SDDP’s financial management just went from bad to worse. If that’s possible.

Pat Powers

After the same Treasurer who has been presiding over Democrat’s financial mismanagement filed a campaign finance report under cover of darkness on Friday that showed that Democrats have a -10K cash on hand, and are $47k in debt, it highlighted that State Democrats are faced with a long road and some hard choices to fix their financial mess.

So, organizationally, what are they doing to prevent problems like this in the future?

According to a the Federal Elections Commission filing late last night, they decided to go from bad to worse:

SDDP Sept 2019 Treasurer Amendment by Pat Powers on Scribd

It appears from the form (above) that was just filed Bill Nibbelink, who has been State Democrat party treasurer for a number of years, throughout all the period under scrutiny at the FEC (and into Paula Hawks’ administration) at the South Dakota Democrat party may be out. Or at least his name isn’t on this new paperwork.

What have they done? Well, it appears that Chairwoman Paula Hawks is the new SDDP “Assistant Treasurer.”

So, in the face of outstanding bills and deficit spending, instead of tightening financial controls.. South Dakota Democrats have removed financial controls? Hawks is noted as “Asst Treasurer,” and is the designated custodian of records according to the filing.

It’s just good financial practice to have a system of checks and balances to ensure no one person has control over all parts of a financial transaction. And one of the first things you do is to ensure that the same person isn’t authorized to write and sign checks, and to separate purchasing from payable functions.

But of course, those are good practices. And we’re taking about South Dakota Democrats.

28 thoughts on “SDDP’s financial management just went from bad to worse. If that’s possible.”

  1. Incredibly thankful to have a solid, diligent professional as SDGOP treasurer. Not saying Chairperson Hawks will do a bad job, or that she lacks competence. I’m saying it’s a difficult role, with lots of bureaucratic jargon and deadlines and technicalities. If I took on that headache, I’d surely misfile some key form, enter a number on the wrong line, lose a vital receipt, or generally screw things up. While it’s ridiculous that we citizens need veteran CPAs or lawyers (or extraordinarily gifted & knowledgable amateurs) to handle financial paperwork, that’s the current reality.

  2. As the SDDNC is swimming in financial issues, I’m sure there are a number of big donors that will step in and take care of the mess. They are likely waiting for two things. First, how much debt exactly, to whom, why, and who is responsible for the lack of execution. Second, NASD (Medical Marijuana for those who just came into the proverbial room) seems to be comprised mostly of nth-wave neoliberal feminist activists, aka the modern day Democrat. It would seem they are pumping money into the NASD de-facto Democratic adjunct, and will settle up after the initiative process comes to a close. The NASD thing is strange, since it appears as though out of state money is being funneled to get the medicinal marijuana initiative on the ballot by luring legalization advocates to the table with a “johnny come lately” rec bill the claims to generate something like $29,000,000/yr in tax revenue for the state.

    SD politics are fascinating right now .. if you like politics, it’s difficult not to be tickled with the contention shaping-up heading into 2020. Major issues will be decided, and it’s a great time to be alive and paying attention.

      1. Lack of balls (literally)?

        Da da, CHING!

        Honestly, did NASD “slam” our petition drive? I think they just chose not to support it, then accepted a huge chunk of MPP money to flush down the crapper.

        But regardless, I think there is a lot of great and interesting work happening around the state, and it’s great to be in the game and building on our successes and failures like grown-ups.

          1. MPP – Marijuana Policy Project.

            Huge Amount – Huge Chunk .. something less than a truck load, but will not fit in a bread box.

            Crapper – according to the oddsmakers, the legislatures chosen destination for any cannabis initiatives that survive a vote in the general election.

            As for myself, I just want the same cannabis freedoms enjoyed by George Washington.

          2. Ignore Mr. Dale. He’s miffed his ridiculous petition has been upstaged by more lucid thought leaders with actual credentials.

            1. Miffed?

              https://www.rt.com/usa/soros-mpp-times-marijuana-189/

              Pressure’s on, Anon.

              We’ll see how this SD Marijuana “power play” fares.

              As for me, as I have said many times, regardless of the outcome, it’s a WIN WIN WIN for CC4L.

              A most pressing question I have – does a POTUS election year favor cannabis legalization?

              Somebody should remind Anon that MPP called CC4L first. It was kind of an honor, but the Soros ties were just too much. No thank you.

              Not bad for somebody with “no credentials”.

              😀

              1. Alex Berenson
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                Verified account

                @AlexBerenson
                4h4 hours ago
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                So… if @JoeBiden is the D nominee, the 2020 race won’t have a legalization candidate. And I’m starting to think if legalization doesn’t happen by 2024 it won’t happen. Evidence of harm is piling up too fast, and it is increasingly clear support is a mile wide, an inch deep…

                  1. States rights. Had Illinois corrupt politicians in the legislature not been bought out nationwide legalization efforts would of come to a dead stop. Never can expect much from Illinois and Chicago politics. The Pot industry predicted a number of states would flip in 2019. They were wrong. All the damage from states that legalized is catching up to them. 10 states have now rejected. A number of big pot companies are losing money including the one the former Speaker of the House. Drug Policy Alliance has had to make major cuts and layoffs due to less funding. 11 state got duped not 25 and not 49 but 11 were fell for the con and they are going to pay for a long time.

                    1. Serious question: were you high when you wrote that incoherent mess of a paragraph?

                      More likely you were drunk. Weed doesn’t make you *that* dumb.

  4. Dohn Jale sounds a little like the fruit of the month but what any of his tripe tastes like is far more rank than what the SDDP is serving. After all he lives in a house owned by a guy who wants to erect a cement Jesus on some Spearfish hillside.

    1. Please forgive Anon. He’s obviously a fan boy I picked up during the Mayoral campaign.

      How could you take the following argument seriously:

      1 – He rents a home
      2 – Ergo his fruit smells

      Everybody knows my breakfast brings all the eggs to the lard.

  5. agreed on multi-person oversight being required. to revise a past slogan, now is the time for all good people to stop the denial and come out of their hiding places, and shoulder what is now a perennially losing party, and instill the work ethic and integrity to make this an active state party again that voters can get behind. or just keep doing what you’re doing and let it die.

    1. “keep doing what you’re doing and let it die”

      I agree with you. There is an economy of slander and covert harassment that typifies much of the rank and file Democratic party in South Dakota. There is also a culture of word police .. utter “Democrat” Party around a wide angle curve and lose you status and credibility?! Lastly, there is a mistake being made that credentials are more important than merit, that gun rights aren’t important, and that the state should take any opportunity it can to break up the family. These must change to create a bigger tent of common sense people not hell bent on the personal destruction and financial dismantling of others. It’s a mess.

      The GOP has its problems with neocons, but the DNC and its state level adjuncts have serious cultural malfunctions preventing its success.

      1. John the libs you interact with over at dakota free press are fine examples of what the party should aspire to be,

        1. Anon,

          Some of them are fine folks, IMHO.

          Cory H. runs a free speech enterprise and I am thankful for that.

          mike from iowa has, shall we say, issues.

          For me, Anon, it is about issues, however. I find myself in a grey area between both parties after thoughtful consideration of my own personal platform.

          As an organization, however, the Democratic Party in South Dakota is in a state of disarray after pushing two most offensive policies.

          1 – Usurpation of the rights to self protection. “You only deserve to have a gun if you acknowledge you don’t actually need one” is an affront to basic logic, and a trap to disarm and deny self defense.

          2 – Increasing state power to break up families when the alternative is a state system of foster care rife with its own “issues”. For that matter, increasing state power to regulate and over-tax free markets of all kinds is a hallmark of the platform.

          Ideologically, these are two areas where, regardless of how much I like many of the folks at DFP, there will be individuals within the SDDP’s midst that will punish me for the conviction to keep families atomic and respect the right to self defense.

          Republicans have their issues as well, but nothing so fundamentally orthogonal to my own personal well reasoned beliefs.

          That’s why I am Independent (I), and patronize both sites while maintaining my own.

          I’m about to do another cannabis update Internet Radio Broadcast at https://PlainsTribune.com that centers on these two issues. I’ll be sure to plug both sites, both parties, but I’ll be exploring why I have very difficult time supporting NASD’s “rec” initiative despite the fact they have adopted the central theme of CC4L’s ideology; lower prison costs.

          1. “Cory H. runs a free speech enterprise and I am thankful for that.”

            He does not run a free speech enterprise. I have been blocked for over a year, and for no good reason. I have been allowed to speak on this web site, even when Pat does not agree with my position. The key is respect and Cory shows very little, at the most, respect for those he disagrees with. He really hates those who stand their ground and turn the table on his hate-filled mantras.

            1. Steve, Dakota Free Press is false advertising since he will not let you speak there. They need intellectual diversity there rather than a HARD Left echo chamber that attack anyone that does not agree with them.

            2. I could see myself getting sucked into a isht show by giving into the prodding of people like mike from iowa. Lowering yourself to that guys level should get a person kicked off a board. But in general, Cory has graciously allowed me to oppose most of his viewpoints through well reasoned and respectful dialogue. That could change, for for the time being I have been welcomed despite opposing most of the hardened and unapologetic punditry happening at DFP.

    1. Pat – I searched around for “information graphs in conversation” and didn’t find a lot of research. On the fringes of a central topic there is an infinity of tangential information that provides context. I often wonder if the flow back and forth to different nodes of seemingly unrelated information is necessary for a good understanding of an issue. My intuition tells me it is. For instance – and this made me smile a bit as I was writing this – your comment about not being on topic is .. well .. off topic, but relevant and leads into another discussion of how information and its connectedness gives meaning and semantics to human life! 😀

      Sometimes these things do get too far off into the weeds, but without navigating and considering related information, I think context is lost and meaning diminishes along with retention.

      The following infographic is representative, even though it applies to social networking. It could just as easily represented related information ..

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infographic#/media/File:Social_Network_Analysis_Visualization.png

  7. Can you imagine how difficult to fundraise to get out of this hole? The Clinton campaign should take care of this. Otherwise like many Democrats just #Walkaway

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