VA sent an email to the City Council, here is a portion of it talking about the parking issues;
Parking is a problem with all city projects going back decades. The city and NFPs intentionally build where there is insufficient parking expecting residential street parking to be a cost savings option. City leaders have routinely handed over streets to business for their convenience, making homeowners/taxpayers second class to the business of city hall.
Not only do I personally think Spellerberg Park was a bad location for an indoor pool, the evidence is showing that it was a HORRIBLE location. Destroying a park for larger parking, and not having any space for expansion of the facility.
I truly believe if the pool would not have gone in there, the VA would have been able to expand parking to accommodate their future needs as well as Lifescape. I found it interesting that NO ONE brought up the reason why there is congestion, because all of the facilities next to each other. Maybe this SAVE Spellerberg person is right;
Lifescape’s poor planning the last 30 years has caused them with the help of city leaders to promote the decline of the very neighborhood that has supported them.
Maybe this is one of the reasons they put Midco at Spellerberg, so they could institutionalize the neighborhood. Seems their plan hit a snag Tuesday Night.
He may now be Mayor, but that’s not stopping TenHaken from making his annual trip to help those in need in a Haitian city called Ti Riviere.
“This is how I’m going to spend a week of vacation every year. This is not a city junket. This is not a political trip. This is me needing to go to Haiti to recharge my batteries and get some perspective each year,” TenHaken said.
Just look at our school system, half of the students are on FREE and reduced lunches. Some of the schools in the poorer neighborhoods are around 90%. Recently a study determined that a neighborhood by North Cliff is a food dessert. The Banquet is expanding to the Westside of the city. Week after week a concerned citizen shows up to the city council meeting and begs the mayor to open a temporary shelter for those who get turned away at the other ‘god-fearing’ joints. There is county a few hundred miles from here on the reservation that is considered the poorest in the nation. If PTH wants to help the poor, he just needs to look out the backdoor of city hall. With our low wage work environment, he will find plenty who need help.
UPDATE: I also find it a bit ironic that PTH mentions this was NOT a junket but he paid for it himself. Did you know Sioux Falls mayors have unlimited vacation time? And I guess PTH has been maxing that fringe benefit quite a bit. This is why he had to allow COS Beck to be part-time mayor in his absence.
But it gets even better, I guess Public Works director Cotter went along for the ride to study ‘infrastructure’. No offense, but wouldn’t you be studying the ‘LACK’ of infrastructure? Also if this was a ‘fact finding’ mission for Cotter, did the taxpayers of Sioux Falls pay for it? Did PTH pay his way? As I understand it, this is missionary work, and the fine line between government and religion could have been crossed. But I think the pressing question is, ‘Who in their right mind would take a vacation with their boss, to an undeveloped country, to read the bible to the natives?’
I sometimes wonder if our grocery stores are secretly giving money under the table to our local weather peeps? I drove around tonight at 8:30 PM. Thirty-four degrees, streets completely clear and barely a half-inch of snow on my sidewalk. I saw very little traffic. If I was the hospitality industry in SF I would threaten to sue the TV stations for killing weekend business. Stop telling us that it ‘could’ be a blizzard? Your forecasting not only sucks, you are doing a disservice to the retail and hospitality industry in Sioux Falls.
It's setting up to be another hot day in much of KELOLAND. However, we do have a better chance of scattered rain this afternoon across the east. More on the that story in moment. Highs yesterday reached the mid 90s in many areas from Aberdeen to Sioux Falls, a growing sign of the dry weather […]
