Yankton City Government Paralyzed

The Yankton City Commission offers another puzzler: last night, the commission let die without a motion a proposed investigation of possible "criminal micro-management of city employees" [Nathan Johnson, "City Investigation a No-Go," Yankton Press and Dakotan, 2007.11.14]. Possible misdeeds in that area have motivated a recall election of Yankton Mayor Curt Bernard and Commissioner Dan Rupiper.

The embattled mayor himself had called for an investigation, so why did the commission back away from that idea? It seemed like a good idea...

However, after returning from an executive session with City Attorney Jim Goetz, Mayor Curt Bernard explained that a law went into effect earlier this year making it illegal to spend public funds if they could influence the outcome of an election.

"I think it kind of precludes any discussion of this investigator work," Bernard said. "But, in fairness, I think there is some gray area in this law, so if the commission wants to proceed with that, there is a lot of gray area here." [Johnson]

Attorney Goetz and Mayor Bernard appear to be referring to HB1048, this year's campaign finance reform law, specifically SDCL 10-27-20, "Expenditure of public funds to influence election outcome prohibited."

Oh my. Goetz's and Bernard's explanation sounds pretty thin. The city wasn't talking about buying posters or airtime to combat the recall effort. They were talking about an investigation of possible wrongdoing by elected officials who also just happen to be on an upcoming ballot.

But if the mayor's interpretation of the public expenditure clause is correct, he may have just given us a recipe for complete governmental paralysis during election season. If hiring a special investigator might influence an election, couldn't hiring a consultant to come up with a plan for a new city pool (which the Yankton City Commission did last night) influence voters as well? What about the 3% salary adjustment for city workers they approved last night? What about the vote to re-open the outdoor skating rink?

If I'm a Yankton city worker this morning, I'm thinking, "A 3% raise and outdoor skating this year? Yahoo! Our commission is great! I'm not recalling those guys." My vote's just been influenced! By the expenditure of public funds! Call Chris Nelson! (AG Long is still recuperating -- don't bother him!)

Oh well. Mayor Bernard appears to have found an easy way to avoid difficult issues. Elected officials around the state will be pleased to have this clever bit of lawyering at their disposal. Looks like the voters of Yankton will just have to handle things themselves.