Returning to the melodrama that is the executive branch of South Dakota state government, we read Associated Press reportage at KELO, South Dakota lawmakers summon key figures for Noem inquiry:
South Dakota lawmakers have summoned two people who were present at a meeting Governor Kristi Noem held last year that included her daughter, Kassidy Peters, and state employees who were overseeing Peters’ application for a real estate appraiser license.
The Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee sent letters requesting Noem’s secretary of labor and the former director of the state’s Appraiser Certification Program, Sherry Bren, to show up at a meeting next week.
While it was not clear what will be asked of the women, the move showed lawmakers want more answers from the Republican governor on an episode that that has sparked concerns from ethics experts.
Back at the end of September, we posted about this wrinkle in the fabric of the Rushmore State in Proof we're not in MN anymore, Toto: Ravnsborg reviewing Noem’s meeting with daughter:
In a story that first ran on Monday, the Associated Press's Stephen Groves produced investigative journalism worth the label in As daughter sought state license, Noem summoned agency head:
Just days after a South Dakota agency moved to deny her daughter’s application to become a certified real estate appraiser, Gov. Kristi Noem summoned to her office the state employee who ran the agency, the woman’s direct supervisor and the state labor secretary.
Noem’s daughter attended too.
Kassidy Peters, then 26, ultimately obtained the certification in November 2020, four months after the meeting at her mother’s office. A week after that, the labor secretary called the agency head, Sherry Bren, to demand her retirement, according to an age discrimination complaint Bren filed against the department. Bren, 70, ultimately left her job this past March after the state paid her $200,000 to withdraw the complaint.
Exactly what transpired at the July 27, 2020, meeting in the governor’s office isn’t clear. Noem declined an interview request and her office declined to answer detailed questions about the meeting. . . .
Read the rest at the AP website. . . .
Less than on hour ago, Groves reported in South Dakota AG reviewing Noem’s meeting with daughter:
South Dakota’s attorney general said Tuesday he is reviewing concerns from state lawmakers over a meeting Gov. Kristi Noem held last year that included both her daughter and a state employee who was overseeing her daughter’s application to become a certified real estate appraiser.
“I have been contacted by concerned citizens and legislators,” Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said in a statement. “I am actively reviewing their concerns and I will be following the steps prescribed in codified law in relation to those questions.”
Ravnsborg didn’t immediately respond to a question about what steps he might take. The attorney general is tasked under state law with issuing legal opinions to lawmakers. . . .
Though Ravnsborg and Noem are both Republicans, they have become political enemies over the last year after the governor pressured Ravnsborg to resign following a car crash in which he struck and killed a man walking on a highway. The attorney general pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in the crash. The Legislature is planning to convene in November to consider whether to proceed with impeaching Ravnsborg.
Democrats in the Legislature, who hold just a handful of seats, have also called for an investigation into the governor’s conduct during her daughter’s appraiser certification application. . . .
We're not in Minnesota anymore, that's for sure.
Photo: Noem on her horse.
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If you are going to make a "pretend to work photo", at least put a few smudges of dirt on the jacket and gloves
Posted by: cibvet | Oct 18, 2021 at 04:36 PM