SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

On Tuesday the local newspaper endorsed Bryce Healy for election as Commissioner of School and Public Lands . It was a clean endorsement without mentioning any hickeys.

The Argus has been on a mission in its prosecution of what they define as “open government.” Almost without exception every endorsement in statewide elections they have pursued candidate’s actions or positions on openness in government.

That is why it is surprising that they so readily endorsed Healy. As the editorial cited below points out Healy is no friend of open government. He is even cavalier about doing the public’s business in secret.

Aberdeen American News

Editorial

May 27, 2003

Perception and Reality

Like it or not appearances matter. Most of us recognize that --- which is why most people don't wear sweats to a job interview.

Or brag that business is booming, while laying off half their employees. Or bar the door to someone who inquires about what's going on within --- which is what happened at an April 24 bid-letting, hosted by Commissioner of School and Public Lands Bryce Healy, a Democrat. Left standing on the wrong side of the door were officials from the Public Utilities Commission, including chairman Bob Sahr, a Republican.

Under discussion inside was a commercial easement for wind energy development on about 800 acres of state-owned land. The bid was ultimately awarded to Superior Renewable Energy of Texas at $10 per acre for the first year of the easement and $1 per acre annually for the years that follow.

Presumably all well and good. But Sahr questions why he and two others from the PUC were shut out of the room when the bids were opened --- while a representative of Superior was ushered in. Healy's response: Despite advertising the date of the bid-opening, the meeting wasn't public. It was advertised in hope of attracting more bids. And yet Superior's man was present. Though told that no action would be taken that day, he wanted to be present since he was in the state. He was in, while the PUC was out?

Healy asserts that he consulted the state attorney general's office about the process and is certain he did nothing wrong.

That may be. But selective barring of the door gives the appearance of someone with something to hide.

The Republican candidate for Commissioner of School and Public Lands , Jarrod Johnson, confirms that no formal interviews were conducted by the Argus of the candidates although he was contacted by Opinion Editor, Chuck Baldwin and asked to contrast his positions to that of his opponent. (Johnson’s reply to the Argus Editorial Board follows this post.)  It is reported to me by candidates and even the Argus occasionaly mentions that there are interviews for most of the paper's endorsements.

I truck no portfolio of mistrust against the Argus Leader nor am I a blogger with an anti Argus agenda (some days I even appreciate them). Is this careless work by the Argus E Board or in Healy’s case is there a double standard? Perhaps the Argus is indifferent to who gains this office? Perhaps they have another reason.

I do not expect the Argus to explain why secret government is acceptable in this case but a comment as to why they endorsed Healy without mentioning open government is in order.

Their reasoning should not be a secret.

Jarrod Johnson Response to the Argus Leader

The list of the most important issues facing the office of School and Public Lands is also the list of the starkest contrasts between my opponent and me:

#1: Managing the Lands—for the Kids

The Office of School and Public Lands has a constitutional mandate to fund education. Every dollar that this office raises for education is one less dollar that must be taken from the pockets of our taxpayers. For five generations, a Johnson has been making a living off South Dakota grass. I want to put my private-sector business management experiences to work for the taxpayers. Drawing upon my hands-on experiences in modern land management techniques, I can make this office a better operation for the taxpayers and a better investment for our kids. Grazing managers that use sustainable grazing have been able to pay more for land use due to greater profits; at the same time, this results in better cover for our wildlife. Rotational grazing and other sustainable methods of land management must be encouraged. When we combine better grazing management with a willingness to develop water on these acres, our taxpayers and our kids will benefit.

#2: Educating the Public

Unfortunately, most South Dakotans who think about the Office of School and Public Lands do so only once every four years—when they stumble over it on their ballot. I want to educate more South Dakotans about what this office does and what it can do. Now, I’m idealistic, but I’m also not crazy enough to think that the mission of School and Public Lands will ever be as well known as the missions of the governor’s office or the attorney general’s office. Yet, we must do much better at getting the word out. Increased public understanding is not an end in itself, but a means toward an end. The object of increased public awareness is not notoriety but an enhanced ability to gather—from an ever-expanding circle of people—ideas and suggestions and comments and yes, even criticism about how this office operates. I have spent my entire adult life promoting not my own family’s agri-business business but also agri-business in general. I want to start putting those skills, honed in the private sector, to work in the public sector.

#3: Respecting and Creating Openness

Although many public and private sector managers brag about having “an open door,” there are, all-too-frequently, two flaws to their reasoning. First, running a truly transparent office means doing it all the time. Not just most of the time. Not just for your friends. And not just for the relatively non-important issues. To me, every meeting, every bid-letting, and every aspect of this public office must be open to the public. Second, having an “open door” means not only that anybody can walk through it to meet with you; it also means that you will proactively walk through it and go meet with anybody and everybody. Openness that is not aggressively proactive is frankly just a veneer of democracy. South Dakotans do not need democracy-lite; they deserve the real thing.

#4: Solving Problems

Public hunting is a legitimate use of our school lands in South Dakota . Yet, in some instances, increased use of school lands for public hunting has also increased bad feelings between sportsmen and landowners. Misunderstandings about the exact location of specific lands have brewed trouble among hunters, lessees, and owners of adjacent properties. To solve this problem, all of our school lands need to be cataloged in Global Positioning format, thus leaving no question as to which land hunters are on. GPS mapping not only allows for better hunting accessibility, it is also a necessity for modern land management. I intend to fill the exasperating communications void among the Office of School and Public Lands , hunters, and landowners with a “boots on the ground” strategy. Agents of my office will be physically inspecting the condition of the lands in the spring, as grazing season approaches, examining the lands before the advent of hunting season, and scrutinizing the lands going into the winter. I will personally be a part of that process. There’s an old saying that “the best fertilizer for a piece of land is the footprints of its owner.” That’s just as true for public lands as it is for any privately owned farm or ranch in South Dakota .

Down through American history, many people, from Nobel Prize-winning economists at great universities to farmers and ranchers sitting next to you in church, have stated that all wealth comes from the land. Every resident of South Dakota , through the Office of School and Public Lands , has a connection to the lands of our state that is not unlike those who make a direct living from them. We need to elect, as our next Commissioner of School and Public Lands, a person who can make this office work harder—for all of us. I am that person.