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Limbo Continues for Shannon County |
Shannon County commissioners failed to settle their differences with contracted officials during a special meeting Thursday in Hot Springs, and that failure could jeopardize the county's ability to hold the general election in November.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson said the state will not step in and run the election.
Nelson was in Hot Springs to ask the commissioners which county they intended to contract with to hire an auditor to run the election.
"You all have a huge challenge on your hands to piece together a new county government," Nelson told commissioners Connie Whirlwind Horse, Wendell Yellow Bull, Deloris Hagman and Lyla Hutchison at the beginning of Thursday's meeting. Commissioner Francis Pumpkin Seed did not attend the meeting.
Shannon County commissioners met in executive session with their five contracted Fall River County officials Thursday afternoon, but failed to resolve their differences.
Instead, the commission and the officers opted to ask others to step in and help them resolve their issues.
"We are at an impasse, and we will be asking for our state and federal officials to meet with us to begin a dialogue to resolve our issues," commissioners and officials said in a joint statement issued after executive session.
"We are asking that Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, D-S.D., be at our next meeting or to send a representative. We are also asking that the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the U.S. Department of Justice send a representative to the meeting."
That meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 24, at the Fall River County Courthouse.
But that is well past the deadline of Sept. 13 that Nelson gave commission chairwoman Whirlwind Horse to resolve who will oversee the November election.
Fall River County officials have worn two hats for almost 30 years, working under contract as Shannon County's auditor, treasurer, register of deeds, states attorney and director of equalization.
The relationship between the Shannon County Commission and its contracted officials has become increasingly strained in the past two months as a 3-2 split in the commission resulted in the firing of Sheriff Jim Daggett, a separately contracted employee. The rift eventually spilled over into the county's relationship with State's Attorney Jim Sword, who sought judicial action to put Daggett back in office.
Commissioners Whirlwind Horse, Yellow Bull and Pumpkin Seed have consistently ruled the decision making over the objections of Hagman and Hutchison.
One week ago, when Sword expected the county to break his contract, he and the rest of the county officials gave the commission 30 days notice that they will terminate their contracts with Shannon County on Oct. 4.
Nelson, who met with the commission before the negotiating session with county officials, said he wanted to know who would be responsible for the Nov. 2 election by next Monday.
Nelson said he is willing to help the county but warned the commissioners that "elections are a 365-day-a-year job."
If county offices are moved to another county, the transition would occur right in the middle of heavy voter registration and absentee voting leading up to the election, Nelson said.
"This is a very sensitive time for this transition to take place," Nelson said. "My mission is to make sure that everything goes smoothly in that transition and that everything is done properly in that transition."
Nelson reminded the commissioners that they risked a lawsuit if the election is not managed properly. No one but a county auditor can manage an election, he emphasized.
"As you and I found out last year, if there is even the smallest mistake in Shannon County, you and I are going to get sued by ACLU," Nelson said. "There's a track record of this."
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Nelson and Shannon County last year, accusing state officials of improperly removing people with felony convictions from voter rolls. The suit was settled out of court.
Nelson admitted that he has spoken with the auditor of at least one neighboring county about a transfer of election responsibilities. The county's ability to pay another county for an auditor's services might play into any decision to contract with Shannon County, he said.
"Whoa," Nelson sighed, when he learned that Shannon County pays Fall River County $3,800 a month for the auditor's services.
Nelson appeared stunned again when he learned that Shannon County had exhausted 86 percent of its $32,000 election budget in the primary election. All that's left is about $5,000 and any Help America Vote Act funds.
When pressed, Auditor Sue Ganji explained that Commissioner Pumpkin Seed had hired 17 to 23 employees to staff the county's satellite office in Pine Ridge in the weeks leading up to the primary. Pumpkin Seed, who sits on the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Election Commission, was given the task of managing that office to provide Lakota language support for Shannon County voters.
Ganji and Yellow Bull only discovered the size of the office when Pumpkin Seed became ill. Ganji immediately discharged all but essential employees.
"Two to three turned into 17; that's unbelievable," muttered Shannon County commissioner-elect Brian Kehn, who attended Thursday's meeting.
Ganji also took the opportunity Thursday to voice her irritation with Pumpkin Seed, who she said had complained to a Department of Justice official after the June primary that Pumpkin Seed had "micro-managed" the satellite office.
Faced with very little money and few options to find a replacement for Ganji's office before the November election, Shannon County's only hope could rest in resolving its differences with Fall River County officials.
After learning that the commission and officials plan to reach out to state and federal officials for help in resolving their differences, Nelson said that is a good sign. He said he is concerned about the commissioners' decision to delay the meeting for two weeks.
Nelson admitted his concern is "very narrow" and is focused on the election. "This is a very positive step; I wish it was coming sooner," Nelson said.
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