South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Paul Ten Haken

Christine Erickson Elections Former Mayor Bucktooth & Bowlcut Mayor TenHaken Mike Huether Paul Ten Haken

Is former Mayor Huether running for mayor in 2022?

l3wis 32Comments

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.

Christine Erickson Elections Greg Jamison Greg Neitzert Mayor TenHaken Mike Huether Paul Ten Haken SF City Council Sioux Falls Theresa Stehly

UPDATE: Will TenHaken run for Re-election as Sioux Falls mayor?

l3wis 8Comments

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.

Gay Mayor TenHaken Paul Ten Haken SF City Council Sioux Falls

Is Mayor TenHaken Homophobic?

l3wis 9Comments

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.”

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;

A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet that compose the visible light spectrum. The actual color attributed as “blue” is cyan.[1][2]

There are several independent rainbow flags in use today. The pride flag represents LGBT pride (since 1978). The international peace flag is especially popular in Italy (since 1961). The International Co-operative Alliance adopted a rainbow flag in 1925. A similar flag is used in Andean indigenism in Peru and Bolivia to represent the legacy of the Inca Empire (since ca. 1920).

American Revolutionary War writer Thomas Paine proposed that a rainbow flag be used as a maritime flag, to signify neutral ships in time of war.[3][4][5]

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 TenHaken Paul Ten Haken racism SF City Council Sioux Falls

TenHaken says, ‘No Haters’!

l3wis 19Comments

I first want to say that I think this resolution is a good idea;

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.

Dusty Johnson Greg Neitzert Mike Huether Paul Ten Haken Rounds

Will Marion Mike Rounds run for another term? DaCola says NO.

l3wis 8Comments

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.

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