Legislative action allows local elections to be moved to June; Gearman warns of scammers

SIOUX FALLS – At the Tuesday, March 31, Minnehaha County Commission meeting, three commissioners attended in person, and two attended “telephonically” as they continued to test out remote meeting capabilities.

Commissioners Gerald Beninga and Jeff Barth attended remotely from separate locations for  discussion dealing with action taken by the South Dakota State Legislature a day earlier, also recognized as “veto day.”

While the day is usually set aside to review any legislative vetoes from the governor, this year, members dealt with new legislation relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although the legislature did pass HB 1298, which allows for the April 14 municipal and school board elections to be postponed, they did not get the necessary two-thirds majority to give counties emergency powers.

As to elections, at the county meeting on March 24, Auditor Bob Litz said he was hoping the legislature would act to allow them to delay local elections until the state primary election on June 2.

But even to get that settled, the bill bounced back and forth among the State House, State Senate and various committees, including, finally, a conference committee, which came up with the final version of the bill. That bill finally passed around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1.

At the March 31 commission meeting, Litz announced that the Sioux Falls city and school board elections would not be held until Tuesday, June 2. But he added that all three governing bodies would need to hash out the details before presenting to the county commission for approval, as HB 1298 spells out.

Although that was what people were hoping for, a major disappointment came when the House of Representatives rejected SB 191, which would have given temporary emergency powers to counties to close or limit businesses.

From the discussion in Pierre, it was clear that municipalities already have this authority.

County commissions, who are also elected by voters, were hoping to get the same power.

As it now stands, a certain type of business – say an event center or bar – could be closed or limited for safety reasons in a city or town. Patrons could then move out to a similar facility located in a county, outside of a municipality, which could have as many people as they want, because, under state law, county governments don’t have the same powers as municipalities.

SB 191 was trying to change that.

In the Senate, the bill passed by a vote of 30-5; however, in the House, while the bill received the majority vote, it did not garner the necessary two-thirds needed to pass.

While it needed 45, it failed 39-28.

Seven of the people voting “nay” were the following representatives from Minnehaha County: Arch Beal, Linda Duba, Steven Haugaard, Chris Karr, Rhonda Milstead, Tom Pischke and Many Steele.

‘Nefarious’

That was the word used by Emergency Management Director Jason Gearman to describe scams about which his office was already waring people.

He emphasized that with the talk of federal stimulus payments, scammers would be calling and pretending to be from the IRS in order to get bank accounts and routing numbers.

“The IRS will never call to get bank account numbers,” Gearman warned.

And, as always, people should never give personal information over the phone to people they don’t know.

County business

During the meeting, Commission chairperson Jean Bender said that a decision had been made to keep the non-essential county businesses, including the Minnehaha County Administration Building, closed through the month of April.

She added that the staff is continuing to work, but that business should be done over the phone or online.

Auditor Litz pointed out that people can vote by absentee ballot for the Sioux Falls city and school board elections at the County Election Center, which is located east of the Administration Building at 220 W. Sixth St. 

He further recommended that when possible, voters should call his office at (605) 367-4220 or go online at https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/absentee-voting.aspx and print out a form to send in for getting an absentee ballot.

While the city and school ballots are available now, the primary election ballot will not be available until after April 18.

There will be no county commission meetings April 7 and 21. All county commission business for the month will be conducted at 9 a.m. meetings on Tuesday, April 14 and 28.

The County Administration Building will remain closed to the public, but those wanting to attend the meetings can enter through the west side of the building and will be screened by a deputy sheriff. 

However, the number of people allowed into the main commission chamber at any one time may be limited.