The Argus Leader did a joint interview and profile of Christine Erickson v. Nick Weiland in the Sioux Falls City Council race.
And they couldn’t be more different.
One’s a liberal. One’s a conservative.
One’s held office before. One hasn’t.
One champions limited government. The other wants government to do more.
The backgrounds and political philosophies of Christine Erickson and Nick Weiland couldn’t be further from one another, and that means Sioux Falls voters shouldn’t have much trouble figuring out which one best reflects their own values and ideas.
And…
And though she’s a Republican, partisan politics take a backseat when making decisions about city business, she said.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “In this role, you’ve got to build those relationships to get stuff done.”
And..
We can address what we can’t get done in Pierre and Washington D.C. here at home,” he said.
During his campaign, which started as a pursuit for the mayor’s office, Weiland floated ideas that tend to align with his political party, like establishing a municipal minimum wage, creating a needle exchange program to address a growing opioid epidemic and more social programming.
Erickson, though, says much of that falls outside of the realm of the traditional role of city government. Rather, the city needs to focus on ensuring individuals, property owners and entrepreneurs aren’t saddled with unnecessary regulations.
So, while Erickson wants to remove unnecessary regulations and barriers to doing business, the dude with a man bun wants to hand out needles to drug users.
Wow.
I think I know how this one is going to go.
Clear contrast–Erickson all the way!
Erickson is the only one who hasn’t owned a business.
Uh, except needle exchanges actually work, save money, and lead to more and better treatment outcomes.
“A study of the first American program — started in the Tacoma, Wash., area in 1988 — found that use of the exchange was associated with a greater than 60 percent reduction in the risk of contracting hepatitis B or C. Another study of over 1,600 injection drug users in New York found that those who didn’t use a syringe exchange in the early 1990s were more than three times as likely to contract H.I.V.
Syringe exchange programs do more than improve health. Because they are so effective and far cheaper than the lifetime cost of treating H.I.V., hepatitis B or hepatitis C, they save taxpayers money. A cost-effectiveness analysis published in 2014 replicated the findings of others that came before it: A dollar invested in syringe exchange programs saves at least six dollars in avoided costs associated with H.I.V. alone.
The most frequently expressed concerns about the programs are that they promote drug use and raise crime levels. But according to many studies, that isn’t so. Instead, they are associated with increased participation in treatment programs.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/upshot/politics-are-tricky-but-science-is-clear-needle-exchanges-work.html
But, yeah. Man-bun.
So do you support President Trump being tougher on the drug suppliers and going after MS-13?
MS-13 isn’t really a “supplier” as much as a street-level dealer network. The Sinaloa, Los Zetas, and Jalisco cartels are much better organized, funded, and dangerous. I support any efforts to reduce crime, but mostly going after the traffickers. Dealers are small time street punks. Take one out, and two replace them. I don’t believe the death penalty is warranted or effective in any case. State-sponsored murder is simply immoral.
How much would it cost to fly and drop off the drug suppliers in the Philippines? President Trump gets along well with President Duterte. He could handle them and we save money.
I think his “municipal minimum wage” is my biggest concern. He wants a $15 minimum wage for Sioux Falls. Brandon, Harrisburg, Tea, and Hartford can only pray that happens.
your biggest concern & then can only pray this happens…..which side are you on…your comment seems to contradict itself
Anon is saying that those surrounding communities ‘can only pray that happens.’ He is NOT saying he is praying it happens.
As a Harrisburg person, I would agree, if Sioux Falls starts forcing businesses to pay at least $15 / hr, there will be businesses moving to Harrisburg, Tea, Brandon, and Hartford that otherwise wouldn’t.
The last time I ate at Mr. Weiland’s establishment, Parker’s, it cost $100 for 2 people. I can understand that he thinks its possible to pay $15 / hr, when he charges what he does for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, it was wonderful food in a wonderful location. But most establishments don’t charge what Parker’s does, most establishments don’t have the atmosphere and quality that Parker’s does, and can’t pay what Parker’s does..
Has a Weiland ever been elected to anything in SD?
He was elected daddy’s little man when he was a baby, and Ricky raised him to be a good socialist who doesn’t believe people should have to be responsible for themselves. Vote NO on the Weiland family’s attempts to turn Sioux Falls and South Dakota into a socialist nightmare.
My only complaint about this article is the Argus Leader’s quote:
“Erickson has built a reputation as a political rock star since being elected to the state Legislature five years ago”
What the heck has she done to make herself a rock star? It’s a city council seat.
Over the top praise she gets from the paper is annoying.
Well, she IS Adam’s sister. That, in and of itself, is enough for the former jock-sniffing sports columnist, present jock-sniffing Content Coach at Argus Leader Media, StuPid Witless.
I watched the entire video streamed interview (maybe an hour) and this article barely resembles the interview.
Christine talked with authority about every issue raised- the background, the interested parties, how it was solved/addressed. Not an ounce of partisanship in nearly anything she said. City issues are seldom ideological but matters of blocking and tacking issues. And she discussed them in that light. You came away with the clear understanding she was there and she worked hard to understand what was in front of her.
While Dude is a good moniker for him since he was confused from front end to back end, with a few exceptions, Nick was not very often partisan or ideological either. He was just uninformed about basic issues in our city. The times he was partisan, he took shots at Pierre on issues city commissioners have no say and parodied a few dopey things you hear from San Francisco.
But, you read this article it describes a race between two competent people with different visions which isn’t even close to the reality. I sincerely don’t know if Lora or Nick is more removed from reality. But, that is a distinction of no import.
What is of import is Nick Weiland is so uninformed of even the basics any well-intentioned thinking Democrat has to be so embarrassed while Christine knows the issues at a level that is impressive since she has no staff to help her.