From January:
Though city ordinance allows for municipal office holders to contribute financially to candidates for other seats in the same government, Brekke and others say the optics of it can be problematic.
“I think it crosses the line,” she said. “By doing that, the mayor is actually helping pick the council.”
This weekend…
So, should we hold our breath until Councilor Janet Brekke files a complaint?
Stehly being helped by the liberal members… the heck you say
Focus on the issues, not party affiliation. This is a non-partisan race.
Pat Starr is actually more conservative than Neitzert or any of the other faux “conservative” members. He actually wants the bills paid without borrowed money. Checkout the votes of Erickson, Kiley, Selberg and especially Neitzert to see how much money they have forced the city to borrow too make it look like Sioux Falls has a budget surplus. Our past and current mayors have not learned to have self control over spending money we do not have. We now have a parking ramp where a man died because the Sioux Falls administrations pushed to have it built without question by those five members. The five defeated any audits from being conducted on city spending because our mayors are afraid to open the books. The Faux conservatives have now caused the 2nd penny sales tax fund to now have to pay the bonds on the parking ramp disaster. The CAP is now in jeopardy so the ramp, city administration building, event center and waste water plant can be paid instead of streets as the bonds are close to default.
In order to keep the unchecked spending spree going, Mayor Paul TenHaken and the casino industry are financing the Neitzert and Jensen Council campaigns. How is the casino industry a “conservative” value industry?
Brekke, Stehly and Starr have consistently challenged spending borrowed money with without being questioned. If asking questions to get answers is wrong or “liberal”, we are in real trouble in America.
As a Conservative I have to agree with Bruce’s assessment of the “so called” conservatives on the Council. The last 2 administrations have bought a bunch of crap we dont need and dont want so there is nothing Conservative in spending needlessly. While we should question our leaders I believe Pat does most of this to play politics. The best example of Pat playing politics was the whole City auditor fiasco when we voted to bring the young lady up for a vote yet, got on his soap box about her not being qualified. If she was not qualified why did he vote to bring her out of committee. Greg is a Turn Coat to the city of Sioux Falls!!! He came out swinging when he first was on the council pushing back against the city Admin building and needless spending. The fact he voted for the Bunker Ramp along with others are enough for me to say he should resign and never hold office. Heck I would go one farther and say anyone who thinks spending 80 million on a parking ramp and hotel all in the vain of “it will generate business” need to stay off the crack. All this stuff does in line pockets and give us a bunch of worthless low paying jobs that are a dime a dozen. I am not a fan of public/private partnerships period but, if we are going to do it, it needs to bring REAL jobs not junk.
Stehley is a whole other animal. I know her heart is in the right place but, her execution has been poor at best. Every hill is something to die on and its NEVER her fault.
I am a conservative and liberal democrat Bruce does not define who a conservative is and is not for me.
Pat Starr is not conservative.
Greg Neitzart is not liberal.
Bruce’s changing the meaning of word is Orwellian.
Sorry Troy but all you have to do is check their voting records. Stehly, Starr and Brekke are the watch dogs for the taxpayers. The want limited government spending.
This sounds like Ocasio-Cortez level thinking.
“When my opponent does it, it’s corrupt.”
“When I do it, it’s okay, because my motives are pure.”
Right.
BTW: Only one member of the City Council has asked if the shutdowns and movement limitations Constitutional and respectful of individual civil liberties and property rights.
Greg Neitzert.
Constitutional Rights are about the only thing Greg has gotten right and I will give him HUGE Kudos on that because so many elected officials across the country have turned into little Hitler. With that being said, Greg is a Turn Coat who has fallen in love the the glitz and glam of running with the big dogs. His vote on the Bunker Ramp was the final nail in the coffin for me. This Ramp is going to go down in SF history as one of the biggest blunders of tax dollars ever.
There are procedures to move a discussion forward and Pat Starr having been left out of Neitzert’s decision on auditor tried to use Robert’s Rules to stop the frieght train Neitzert was engineering. Neitzert played fast and loose with the process to save his friend. The auditor should have never been selected.
If you don’t understand what a true conservative is, i feel sorry for you. There is centuries old discussions on how to classify political and philosophical thought. The mayor and his RS5 are not conservative when they constantly vote for spendthrift projects and the bonding needed to pay for them.
Bruce, if you think it conservative to ignore our infrastructure needs as a growing community, you have a historically inaccurate view of conservatism. It has always been about providing things like infrastructure and having users pay for them.
Neglecting our sewer and waste water and potable water is neither conservative or liberal. Its stupid.
The bunker ramp, admin building, EC, midco and other vanity project are not infrastructure. They were built on borrowed money to satisfy egos. Time and money should have been on streets and utilities.
On the substance or prudential judgment:
Bunker Ramp: Well, if I’d have known we would shut down retail and crush retail beyond flattening the curve to indulge irrational fear and hysteria, I can see your point. It’s why I’m surprised some on the counsel aren’t more assertive to follow the science instead of succumbing to fear.
Admin Building: I agree with you there. But, maybe over time we’ll save enough rent to make it a close call.
Premier Center: I disagree with you there. It will pay for itself via the user fees and user taxes.
Midco: I agree with you there but not for the same reasons. They should have spent that money for a quality life investment for the families who need low cost recreation (i.e. more outdoor pools of which we have less since I moved here in 1993) and healthy choices during the summer.
However, none of these projects are defacto philosophy defining issues as you assert. In fact, your listing them might make you the least conservative. Local government is the closest to the people and THE MOST legitimate vehicle for conservatives to utilize collective power and will to accomplish the common good. I’m glad to have been able to have the opportunity to weigh in on these matters.
Does anyone else wish Bruce and Troy would take a break from posting about who is or isn’t a conservative or what is or isn’t a conservative value?
Political ideology is a deeply personal perspective. Currently, Reagan wouldn’t be considered to be a conservative Republican by today’s party standards. Moderates forgot to grow backbones and let the Tea Party take control and then. the Trump Republicans have now stepped in as the Tea Party’s influence has waned. I guess that’s what happens when one group rules by fear and then other just demands loyalty or they’ll insult you and call you a liberal.
Hell – Trump was a Democrat longer than he’s currently been a Republican. He was Pro-Choice longer than he’s been Pro-Life. We’ve now spent almost $3 trillion dollars without offsetting the costs through domestic or defense cuts. We’re still waiting for China to pay for the Wall while taxpayers have solely been saddled with this debt. We’re still waiting for the $1 trillion infrastructure package that was a campaign promise to make the countries roads and bridges better. We’re still waiting for opioids to be addressed in a successful manner.
Can we all agree that SCOTUS ruled money is political speech and the Councilor expressed his first amendment?