Paul Ten Haken

Paul TenHaken has ‘Kind of’ a platform

l3wis September 18, 2017 4Comments

When I have people ask me advice about running for municipal government I give them one important piece of advice before even announcing, EDUCATE YOURSELF. In other words watch old meetings, attend current meetings, talk to present and past elected officials and city employees and get to know the issues and before announcing build a strong platform with solutions that encourage transparency and common sense government.

You don’t need to be a part of a party or group, in fact in city politics that is probably the last thing you want to be a part of.

I also advise to stick to the issues that affect all citizens. That means fringe or special interest social issues, faith and personal interests should be avoided. It’s okay to talk about these things, but when running for city government it is important to look at the big picture.

Also, be specific.

After looking at Mr. TenHaken’s website, I’m a little lost on specifics. He touches on some good issues but gives us NO solutions;

Crime Reduction, Fiscal responsibility, Affordable Housing, Workforce and Economic development, Moving Downtown forward and building consensus.

And if you look at his FB page you will see he doesn’t take many stands and asks readers to give him advice.

I hate to say it, but these discussions with the public should have taken place BEFORE you announced. If you want the city’s top job, you should know what you want to do in the terms of policy before announcing.

I’m not saying you can’t change some these policy ideas during your campaign, but you should have them written down to keep your message solid while campaigning. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

I don’t think Paul knows what he wants to do for us, it seems like he is just looking to win the race than figure it out later. I am NOT comfortable with that approach. You are building and managing a city NOT selling a website.

Having Faith, Being a People Person and wearing jeans isn’t a solid platform, it’s a starting point, and not a good place to be when you announce you are running for mayor.

Ten Haken Launches Mayoral Video an hour before his Press Conference

l3wis August 29, 2017 15Comments

You would think a guy who runs a major media company would know better? As Jerry Seinfeld said to George, “And you want to be my latex salesman?”

So Paul Ten Haken wants to be your ‘Middle of the Road’ Man

l3wis August 28, 2017 7Comments

Hilarious!

Mr. Ten Haken is anything BUT ‘Middle of the Road’. But I won’t dig into that until he makes an official announcement, which he plans to do tomorrow;

The founder of a Sioux Falls digital marketing company will make “an exciting announcement regarding the future of Sioux Falls” this week.

Ten Haken’s name has come up in conversations about the 2018 mayoral race, but earlier this year he downplayed that possibility, saying that family obligations would keep him out

But a decision last month might indicate he’s freeing up professional time for a campaign. He announced in July that he was stepping away from his role as CEO of the company he founded in 2008 to take a lesser role as advisory board chair.

Not sure if he is announcing running for mayor. He could be running for an at-large council seat or assisting a mayoral campaign. But most likely it is a mayoral announcement.

There has been some internet buzz over the past couple of weeks that a moderate Republican will be running for Mayor. Paul is ‘anything’ but moderate when it comes to one of his biggest clients, the Republican Party of SD and it’s members. Though he likes to pretend otherwise;

“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.

When I posted about this story being concerned that Ten Haken was spying on his employees personal political leanings to much, he made this comment;

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.

I responded by saying I think employers already suck enough blood out of their employees without telling them ‘how they can think’ outside of work. As long as an employee isn’t engaging in illegal or dangerous activities outside of work, it is none of my employer’s business what they think politically, extreme or not.

One of my readers made this fantastic comment in response;

I have had several thousand employees over the years . . . If you control their lives outside of work, you set the tone of fear, suspicion and deceit, always looking over the shoulder mentality as they find ways to get even with you.

I was taught many years ago, the eight hours spent at the job control the other sixteen hours. If you have to be concerned about their sixteen hours, you don’t have time to do a good job with their time ‘working’ the eight.

Can you imagine what city employees would think of having this man as their boss?

Like I said, I would rather wait for Mr. Ten Haken to make an official announcement about his political OR non-political future. But if he does announce a run for mayor, South DaCola will be glad to show just how ‘Non-Partisan’ ‘Middle of the Road’ Paul has been ‘painstakingly’ building his business. It involves a little music and some moving of chairs.