Welcome to My Personal Blog
– Joe
Who Owns South Dakota’s Constitution?
The Legislature Doesn't Trust South Dakota Voters This November, South Dakotans will once again be asked whether they want to give up some of their own power. Amendment L would require future constitutional amendments to receive 60% of the vote instead of the simple...
Voters Opened Our Closed Primary
South Dakota's Republican runoff for governor produced an unexpected experiment in election reform. Thousands of Democrats and independent voters changed their registrations so they could participate in the Republican primary. They didn't suddenly become Republicans....
The 156 Votes That Changed Sioux Falls
Thirty-two years ago, Sioux Falls made one of the most important political decisions in its history. By a margin of just 156 votes, residents approved a new home rule charter that replaced the city's commission form of government with the mayor-council system we still...
The Case the Supreme Court Never Decided
It began with an unexpected phone call from the downtown Sioux Falls library. A librarian had received an inquiry from a researcher on the East Coast looking for information about a long-dead Sioux Falls attorney: my great-grandfather, Joe Kirby. Knowing I had become...
One Election Is Enough
Sioux Falls voters went to the polls on June 2 to elect a new mayor and fill four city council seats. Yet only one of those five races was actually decided that day. The other four required runoff elections three weeks later. And in the runoff, the mayor's race is...
The Political Parties Control South Dakota’s Elections
South Dakota just conducted an important primary election that will likely determine who becomes our next governor. Yet hundreds of thousands of citizens were prevented from participating, not because they were ineligible to vote, but because they did not belong to...
South Dakota’s Economic Paradox
Our traditional model has left many wage earners behind. The populist alternatives could make that worse. South Dakota likes to tell itself a simple story: low taxes, small government and fiscal discipline have produced one of America’s best-run states. There is truth...
Stop Playing Politics with South Dakota’s Taxes
No one likes paying taxes. South Dakota’s tax system is often debated, frequently criticized, and periodically adjusted. Yet one important fact is often overlooked: by national standards, our state already has one of the strongest tax climates in America. The Tax...
No Real Contest
What happens when one party runs the show South Dakota selects its leaders through a process that is exclusive, outdated, and increasingly undemocratic. It emerged during a time when two competitive parties offered real choices and broad participation. That system no...
Big Ideas, and Why They Matter
Change rarely happens by accident. It begins with a clear vision of what is no longer working and a willingness to imagine something better. Without that kind of ambition, change doesn’t come to us, we are simply overtaken by events. For years, many of us hoped the...
Time to Relocate Our State Capitol
One hundred thirty-seven years ago our state founders placed the capitol in Pierre because it lay near the geographic center of a young frontier state. That decision fit a time when travel was slow and the population thin. The facts that justified it no longer exist....
Want Lower Property Taxes? Start by Fixing School Boundaries
South Dakota has 150+ school districts, including nine inside the Sioux Falls metro area. That’s not efficient, it’s expensive. South Dakota has over 150 school districts. That is an extraordinary number for a state of fewer than a million people. And nowhere is this...
Has Sioux Falls Lost Its Way?
Once a model of civic unity, the city now suffers from fragmentation and complacency. It’s time for leadership that brings us back together. Decades ago, Sioux Falls had something rare, a civic spirit that felt both personal and powerful. It wasn’t just about growth...
Hypocrisy at the Capitol: South Dakota’s Gun-Free Zone Double Standard
State lawmakers enjoy gun-free workplaces while denying cities the same right to protect their employees Walk into the South Dakota capitol with a gun and you’ll be arrested. Walk into city hall, no problem. That’s the double standard baked into state law. South...
South Dakota Needs Modernization, Not a DOGE Project
State leaders propose cuts that starve local governments — the real reform lies in consolidation, technology, and accountability South Dakota’s fiscal debates usually circle the same questions: whether to cut taxes, which ones, and who pays the price. Lately, rapid...
Goodbye Vermillion, Hello Common Sense
The South Dakota Board of Regents made news last week with an announcement that many thought would never come: the state’s only medical school is moving from small-town Vermillion to Sioux Falls, the state’s population and health care hub. It is a rare example of...
Sioux Falls Needs Strong Leadership
It’s no surprise that South Dakota’s new men’s state prison will apparently be built in Sioux Falls, the state’s urban center. The facility is expected to be significantly larger than the existing one, housing far more inmates, and bringing with it increased...
The Speeding Crisis: Reckless Drivers Have Turned Sioux Falls Streets into Danger Zones
It’s Time to Ramp Up Traffic Law Enforcement Sioux Falls has a chronic speeding problem, and it’s a deadly menace. From noisy downtown drag races to high-speed crashes on arterial roads like 57th Street, reckless driving is putting lives at risk across the city....