Letters

To the Editor:

What is it with our Representatives? A few things going on in our political realm you may or may not be aware of.

We have Senator Thune, Rounds and Congressman Johnson that are off the rails!

A vote to censor Congresswoman Rashida Talib, one of the biggest Country haters in DC was shot down with the help of our Representative Dusty Johnson. Mr. Johnson also voted to reauthorize FISA 702 which is basically a tactic to spy on all Americans.

All our representatives in DC continue to vote on spending billions of our tax dollars to Ukraine for an endless money laundering operation but rarely speak out about our borders being invaded.

Now let’s move a little closer to home.

We have a majority of 94-11 GOP in Pierre, but you wouldn’t think so! We have a company that wants to install a hazardous waste pipeline through the state by imminent domain if necessary and our Governor Kristi Noem and Representatives are allowing it to happen.

Were you aware that $354 million of the States budget goes to tech schools, universities, and colleges? I thought schools of higher learning kept their institutions running with the tuition they receive. But the representatives can’t decide on Property Tax cuts!

We also have a rouge Secretary of State that campaigned on manual vote counting but has taken a 180-degree turn since being elected.

First, she has made it impossible for the public to view CVR’s (cast vote records), which by law we have the right to view.

Then a bill was introduced to allow open primaries in the state, a practice that hasn’t happened since 1917!

If that wasn’t enough her office then introduced bill SB17 that would allow anyone to come to the state and register to vote even if they aren’t a resident.

Now that she has been receiving a lot of push back on holding her campaign promise of ballot hand counting, her office introduces a bill SB20, which is very generic in the language and broad reaching that states “any person who, directly or indirectly, utters or addresses any threat or intimidation to an election official or election worker with the intent to improperly influence an election is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.” At the time that this bill was being introduced the Deputy Secretary of State commented to KSDN that “there were no reports of intimidation at this time in the state.” So why the bill?

Ever hear of the organization called Dakotans for Health? Don’t be fooled by the title, they like to push for expanded Medicaid and their biggest push right now is to bring back abortions.

Now let’s move one step closer to home and our City Council.

In February I sent an email to our mayor expressing my concerns about the blocking of driveways during snow removal. To his credit, he did call me and explained that the equipment utilized to prevent this was too expensive. No further explanation given if this was something that the council would investigate, so after some time I inquired further, sending a letter to my two Representatives from Ward 2. The letter was dated November 19, 2023, and though I received a letter in December from the city office stating that my letter was shared with the rest of the council, I have yet to receive a reply about the issue of snow removal or any of the several issues I raised in my letter.

I would think that it would be incumbent for a representative to show concern and at least reach out to their constituents, but I guess that’s not the case.

I’ve attended several city council meetings and was shocked to see that there is only an average of about five people that attend the meetings. When we don’t keep an eye on our legislatures locally or statewide, they seem to get unattached from the people that elected them.

Tod Gohl - Ipswich