City leaders around the state are discussing options to address the COVID-19 outbreak. The discussion comes after House lawmakers failed to pass a bill to give cities and counties emergency authority.
The bill had support from the mayors of Rapid City and Sioux Falls, as well as the municipal league.
It would have let counties pass emergency and temporary ordinances to support public health.
Without that state guidance, Sioux Falls mayor Paul TenHaken says he doesn’t know what cities and counties can do.
TenHaken says he’s talked with three different mayors. They’re crafting city ordinances and TenHaken says they’re looking to Sioux Falls for guidance.
“That’s not my job, man, I’ll be honest with you,” TenHaken says. “I’m the mayor of this city, okay. I’m not the mayoral alliance leader for the state. But I’m finding myself in that position because other mayors are hungry for direction. They’re hungry for some leadership on this issue.”
Mayors of some of the state’s largest cities will meet with the state municipal league to figure out how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Governor Kristi Noem says her office drafted some of the legislation, but lawmakers rejected it. In the end, the governor opposed the effort saying it shortened the process that cities and counties use to create emergency ordinances to close businesses.
The Governor insists she has broad emergency powers, but she has chosen not to order statewide business closures.
“I will use every authority that I have available to me and I clearly laid out what my intentions and directions are for the state of South Dakota in my executive order that I put out previously.”
A spokesperson for the governor says they’re encouraging business innovation and local control.