Well since it’s election day here in sunny SD, I figured I keep everyone informed. We have 2 “anti-union” measures on the city ballot:
- 1) Was to prohibit project labor agreements on any project the City of SD issues. It also required the mayor to post all contract awards and contract language online to provide for transparency. The mayor will also not be allowed to sole-source contracts over $25k without just cause.
2) Eliminates city employees pensions for all new employees (hired after Jan 2013 I think) and making employees have a 401-k type of retirement plan. Our city budget has been handcuffed due to the underfunding of the pension system by previous regimes and the fluctuating market has made it tough for the city to estimate what the annual payment into the pension system needs to be.
Jon you’ll love this one, we also have an openly gay mayor running for office. Aside from the whole homo thing, he has been pimping pension reform and fiscal responsibility from a city standpoint since he has been in the city council. His vision/efforts are largely responsible for the pension amendment on the ballot today. Seeing as I have to be responsible to balance my budget and make sure I can pay all my bills, it is nice to hear someone hold the government to the same standard. The choice for mayor was a no-brainer for me.
I am disappointed that a lot of the county supervisor seats and my city council seat ran un-opposed. But other than that there are a lot of things at stake today. I’ll post the results tomorrow.

