The Minnehaha County GOP held its first legislative coffee of 2018 this weekend, and as opposed to what legislators had viewed as a more superficial Q&A Session, the legislators liked the new format as a welcome departure:
Republican lawmakers at the GOP forum said they preferred the new model over the traditional legislative coffees, which until this year were sponsored by both Democratic and Republican parties. Answering without a stopwatch ticking down was a feature they said they preferred over the chamber coffee events.
“I hate 90 seconds,” Stalzer said. “Some issues you just can’t handle it in 90 seconds.”
Willadsen agreed: “I like being able to go face-to-face with one of my constituents and be able to say, ‘here’s the deal.'”
I don’t see what the Democrats are complaining about. We allow all constituents to speak regardless of party affiliation. We even had a rather leftwing schoolteacher democratic candidate for D11 who spoke and asked questions.
We’d like to encourage the Democrats to hold their own forums.
This is merely step one to ending the legislative coffees. Once that is done, the GOP get togethers will eventually end too. It is all a part of a grand strategy to end transparency……Probably a Koch idea as well, who knows?
And if you are proud that Democrats showed up at the Republican get togethers this past weekend, then why suggest that the Democrats have their own separate events? Because there is really no need for duplicity unless the underlying goal is to divide and conquer and then for an eventual stifling of all legislative transparency….
Your entire comment is absurd.
No, it’s the truth and you can’t handle it…..
Your “truth” is paranoid nonsense predicting what other people are going to do without evidence. It must be painful to live in your mind. I feel sorry for you.
The truth is that the GOP is still haunted by their “Crickets” performance at last year’s legislative coffees and the best way to solve that embarrassment is to eventually rid one selves of the demands of a public transparency.
Because it is much earlier to make a mistake or show a lack of knowledge to a constituent as oppose to a room full of constituents and the press.
What you mistake as “paranoid” is merely a strong historic memory, which explains how we got here, and I might add, especially in recent times, many in your Party have an obvious aversion to history or facts.
Plus, you can always tell when you are winning an argument or debate, because the other side decides to attack the messenger because they cannot adequately handle the message….
This does not make the SDGOP legislators look very good in Sioux Falls at all. If one feels proud of what they stand for and the work they are doing in Pierre then it should be in a neutral setting and ideally asked direct questions from the attendees like the Cracker Barrel in Aberdeen. Otherwise it looks like they have retreated to a safe zone and a very controlled environment and is counter to our Democratic Republic.
That makes no sense. The forum was open to the public.
Another fine Republican you are recruiting for the party? Isn’t that about all we have left is leftwing democrats you guys recruited to run as republicans to oppose the few conservatives we have in the legislature?
Whatever. Stace.
Anonymous, Why don’t you give us your name and contact information, so I can run all our candidates past you for approval? That’d be great. Thanks
Say, why don’t you give us your name and contact info, so I can get your approval on all our candidates? Great, thanks.
Nice to see legislators engaging with their constituents at a time and place that allows the average person to attend. Wish our congresswoman would do the same.
awww….Noem was at the Watertown Farm Show Saturday.
everybody knows Watertown is inaccessible to average people on Saturdays.
Watertown…wow…does she ever get out of her backyard?
I suspect that because of the flight backup in Chicago this weekend, her flight back to DC got pushed back. I don’t think this is a bad thing. She had an extra few hours allowing her to be able to set this up in Watertown.
I’m pretty sure my vote for Governor is going to come down to which candidate’s supporters were the least petty.
Troy would that be Billie? 🙂
Billie Billie!!!
the aim to hurt the party is not legislative coffees it is legislation lie tomorrows vote on HB 1305, allowing Independents to vote in GOP primary, WTF!!
VOTE NO on 1305, you have conservative republicans doing the Democrats bidding for them
To date, all of the legislators who participated in the GOP-sponsored forums have also participated at the Chamber-sponsored forum; therefore, all claims that the legislators are hiding or speaking only to an echo chamber, including those presented by the people at the Argus Leader, are baseless and ideologically driven.