Sibby Online

The Green Movement and The Flood

 By J.D. Erickson

Not long ago while writing about concerns over the Sioux Falls Leading Green and Sustainability Program, I referred to ICLEI and Agenda 21 (please see ICLEI.org) as the tip of the iceberg. That was right before the flood. Mixed metaphors aside, it appears a new national conversation may be brewing, and it’s about time. A June 22

 

From Joe Herring’s American Thinker article, "The Purposeful Flooding of America’s Heartland":

An idea to restore the nation's rivers to a natural (pre-dam) state swept through the environmental movement and their allies. Adherents enlisted the aid of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), asking for an updated "Biological Opinion" from the FWS that would make ecosystem restoration an "authorized purpose" of the dam system. The Clinton administration threw its support behind the change, officially shifting the priorities of the Missouri River dam system from flood control, facilitation of commercial traffic, and recreation to habitat restoration, wetlands preservation, and culturally sensitive and sustainable biodiversity.

Congress created a committee to advise the Corps on how best to balance these competing priorities. The Missouri River Recovery and Implementation Committee has seventy members. Only four represent interests other than environmentalism. The recommendations of the committee, as one might expect, have been somewhat less than evenhanded.

The "Green" or "Sustainability" narrative has enjoyed a long, strong run, despite setbacks in Copenhagen (the United Nations climate conference) in 2009, i.e. the revelations of the fraud that formed the very foundations of global warming theories.

Spring discharges at Gavins Point Dam were for years planned around the nesting requirements of the Piping Plover. That mental picture of the bird on its sand bar has obscured the larger, darker picture of environmentalists working to undermine human society. The truth is beginning to surface, however. Polar bears are large, dangerous animals that can swim for miles; they’re not cute, cuddly and endangered. Their population projections range from stable to growing. All the carbon credit exchanges in the world will affect the earth’s temperature over 100 years by about .3 of 1 degree. These and other examples of bad ideas and lies are practically endless.

The enemies of human kind now call global warming climate change and the Green movement continues to be embraced by otherwise normal-seeming citizens. The radicals among them have reduced irrigation in California to a trickle to save a tiny fish, and turned a lush valley into a dustbowl.

That’s a big part of our food supply—or it was. The new oil discoveries in West Central Texas are in the home area of a small, prolific lizard, the mating habits of which, so say the environmentalists, will be adversely affected by drilling. One might think the Green movement stares at its belly button between lawsuits, but its momentum cannot be denied. The devastation in its path can no longer be ignored.

If the Corps of Engineers’ mission had not been assaulted by the earth worshippers, the Piping Plover would no doubt have lost the coin toss, at least for this one very different, very dangerous season.

Links:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/the_purposeful_flooding_of_americas_heartland.html

nd article in The American Thinker points a finger at a change in the Corps of Engineer’s mission as being the culprit behind the devastating Missouri River floods. The distinction between poor judgement in flood control on the part of the Corps and a change in the Corps’ mission is all important. The article calls for a Congressional investigation.

Missouri River flood "entirely preventable", and Mike Vehle's "perfect storm"

The Bible is clear that God created nature for man. But this country is controlled by those who believe they are above God and nature is above man. So instead of the hierarchy being God-Man-Nature, for the pantheists the hierarchy is Nature-Man-Maybe God. Here is the result:

But after about thirty years of operation, as the environmentalist movement gained strength throughout the seventies and eighties, the Corps received a great deal of pressure to include some specific environmental concerns into their MWCM (Master Water Control Manual, the "bible" for the operation of the dam system).  Preservation of habitat for at-risk bird and fish populations soon became a hot issue among the burgeoning environmental lobby.  The pressure to satisfy the demands of these groups grew exponentially as politicians eagerly traded their common sense for "green" political support.

Things turned absurd from there.  An ideato restore the nation's rivers to a natural (pre-dam) state swept through the environmental movement and their allies.  Adherents enlisted the aid of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), asking for an updated "Biological Opinion" from the FWS that would make ecosystem restoration an "authorized purpose" of the dam system.  The Clinton administration threw its support behind the change, officially shifting the priorities of the Missouri River dam system from flood control, facilitation of commercial traffic, and recreation to habitat restoration, wetlands preservation, and culturally sensitive and sustainable biodiversity.

Congress created a committee to advise the Corps on how best to balance these competing priorities.  The Missouri River Recovery and Implementation Committee has seventy members.  Only four represent interests other than environmentalism.  The http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2011/06/the_purposeful_flooding_of_americas_heartland.htmlrecommendations of the committee, as one might expect, have been somewhat less than evenhanded.

The Corps began to utilize the dam system to mimic the previous flow cycles of the original river, holding back large amounts of water upstream during the winter and early spring in order to release them rapidly as a "spring pulse."  The water flows would then be restricted to facilitate a summer drawdown of stream levels.  This new policy was highly disruptive to barge traffic and caused frequent localized flooding, but a multi-year drought masked the full impact of the dangerous risks the Corps was taking.

This year, despite more than double the usual amount of mountain and high plains snowpack (and the ever-present risk of strong spring storms), the true believers in the Corps have persisted in following the revised MWCM, recklessly endangering millions of residents downstream. 

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt agrees, calling the management plan "flawed" and "poorly thought out."  Sen. Blunt characterized the current flooding as "entirely preventable" and told reporters that he intends to force changes to the plan.

Perhaps tellingly, not everyone feels the same apprehension toward the imminent disaster.

Greg Pavelka, a wildlife biologist with the Corps of Engineers in Yankton, SD, told the Seattle Times that this event will leave the river in a "much more natural state than it has seen in decades," describing the epic flooding as a "prolonged headache for small towns and farmers along its path, but a boon for endangered species."  He went on to say, "The former function of the river is being restored in this one-year event. In the short term, it could be detrimental, but in the long term it could be very beneficial."

And Pavelka is not alone. Senator Mike Vehle also celebrates man being destroyed by flooding. It provided him an excuse to raise our taxes. From the web siteof the international organization whose purpose is to destroy state sovereignty and implement the one-world government:

One of the lawmakers featured in the brief is South Dakota State Sen. Mike Vehle, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee in Pierre and who is a member of CSG’s Transportation Policy Task Force. While Vehle was unsuccessful in his effort to raise his state’s 22 cent-a-gallon tax by 6 cents over two years, the legislature did approve an increase in license tag fees that will help fund maintenance of county, township and municipal roads and bridges.

...

Vehle describes the confluence of events that allowed the measure to succeed even over the Governor’s veto as a “perfect storm.” One significant factor was the condition of the state’s infrastructure.

“For about four years, myself and a few others have been talking about the need to fix our roads,” Vehle said. “County and township roads are in mostly fair to poor condition and local officials were getting more and more vocal on the need for assistance for their roads. We’ve had several wet years and township and county roads were taking a real beating. Heavier farm equipment and grain loads were taking their toll. Instead of some paved roads being repaired or resurfaced, some were being ground back to gravel and gravel roads were returning to dirt.”

...

Vehle said throughout the winter as the measure was considered in committee and on the floor of the House and Senate, the snow falling outside provided a constant reminder.

“Everyone knows when all this snow melts it’s going to make those local roads even worse,” he said.  

...

Vehle summed up what it took to get the bill done this way: “Especially in these times, if you want to increase funding, you must establish a real and recognizable need, get solid grassroots support, and then get lucky and have a perfect storm.”

Yes, Senator Mike Vehle loves big government and could care less about the suffering of people in South Dakota. Vehle is with those who could care less about those being flooded out of their homes...as long as it feeds their big government agenda. Vehle's main concern regarding the flooding is that it may lower property assessed valuations and property tax revenues. Yes, he said that!

And this is for the Cory Heidelbergers of the world:

In recent decades, many universities have steeped their Natural Sciences curriculum in the green tea of earth-activism, producing radically eco-centric graduates who naturally seek positions with the government agencies where they can best implement their theories.  Today, many of these men and women have risen high in their fields, hiring fellow travelers to fill subordinate positions and creating a powerful echo chamber of radical environmentalist theory. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a victim/tool of the above-described process.  The horrifying consequence is water rushing from the dams on the Missouri twice as fast as the highest previous releases on record.  Floodgates that have not been opened in more than fifty years are in full operation, discharging water at a rate of 150,000 cubic feet per second toward millions of Americans downstream.

This is a mind-boggling rate of release.  Consider that 150,000 cubic feet of water would fill a football field instantly to a depth of four feet.  This amount of water, being released every second, will continue unabated for the next several months.  The levees that protect the cities and towns downstream were constructed to handle the flow rates promised at the time of the dam's construction.  None of these levees have ever been tested at these levels, yet they must hold back millions of acre-feet of floodwater for the entire summer without failing.  In the flooding of 1993, more than a thousand levees failed.  This year's event will be many orders of magnitude greater.

There are many well-publicized examples of absurd obeisance to the demands of radical environmentalists resulting in great economic harm.  The Great Missouri River Flood of 2011 is shaping up to be another -- only this time, the price will likely be paid in lives lost as well as treasure.  Ayn Rand said, "You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."

We need to begin the investigations immediately.  It seems that it is sanity, and not the river, that needs to be restored.

Mitchell paper supports removing township authority to make way for geopolitical merging

Here is another example of how local governmental structure is being destroyed in order to centralize authority at higher levels:

 joint board composed of commissioners from Davison and Hanson counties voted unanimously during a special meeting Monday at the Davison County Fairgrounds to let the people decide if they want a new fire district.

The commissioners present voted 9-0 — Davison commissioner Gerald Weiss was absent — to approve the proposed boundaries of the Mitchell Rural Fire District and set Aug. 16 at the date for the election on the formation of the district.

The new fire district would incorporate portions of Plano and Hanson townships in Hanson County, and all of Perry Township and portions of Beulah, Lisbon and Prosper townships in Davison County.

Perry Township residents Frank and Angie Luczak, like many of the 30 area residents who attended Monday, wanted hard numbers on what a new district would cost them in taxes. Angie Luczak said the district will create another layer of taxation.

I attended as my family has land in Perry Township. And the neighbors made their wishes known:

The new district would replace the Mitchell Rural Fire Association in those townships. The association cannot levy taxes and depends on its member township boards for funding.

Davison commissioner Denny Kiner asked the dozen Perry Township residents present to raise their hands if they wish to be in the new fire district. No hands went up.

So why did the county commissioners in two counties approve this? Clearly this is designed to increase taxes. So instead of townships controlling their budgets, this may happen:

If the fire district passes on Aug. 16, those residing in the new district would immediately select the members of their fire board, Davies said.

What the paper did not report was that the immediate selection of the board was required by federal law. So we have townships giving up their control to a merged "district" thereby having federal law picking up the void.

Today the Mitchell paper voiced their approval:

It was refreshing to see in Tuesday’s Daily Republic that the commissioners of Davison and Hanson counties are working together on a pair of important issues.

At a joint meeting Monday evening at the Davison County Fairgrounds, the two boards set an Aug. 16 date for an election on the formation of a rural fire district and also agreed to share the cost of hiring a 4-H adviser.

The push for a fire district arose from tumult within the Mitchell Rural Fire Association. The association relies on funding from its member townships to contract with the Mitchell Fire Division for fire protection. In recent years, when the fire division asked the association to replace its grass-fire rig, the association’s finances were shown to be in disarray.

Much has transpired since then, including a push to do away with the association and replace it with a district. Unlike an association, which has to depend on member township boards to provide funding, a district can levy a small tax directly on taxpayers. It’s a much more reliable funding source for an activity — fire protection — that demands reliability.

Note the use of "small tax". We are already paying "huge taxes". So why can't fundamental governmental services such as fire protection and road repair get properly funded, instead of creating slush funds to subsidize big corporate special interests? The answer is because those special interests control Washington DC. This plan gives the feds more control and the people less control and higher tax bills. This is the anti-thesis to freedom.

The Mitchell paper ended the opinion with this:

Regardless of how either issue turns out in the end, it’s good to see a spirit of cooperation in place between our area county officials. Demographic and technological trends have progressed to a point that rural counties must band together and cooperate if they hope to retain services and opportunities for their residents. Perhaps the seeds of future, more broadreaching cooperation between Davison and Hanson counties are being planted in the more mundane actions such as those undertaken Monday evening.

They call in "a spirit of cooperation", I call consolidation and centralization of control away from the people.

South Dakota War College protecting SDGOP?

I posted the following comment on a thread at SDWC and it is still awaiting moderation while other comments have been posted:

Cory,

If you look at the post I did on Noem’s speech in Mitchell Friday night, you will see that I understand the lie the establishment GOP is making to get conservatives to vote for them. Yes, the sharks in the GOP establishment are the so-called “progressives”. The Democrat Party is not immune from that same statist movement. The GOP calls them “socialists” in order to fake a difference so that the faux Democrat/Republican feud can be perpetuated.

My comment is awaiting moderation.

Sibson vs Vehle on the city manager issue

Saturday's Mitchell Daily Republic has this from Senator Mike Vehle:

I want to thank everyone that was involved in the city manager issue, from those in Focus 2020, the petition carriers, the Government Affairs Committee Forum, to all those who researched the issue and voted.

Although I was very disappointed about the election results in the city manager issue, I was more concerned that over 75 percent of the registered voters did not vote.

Change is always difficult, but never be afraid to search for new and better ways to be more effective or efficient — whether it is in your business, home, church, our community or any organization. The saying, “If it’s not broke don’t try to fix it,” can stymie invention and innovation.

We’re fortunate Henry Ford did not say his horse and buggy was not broke so why build a car, or Thomas Edison say that about his gas lantern, or that Alexander Graham Bell did not say “The telegraph is just fine, we don’t need to actually talk to people.”

We often forget the concept President Kennedy stated about 50 years ago. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country!”

So I encourage everyone to become involved and stay involved to help Mitchell seize those opportunities, whatever they may be, for a bigger and brighter future.

I love this community and Mitchell has a lot of potential and a great future. However, people need to become involved so we can seize those opportunities and build that future. Don’t be afraid that one of your ideas may get shot down, because your idea may just stimulate an even better idea.

And when you do become involved, please don’t worry about being criticized for being “a mover and a shaker,” as this country did not become great through armchair or Monday morning quarterbacks. Those that make a difference are those who suit up and play. So lace them up.

And like a game — if you lose, don’t throw in the towel; but learn from it and move on — no one wins them all.

My letter followed:

I agree that Mel Olson used a poor choice of words when saying those who are in favor of an unelected city manger hate democracy.

But it was wrong for Mike Vehle and Mark Buche to blame Mel for accusing those who signed the petition for hating democracy. I spoke with one who collected signatures and was told that around 75 percent of the signers on his petitions opposed a city manager, but they were urged to sign the petition in order to vote no.

This is the kind of deception the proponents of this dangerous idea of government used to mislead. Unfortunately this paper was a part of their deception. I spoke with the publisher and the editor about my research and was immediately told, “it was a stretch” and discounted the work out of hand without a serious look.

I then asked to write an op-ed, and was told no because I was not an expert. That attitude reflects the attitude of the ruling elite of this community, state, and nation.

Mel restated his position by saying that those, who I call the ruling elite, have lost faith in democracy. I would say that the ruling elite have lost faith in the people and believe that “experts,” beholden to the government, need to save them from their backward ways.

I disagree. If we want the city to become more efficient then we need to listen to those actually doing the work and the citizens. The job of management and our elected officials is to make sure the resources are there. Micro-management through bureaucracy is not efficient or effective. We need more delegation, not more centralization.

This lowly citizen provided this paper with 19 pages of research that details the real anti-American agenda of an international organization whose purpose is to destroy state sovereignty and link the cities to regions. Mike Vehle is a proud committee member of that Council of State Governments, whose Midwest “region” includes Midwestern Canada.

Too bad this paper refused to print one word of it before the people went to the polls. Perhaps the paper was concerned about what the “ruling elite” of this community would do to its advertising revenues.

The role of government in an efficiently run competitive free market is to prevent coercion and force in order to provide a fair and even playing field. It is not the role of government to interfere with the competitive free market and become a part of the coercion and force that centralizes the wealth into fewer and fewer hands.

Note that both Vehle and I addressed efficiency and effective. LIke economic development through government programs that are push by the GOP, the claimed efficiencies do not become realized. That is why we have the financial problems that we have today. The GOP is "not" about promoting a competitive free market. Neither is the Chamber of Commerce and the economic development organizations. Their systems create monopolistic economies. The governemnt controls the economy  based on the  wishes of those who control and own the monopolies and/or cartels.

Senator Vehle told me on Friday that he was going to the Council of State Governments meeting in Indianapolis during July. The change that Vehle is trying to make involves removing Mitchell from the state constitution so that the city can be connected to a federal district that is part of an international region. In other words, Mike Vehle is not defending South Dakota's constitution but instead is a part of an international organization that is about destroying the state constitutions. The question becomes; does he know that. He would if he would only look at my research and listen to people like me and Mel Olson.

Kristi Noem speaks in Mitchell

Friday's keynote speaker at the Davison/Hanson county Lincoln Day was Kristi Noem. Here is the report:

But Noem said Washington’s leadership has failed to address “the most predictable financial crisis in the history of our nation. They are unwilling to address the crisis because they want to get re-elected.”

Noem believes many elected officials are out of touch with their constituents because they lack real life work experience.

Noem said rising debt is threatening to crush America and that 42 cents of every dollar goes to debt service. “In Washington, we go into debt more in one day than our entire state budget for one year.”

Republican leadership estimates, she said, that the United States has a two- to three-year window of opportunity to address the debt crisis. After that, she said, it will be too late.

She urged those present to talk to others and press for action.

“Fifty-seven percent of Americans still don’t know we have a problem,” she said.

In post-meeting comments, she further addressed the financial deficit.

“We truly, really, need to get spending under control,” she said.

“Two-thirds of the members in my conference want to see a balanced budget amendment, but they want a balanced budget amendment that doesn’t set us up for automatically raising taxes. We’ve got to change the way we spend our money and identify priorities.”

Unfortunately Kristi did not urge the South Dakota GOP to help out with the federal debt by controlling spending in Pierre.

Mitchell paper still does not get it, nor does Dusty Johnson or Mike Vehle

Today's Mitchell Daily Republic has a reflection on the results of the citizens of Mitchell overwhelmingly defeating Senator Vehle's and Dusty Johnson's big-government agenda:

We must say we were surprised to see the city manager issue overwhelmingly fail in Tuesday’s city election.

Although we hoped for a victory, we assumed a loss would have been close. Instead, the issue fell 66 percent to 34 percent, making us wonder why voters genuinely dislike the idea.

Next they provide their source of false confidence:

The issue was backed by all living former mayors of Mitchell. It was backed by seven of eight members of the City Council. It was backed by the governor’s chief of staff — who is a Mitchell resident — and this district’s lone member of the state Senate. At least one service club in town appeared entirely behind the idea. The idea was officially proposed by Focus 2020, a planning group made up of many city leaders, and The Daily Republic endorsed it.

What does the defeat truly say about Mitchell, local government and local politics?

The answer is that our governor's chief of staff is just as much of a big-government liberal as Senator Mike Vehle. It says that those two state level politicians along with Mitchell's mayor, seven of eight city council members, city business leaders, and the local paper are out of touch with the people. The only way these people are successful is on the backs of taxpayers. Unfortunately the silence from the apathetic majority gives these elites false messages. And when the silent do complain, the answer from our politicians is usually...we need more taxes and bigger government to fix it. And these are mostly Republicans. It took a Democrat to bring forward the limited government side of the debate.

Mike Vehle & Mitchell's Focus 2020 elite lost focus on what the people want and expect

In case you have not heard, Mitchell citizens saw through the deception of Focus 2020 lead by Mark Buche and Senator Mike Vehle and overwhelmingly voted down their idea of an unelected city manager:

Mitchell voters resoundingly defeated a proposal to add a city manager to the city staff Tuesday.

The initiated measure was defeated 1,486 to 782, a 65.52 to 34.48 percent margin. It was brought to the ballot by a petition drive that collected 1,707 names but received less than half that many votes. Voter turnout Tuesday was 23.4 percent.

Vehle and Buche tried to make it sound like all 1,707 of the petition signers were in favor of a city manager, but I learned last weekend while going door to door that most who signed were not in favor. This is just one of the many deceptions used by the ruling elite of Mitchell to gain further control over the citizens by fooling them into voting for an anti-American form of governmment.

Buche, who was the leader of Focus 2020, still is not in focus:

Mark Buche, chairman of Focus 2020, said the defeat was a major surprise.

“Obviously I’m disappointed,” Buche said. “I thought we’d done all the right things to get this accomplished.”

He felt getting current and former city officials to endorse the plan, holding forums and providing information to voters was the path to success.

“Obviously, we’re missing something,” Buche said. “I’m sitting here scratching my head. It’s obviously not something the community wants.”

You think? Buche does not have a clue on what the people want. Mel Olson does have the people clearly in focus:

Councilman Mel Olson, who led the opposition to the proposal, said he felt he represented the views of most voters.

“I think there’s something to listening to the common people and not just the elites and the movers and shakers,” Olson said.

“It’s not me that needs congratulating, it’s the people of Mitchell. I just really think people like having an executive who is responsible to people, and I think the other side glossed that over.”

Olson said he was encouraged by people he saw after he began speaking against the city manager concept.

“I heard people say, flat out, ‘We don’t need it,’ ” he said.

Olson said voters were concerned about the accountability of a city manager, the large salary, the at-times rapid turnover in city managers and other issues.

“If you’re going to spend your $100,000, spend it on Sanborn Street or something else,” Olson said people told him.

He said the landslide against adding a city manager, which closely mirrors the result of a Mitchell vote on a city manager in 1948, may mean the end of such a proposed change in city government.

“Well, I hope so,” Olson said. “I think it would have buried the issue if we had had a higher turnout.”

Yeah, I don't think Mike Vehle, who votes wrong regardless of what his constituents say, confirms Olson's suspicion:

Another proponent, state Sen. Mike Vehle, said the defeat was tough to take but he accepted the will of the voters.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed,” Vehle said when he stopped by The Daily Republic after the results were known.

He said the turnout was especially disheartening.

“Less than 25 percent of the voters came out,” Vehle said. “That’s truly the disappointing part.

“But I want to thank all the people that put this together,” he said. “I want to thank the voters that came out, that studied the issue and made the decision.”

Vehle said other initiatives proposed by Focus 2020 still deserve serious discussion and possible implementation. This election doesn’t mean the effort was wasted, he said.

“I would hope not,” Vehle said. “We’ve got a whole lot of civic-minded people that came together and want to push this community forward.”

So the New World agenda of the Focus 2020 ruling elite will continue, even though they don't have a clue on what the citizens care or want. Their use of deception in order to fool the people into accepting their tyrannical ideas is truly troubling. The only success they have is due to their money and control of the media, whose survival depends advertising revenues from the ruling elite's money.

And let us not forget that the Governor's chief of staff, Dusty Johnson, was also part of the city manager agenda.

Mel Olson urked Mike Vehle, Vehle responds with deception

Here is some drama that erupted during the City Manager issue that was voted on tonight and soundly defeated:

City Councilman Mel Olson apologized Monday for earlier saying that people who want a city manager “hate democracy.”

Olson first made the statement publicly in an interview with The Daily Republic that was published Thursday. That evening, a Daily Republic media panelist at a public debate asked Olson if he “really meant” the remark, and Olson stood by it.

Then, Monday morning, Olson visited The Daily Republic’s newsroom and expressed his regret. He said he had already apologized to Mike Vehle, his opponent in Thursday evening’s debate.

“I shouldn’t have said they ‘hate democracy,’ ” Olson told The Daily Republic.

He added that he still disapproves of the apparent motives behind the city-manager proposal, even though his word choice was poor.

“I should have said they’ve ‘lost faith in democracy,’ ” he said. “But I don’t know if that’s any less offensive.”

Some city-manager proponents have said that although Mitchell currently has a mayor who is willing to work full time for part-time pay, that might not always be the case. Olson views that as a lack of confidence in the democratic process.

“Their argument seems to be that everything is fine, but it won’t be next year,” he said.

Mitchell voters will decide in today’s election whether to add a city manager to their city government. The polling place is Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary, which is open to voters from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Under the city-manager proposal, the city would still have a mayor and an eight-member council, but the mayor’s day-to-day management duties would be handed off to the city manager.

The proposal arose from Focus 2020, a volunteer, long-range city planning group that began developing recommendations for various aspects of city affairs in 2009. Vehle, a state senator from Mitchell, was on the Focus 2020 subcommittee that recommended hiring a full-time chief executive to run city government.

At Thursday’s debate, Vehle took issue with Olson’s “hate democracy” comment.

“I was surprised you would go and say all those 1,700 people that went out and collected signatures hate democracy,” Vehle said to Olson at the debate, as the two men sat next to each other. “I think those are sound bites that are trying to irritate people.”

I was told by a person who helped collect signatures that about 75% of those who signed the petition was against a city manager, but were told they needed to sign the petition so they can vote no. So Vehle's accusation against Mel as applied to those 1,700 signers is completely false. Mel stated that those who were for the city manager hated democracy. That statement was not intended to be applied to those who opposed  a city manger, but were either tricked into signing or thought we should vote on it. Today, only 782 voted for it...far short of the 1,700 signers. Clearly Vehle wrongly lead us to believe that the 1,700 petition signers were in favor of a city manager.

The Mel Olson vs Mike Vehle debate over a city manager

Here is coverage on the debate betwwen Mel Olson and Mike Vehle on wether Mitchel should add a city manager:

When Mel Olson told The Daily Republic recently that people who favor hiring a city manager either consider current and former mayors incompetent or “hate democracy,” state Sen. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell, noticed.

So, when Vehle squared off against Olson on Thursday night during a debate on the proposal to add a city manager to Mitchell’s city government, Vehle made his thoughts — and his surprise — at Olson’s comments known.

“I was surprised you would go and say all those 1,700 people that went out and collected signatures hate democracy,” Vehle said at the Mitchell Technical Institute amphitheater. “I think those are sound bites that are trying to irritate people.”

Vehle added that nobody on the committee that proposed adding a city manager ever said Mitchell’s current or past mayors were incompetent.

Olson stood by his earlier statements and said he does not see democracy as a sound-bite issue.

“If the mayor is not incompetent, if the ‘CEO’ is doing the job now, there is no need for a city manager, unless you don’t like the fact that we democratically elect a mayor that is accountable to the people for the running of the city,” Olson said. “To me, that’s a person who doesn’t like democracy.”

About 60 people attended the debate, which followed a forum featuring City Council candidates. The city election is Tuesday, and the polling place is Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

While Vehle, a retired banker, appeared in a suit and tie, Olson, an American history teacher at Mitchell High School, was clad in a blue polo shirt that also had white stars, making it look like the American flag.

Olson called the city’s potential city manager an “expensive, wasteful addition of bureaucracy” whose salary would take money away from other worthwhile expenditures.

“The fact of the matter is that a city manager would be the city’s highest paid employee, and the fact of the matter is that money is going to come out of somebody’s hide,” Olson said.

Vehle said eight of the state’s 10 largest cities employ a full-time chief executive. Mitchell and Huron are the only two exceptions, Vehle said, and they also have the highest tax levies.

In addition, all four of Mitchell’s living ex-mayors and current mayor Lou Sebert support the concept.

“The mayors haven’t always agreed with each other,” Vehle said. “Despite all this, there is one thing that they agree on: that a city manager would be the most effective and most efficient move for Mitchell’s future.”

The debate included a discussion of accountability. Vehle said the city manager could be terminated by the City Council at any time.

Olson said five of the eight City Council members would have to agree on the removal — in other words, the city manager would only have to keep four people in the city happy, he said.

“People would have no other recourse other than every three years, they could vote out the people who voted for or stood by the city manager, which means it would take you potentially six years to change a city manager because you only elect four city council people at a time,” Olson said.

Vehle responded that people could contact the council members from their ward and voice their displeasure with a city manager.

“If the city manager’s not doing a good job and everybody wants him out, your phone is going to be ringing off the hook,” Vehle said. “If you’re not responsible to what the people want, then you’re probably not a very good city council person.”

In his closing remarks, Olson responded by asking what specific reasons a city manager could be fired for.

“What’s the tipping point? How many phone calls does that take before you’re a bad city councilman?” Olson asked.

After a question regarding the funding of a city manager’s salary was asked, Vehle offered no specific answer but said he believes the money could be found.

“I don’t think you’re going to have a problem finding that money,” Vehle said.

Olson responded that the money must come from somewhere and could result in the delay of road repairs or other city projects.

“The idea that somehow the city has $100,000 in a suitcase somewhere with ‘city manager’ on the outside is just ridiculous,” Olson said.

Most questions came from a three-member media panel. One of the more pointed questions was submitted on a note card by an audience member who asked if Olson wants to someday run for mayor, and whether that ambition might be influencing him. Olson did not offer a definitive answer, opting instead to paraphrase a Teddy Roosevelt quote about never looking beyond one’s current term of office.

“Serve in every office like it’s your last,” Olson said, paraphrasing the ex-president. “I plan on running for re-election (to the City Council) when I’m up next year, and I have found people who look beyond the next election tend not to have to worry about that, because they get beat.”

Vehle said he will not run for mayor and is not influenced by any designs on that office.

“I have no intention to run for mayor and no desire to be mayor, whether there’s a city manager or not,” he said.