Chamber hosts election forum

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HURON — While the deaths of a Platte family three years ago as the Gear-Up scandal was coming to light was certainly a tragedy, members of the state Legislature were not involved, Rep. Roger Chase, R-Huron, said Saturday.
Two people charged in the case were found not guilty at trial and a third defendant took a plea deal, and so will no one be held accountable?
Scott Westerhuis killed his four children and his wife before setting their house on fire and then killing himself in September 2015.
Chase said he understands there has been no accountability, “but there’s nothing we as legislators could have done,” he said at an election forum hosted by the Huron Chamber & Visitors Bureau.
Westerhuis is the one who holds the most answers, and did what he did because he was guilty, Chase said.
“We as legislators had nothing to do with that,” he said in answer to a question.
Rep. Bob Glanzer, R-Huron, seeking re-election to a second term as is Chase, said it was a legislative audit that triggered the investigation. It’s commendable that it was that action that uncovered the fact that the books were being cooked, he said.
Tyler Volesky, a Huron Democrat running his first political campaign, said there is a lack of oversight in state government and there needs to be a stronger legislative check on the executive branch.
He said if elected he would take a pragmatic, centrist approach in Pierre, reaching across the aisle to come up with solutions to improve South Dakota.
“I think we can do that if we work together,” he said.
The three House candidates were asked about openness in government, and the controversy that arose in August when two Republicans said they were establishing a separate caucus after GOP leaders sent letters to legislators asking them to consider signing a pledge to keep caucuses confidential.

Chase said it was not a pledge or an oath and it wasn’t illegal.
He said he realizes there is a public perception about the GOP closed caucus and that perhaps it needs to be opened up. But he said no one in those sessions has ever told him how to vote. Members don’t vote in the caucus sessions, in any case, and votes on the floor are recorded and televised, he said.
Glanzer also said it was not an oath. In the caucus, members go over the day’s agenda and review some of the bills coming up. He said it’s been an important part of the legislative process for him in his first two years in Pierre.
When people say they want more open government, it often stems from the scandals, Volesky said. There’s also an issue with one-party rule, he said. He said legislators should not caucus behind closed doors.
Asked about the Legislature’s repeal of IM 22 after voters approved it in 2016, Glanzer said the 12,000-word explanation was confusing. “I read all 12,000 words,” he said, but added he got lost in it while doing so. He said it would have changed 66 laws and procedures.
Instead, during the 2017 session, legislators came up with a bill to create what IM 22 was trying to do with an ethics commission, he said.
But IM 22 did pass at the ballot box and it wasn’t right to overturn it, “because the majority of people voted for it and I think we have to respect that,” Volesky said.
While the explanation was long, Volesky said he is confident voters knew what they were doing.
Had legislators not repealed it, it would have cost the state thousands of dollars in court time deciding what the measure said, Chase said.
The accountability board set up by legislators can investigate a wide range of complaints, he said. In fact, he said the board has already reviewed two cases and found nothing wrong, he said.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s forum also featured the two candidates for state Senate representing District 22 — incumbent Sen. Jim White, R-Huron, and Democratic challenger Eric Bliss of Huron.
White said if re-elected he would be serving his last term in the Senate because of term limits.
Bliss, who ran against White two years ago, said he’s concerned about how many kids go hungry, meaning they do poorly in school and drop out early. That means a lack of opportunity for them later, he said. He also said all people deserve health care.
White, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said sales tax revenues have not yet started coming to South Dakota from online sales as provided for in a Supreme Court decision.
“There’s a lot of questions about how this is going to be brought into the budget,” he said. Estimates show as much as $50 million could be collected each year.
Bliss said he thinks state government books should be opened up so everyone can see where the money goes.
On a question about tourism, the state’s second largest industry, Bliss said South Dakota has a great potential to showcase what it can offer to visitors, but also for in-state residents.
Tourism is one of the state’s major revenue sources, and White said those working in the industry in Pierre are continually developing new strategies to how to attract more people to spend time in the state.
The candidates were asked about a proposal suggested by GOP attorney general hopeful Jason Ravnsborg to build a methamphetamine prison. Bliss said it was a bad idea. He said the effort should be to heal families and to have full-time case managers for offenders.
White said he doesn’t see funds being drawn out of the state budget for that. A more likely approach would be to make it a specialty within the existing system, he said.