Uncertainty looms after Hartford resignations

The clock is ticking in Hartford.

A succession of resignations in the wake of a mayoral challenge has left the city council without a quorum and the community with plenty of questions.

The council cancelled its meeting Tuesday and can't pay bills, accept bids or conduct any other official business until the remaining councilors find a new member.

They have about two weeks to agree on an appointment without risking a broader financial fallout.

The city council approves bills once a month, and one month in advance, so Tuesday's meeting cancellation won't mean missed payments.

The real trouble would come if the council can’t get someone appointed by February.

“If this lingers on for longer than a month, we won’t be able to pay any bills,” Sidel said.

Meanwhile, the city is expecting bids for a pool project that could be affected if quorum can't be reached soon. The bids are due Feb. 11, but the city couldn’t say yes without a quorum.

“We can advertise it, we just can’t accept any bids without a council vote,” Sidel said.

At least in the near term, the day-to-day lives of Hartford residents shouldn’t change: The city’s administrative and maintenance functions are still up and running.

You can still get a building permit through the city offices, the snowplows will keep running and broken lightbulbs will still be fixed, according to Teresa Sidel, city administrator.

Sidel and the rest of the city employees are still being paid. Novak Sanitation, which contracts for waste removal in Hartford, is still collecting the city’s rubbish.

“Everything just feels kind of up in the air,” said Sarah Swanson, owner of Emberz Restaurant and Lounge in Hartford.

Swanson’s thinking about things like liquor licenses, although her eatery near the town’s recently-opened AmericInn Hotel & Suites doesn’t need a renewal until the summer.

Swanson has watched the controversies over the city’s economic development position and later Mayor Bill Campbell’s leadership style bubble over during her first few months in business.

She worked with the economic development director on a business plan before opened her restaurant, and got her liquor license during a meeting so packed that some visitors had to stand outside. The Campbell-led vote to ditch the development director’s position led to a successful referendum to return the position to the city’s payroll.

Since then, the group Growing Hartford has become a steady presence at Hartford City Council meetings. Its members led a drive to recall Mayor Campbell last fall.

Two council members resigned after a contentious vote on the group’s recall petitions. Council President Doyle Johnson’s resignation last week amid investigations and questions about the veracity of an offensive email he said had come from a Growing Hartford member.

Swanson supports Growing Hartford, but didn’t expect things to reach the fever pitch they have.

“I just wish we could get this resolved, so we could have a normal city government,” she said.

How the council gets there is an open question. Swanson is a rural Hartford resident, so she can’t run for council or vote in an election. Several business owners are in a similar position, she said.

Growing Hartford representatives have said they hope to see their group and its goals represented on the council, but the immediate need for a quorum can’t be solved through traditional civic engagement.

There are three council seats up for election in 2016, but the seats don’t belong to the three members who’ve resigned. Petition circulation can start on Jan. 29 for those seats, and the election would come later than that.

An appointment would need to come before those regularly-scheduled elections for council business to take place. Any council member could make a recommendation for an appointment, which would trigger a vote.

Cities in South Dakota generally don’t find themselves unable to make basic decisions because of resignations, but it happens from time to time with townships, according to Maureen Wegenke of the South Dakota Association of Towns and Townships.

John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617. You can tweet him @ArgusJHult or find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ArgusReadersWatchdog