The SDDP is going to be busy today ousting an E-Board rep, Sheldon Osborn. For full disclosure, I know Sheldon pretty good, and he doesn’t deny many of the accusations hurled at him. Sheldon is an old school Dem so he isn’t big on the ‘Woke’ agenda. Sheldon and I agree that LGTBQ issues should be a rung on the Dem’s platform ladder, but not the top one. When we are struggling with food insecurity, unaffordable healthcare, under funded public education, opening up imports and exports with other countries for our farm products, gun control, affordable housing and healthcare and lastly livable wages, it’s hard to put this as a top priority. Sure, the rainbow deserves to fly it’s flag with other righteous Democratic endeavors, but it is a party of may flags and stripes.
Sheldon has NO doubt he will get the boot today. I wonder who will be in charge of turning out the lights on the Dem party in SD? Maybe they will vote on that designation today also.
You can tune in for the outing;
Good morning everyone,
On behalf of SDDP and Region 3 Representative Sharon Schulz-Elsing, I’m sending you a reminder of today’s Region 3 State Central Committe meeting scheduled for 4pm CT. The subject matter for this meeting pertains to the presentation of recall signatures for Region 3 Representative Sheldon Osborn.
Zoom information is provided below.
Notice was provided by email on Saturday, January 20, 2024 with information on the meeting. Please contact Shane Merrill (shane@sddp.org) or Sharon Schulz-Elsing (curledupeditorial@gmail.com) for more information.
We’ll see you all this afternoon.
Minnehaha County Democratic Party is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Region 3 State Central Committee Meeting
Time: Jan 27, 2024 04:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85774477384?pwd=FMxz5L9HTlRf3VQWkRwaEx5TMNpt4S.1
Meeting ID: 857 7447 7384
Passcode: 965317
Mr. Osborn has been a very bad boy;
For clarity and by request, I am sharing the foundational reasons submitted by petitioners to me and SDDP for initiating the current process to recall Region 3 Representative Sheldon Osborn.
- Known efforts to prolong Jennifer Slaight-Hansen’s fight against the State Central Committee in public and private. Through a widely documented public media campaign and several communications with State Central Committee members around the state, Sheldon misrepresented the entirety of Region 3 (Minnehaha County) throughout the process of Jennifer Slaight-Hansen’s recall as State Party Chair. MCDP unanimously voted to request Jennifer Slaight-Hansen’s resignation and pursue recall. On contrary, Sheldon actively worked against the wishes of his constituency–Region 3, fully contained within Minnehaha County–and aided Slaight-Hansen’s organization-harming efforts by misinforming State Central Committee members about legal concerns, leaking information to media, discrediting State Party leaders in public forums and media, and continuously meeting and communicating with Slaight-Hansen privately to push to a recall vote, despite known communication that she had considered resignation.
- Continuous defaming and undermining credibility of Democratic Party officials at local and state levels, as well as the South Dakota Democratic Party as an institution. Following Slaight-Hansen’s recall, MCDP and District leaders had hoped that Sheldon may work peacefully with local leadership to exercise his duties as a Region 3 Representative. Unfortunately, that hope was misplaced, as Sheldon’s words were contributed toward an op-ed written by Slaight-Hansen that her recall was wrongfully pursued, and it is highly probable, though unconfirmed, that Sheldon submitted an anonymous statement to the Rapid City Journal–published on the date of Shane Merrill’s election–that states
“So, having forced out the Chair of the SD Democratic Party, Shane Merrill now wants to replace her and rebuild the Party ala George McGovern in the 1950s. What a surprise! Mr. Merrill, I knew George McGovern. He was a friend, Mr. Merrill, you’re no George McGovern! There is no reason to be a Democrat in South Dakota anymore.”
Sheldon has also shared additional comments publicly and privately about the “incompetence” of state and county party leadership, as well as spreading inflammatory rumors about the private businesses of state and county party leadership attempting to take over the SDDP. This culminated with a recent email for a non-Party event called “Drinking Liberally,” in which he states “Lord knows the SDDP’’s new Leadership can use whatever help you can give them.”
- Documented instances of homophobic statements and misconduct that has previously resulted in reprimand by local and state Party officials. New information regarding Sheldon Osborn’s misconduct was brought to our attention over the past few weeks. First, MCDP and district leaders within Region 3 are aware of statements made by Sheldon Osborn about SDDP Chair Shane Merrill’s profession as a youth baseball coach, using a slur against LGBTQ+ community members regarding pedophilia and gay men. Additionally, it has been made known to MCDP and district leaders that Sheldon Osborn has long been banned by the SDDP from its offices, to which we would request information from SDDP to support unsurprising and congruent, yet deeply concerning, conduct towards SDDP staff and leadership.
- This decision to collectively pursue recall of Sheldon Osborn from his role as a Region 3 Representative is not taken lightly and is not done without the understanding of processes outlined in the SDDP Constitution. Given the grave impact Sheldon continues to have on our local and statewide efforts to build a stronger party and pass sound policy, it is soundly in the best interest of Region 3 and the SDDP to proceed with this recall. Our representatives are prepared to use proper channels in the SDDP Constitution to recall Sheldon Osborn and replace him with a candidate who will support Region 3’s efforts and represent the SDDP in a positive, effective manner.
- Our Party, especially at a local level, faces many threats, but the continuous presence and undermining behavior of Sheldon Osborn is the most dangerous threat to the success of Party efforts in our state’s largest county. For these reasons and more, a majority of Region 3 SCC members seek an expeditious process to recall and replace Sheldon Osborn.
———————————————————————————————
Additional personal context from the co-Region 3 Representative:
On a personal level, I have long enjoyed a cordial relationship with Sheldon as co-Region 3 Representative. It is important for the sake of a healthy party to welcome multiple perspectives and all demographics – but the sharing of those perspectives must happen in good faith and with civility. Those qualities have unfortunately not been demonstrated adequately by my partner outside our one-on-one conversations.
The position Sheldon and I each hold within the SDDP, that of Regional Representative, comes not only with the privilege and power of bringing our individual voices to the table in guiding the path of the South Dakota Democratic Party forward. It also comes with the responsibility to caretake the organization in such a way that our conduct does not weaken the party, ESPECIALLY in public. It comes with the responsibility to faithfully represent our constituency’s needs and concerns to the state party. It comes with the responsibility to actively listen as well as speak, build bridges and seek to collaborate. The personal responsibility to not browbeat, hijack meetings, sow discord, or undercut other members of leadership at any level with ugly insinuations or malicious gossip. To not deliberately splinter the party into warring factions or deepen existing “natural” divides.
Minnehaha and Lincoln County area party leaders, many of whom are relatively younger or have become active in the last decade, have been portrayed to other party leaders across the state as a “Sioux Falls mafia” that wants to reshape the nature of the SDDP in a way that utterly sidelines and silences all voices outside our metro area. Disseminating such false characterization destabilizes the party, not to mention being inaccurate and unrepresentative of the constituency our position is intended to serve.
Again, this recall action is not undertaken lightly or with relish, and I am personally sorrowful that the situation has come to this. Sheldon has decades-long experience and knowledge that by itself is valuable to the party. Unfortunately, experience and knowledge deployed in a divisive and combative manner cause more harm than good. Similarly, experience and knowledge alone do not automatically enable someone to lead and represent others effectively.
Regardless of the outcome of this recall, initiated by nearly three-quarters of those eligible to vote Sheldon in or vote him out as one of their elected representatives to state party leadership, I hope that he will individually continue to help elect Democrats in our state.
Sharon Schulz-Elsing
SDDP Region 3 Representative
