Sioux Falls Mayor Race

We are fortunate to have good choices in the upcoming city election

These were my final words to a mayoral candidate today after we had coffee. I really believe that. While this candidate wanted me to be on their team, I told them my mind is not made up yet, and I am going to weigh all of them equally. This wasn’t an interview for the blog, we were just touching base and talking issues. Let’s just say a municipal ambulance is in our near future and Erica Beck ain’t running for mayor (she’s a bit busy running from her past command post).

They also asked me what I would like to see in my city, knowing that I was a biking advocate. I said I had to think about it;

ITS TIME SIOUX FALLS SUPPORTED AN ARTIST COOPERATIVE

There is an artist cooperative in Downtown Omaha that is really cool, and I always thought we could have one here with the help of the taxpayers. We used to have such a space at Falls Park, the Horsebarn Art Center, but the city kicked them out because they needed the barn for lawn mower storage (no f’ing lie). The reason I started thinking about this is because I have been watching our fine stewards πŸ™ on the council give away $1 a year leases for city property to for profit businesses. There is tons of space downtown the city owns that they could lease for a $1 a year. The bus barn would work perfectly (if they build a replacement). The location is awesome, plenty of parking in the back and enough space for an amphitheater, gallery space and workshops and studios. The best part is on nice days you can open the garage doors! You could also set it up as a non-profit with a partnership with the city (they would do all maintenance to the facility (externally) and cover utilities and provide a used city van for facility transport. While we are at it, put the Arts Coordinator’s office in the building. We can do good artsy things in this community without kissing the ring at the Bazillion (Wash Pav). I think the city is considering cutting their subsidy substantially which is way over due.

What Hubris! I heard that Selberg was seriously still considering a run for mayor. A word of advice, Marsh, probably need to move back to Sux from Hartford πŸ™‚ you know, that whole district thingy.

OH, and still not sure where MMM stands on the election. I guess the bride isn’t too keen on it (like the rest of the city) but peeps have been seeing him appear in public like those parasites on that new Alien TV series. I saw him on the bike trail the other day with his grandkids(?) it was quite the scene πŸ™‚

Erickson to run for mayor

Well, it hasn’t been a secret that Christine Erickson is running for mayor. She confirmed the news with me over a month ago but was working out logistics before announcing. We actually had a long and productive conversation. I pretty much told her it was ‘hers to lose’ unless some dark horse business person announces. I also asked her feelings about working with council and she pretty much said she will stay out of their way unless they ask for assistance from the mayor’s office. Now, granted, all mayoral candidates say that, and never deliver, because the power goes straight to their heads and it irks them that 8 part-time councilors are telling them how to run a city. They are not, they are proposing a framework you should follow. I think Christine will be more sympathetic because of her legislative and council experience. But, she knows all the tricks on how to hide things from council. I’m not sure who else will announce. Beck and Huether still seem to be hold outs, at this point, and many others have said they will likely NOT run. Former DTSF director, Joe Batcheller will also likely announce soon.

*I assisted Erickson in the past on FREE youth public transit initiative and school start date initiative.

My latest conspiracy

All the talk lately about who may run for mayor and the possible appointment of Erickson had me thinking. Even though Huether has been out of office for 8 years, there is plenty of ‘bad press’ surrounding his previous term that is still fresh. I guess what I am trying to say it will be hard for him to defend his reputation.

So what is my conspiracy theory? I don’t think he is running, BUT, I think he has been mentoring a candidate and will likely run their campaign. If this person wins (I have NO guesses, but I’m sure it’s some stuffed shirt banker) this would set up an opportunity for Huether to be chief of staff (which basically means he would be running the city like the current COS does).

I base my theory on NO evidence, but a gut feeling about how he operates.

I will admit though, if he does run again, I would rather listen to him talk every night on TV instead the Orange Menace.

Who is running for Mayor of Sioux Falls?

The guy who runs Dakota Wuss College thinks he knows who is running for mayor. He basically lifted my predictions that I have had since this summer. You are welcome. But Pitty brings up 3 new names that made me laugh so hard I just about passed out. While we know Erickson, Beck, and Huether will probably run, Pitty says that Councilors Jensen, Merkouris and Selberg are also considering. Pitty says they will have trouble raising money, but it’s NOT money they need to worry about, it is their reputations;

β€’ While Alex was city councilor he gutted the internal audit department to one auditor that basically sends emails to an outside firm. This all came about because he couldn’t properly discipline a city council employee for poor attendance and she ran off to the finance department escaping punishment and got a raise from the mayor to boot. If this guy can’t manage ONE employee, he certainly can’t manage a city. If he announces I will probably piss my pants laughing.

β€’ Oh Marshall. This guy ILLEGALLY lived out of his district for a year (verified by one of his friends) and lied on campaign finance forms. He doesn’t belong in the Mayor’s office, he belongs in a jail cell.

β€’ Rich Merkouris has a pretty clean record, but if you dig, just a little, into his past, you will see he isn’t really respected in the clergy community because of past grifting of a church. It’s a long complicated story that happened several years ago, but the wounds are still fresh, and if you ask the right people, you will get the story.

While I think none of these people are dumb enough to run for mayor, they might. And trust me, I have years and years of proof and data on ALL of the candidates and none of it is good. I think Erickson will rise to the top quickly and will be in the runoff, but who is the darkhorse? Huether may run on the great Trump comeback. Which I find funny, he got the same number of votes in 2020 and 2016.

Greg Jamison told me this summer he would likely not run, and it’s not for the reasons you may think. Greg told me he just wants to spend more time with his family and grandkids, and who can blame him?

I told someone recently that I hope a well intentioned rich person runs for mayor with a good record of community engagement and charity and they will run away with the mayorship. Populism is where it is at these days and no one is interested in electing old (corrupt) hats.

I have a feeling our next mayor will be someone no one has heard of.

Bravo to the City Council and Cathy Brechtelbauer!

The Sioux Falls City Council will be holding a special meeting at 5 PM on Tuesday to approve FREE youth ridership on the city busses for the summer. I don’t suspect any city councilor to vote against this.

Great Job! This is what happens when the city council shows great legislative leadership in getting things done for our town. It also shows they recognize a need in our community and support sustainability in transportation. I will say today that I am truly proud of my city and leadership in these efforts and thank city personnel for their timely and diligent cooperation.

And a big hand to citizen and youth advocate Cathy for getting the ball rolling on this!

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