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Noem Videographer Gets $60K to Moonlight in Capitol

You know whom we taxpayers are paying more than Kennedy Noem, for apparent part-time work? Ryan Sheldon, Pierre DJ and videographer, who’s getting $60K a year to manage Kennedy’s mom’s digital media.

Ryan Sheldon, Open.SD.gov salary record, retrieved 2019.04.06.
Ryan Sheldon, Open.SD.gov salary record, retrieved 2019.04.06.

Sheldon says he is the “Official photgrapher, videographer, and special media management in the office of the Governor.” Sheldon thus appears to be the man behind the camera, or at least the mixing board, on Kristi’s elaborate Second-Floor propaganda, like her Xena-walk out to sign her first bill (the profoundly useless and deceitful permitless-pistols-in-pants bill) and her hemp-veto branding video.

You’d think $60K would buy full-time work for the taxpayers, but Exempt Professional Z Sheldon still has his full-time event business, Armor Productions, going strong and producing multimedia for other clients and renting out event equipment.

Making just a touch more than Ryan is Scott Sheldon, a former South Dakota Highway Patrol canine officer who “retired” a couple years ago and now makes $60,256.56 managing program integrity for the Department of Social Services Division of Medical Services. I don’t know if there’s a connection, but Whitepages lists 1021 N Central Ave in Pierre, the address of Ryan’s Armor Productions, as one of Scott’s addresses.

19 Comments

  1. grudznick 2019-04-06 09:18

    How dare that you fellow make a decent living making videos and live with his daddy who started a second career? How dare they both?

  2. Jenny 2019-04-06 11:31

    This isn’t right when so many South Dakotans work hard just to make 30 grand a year. This guy is making more than Larry Rhodes even. What’s with that? The Sheldon family must have paid out generously to The Noem campaign.

    I’m sure Ryan Sheldon has a masters in photography/video editing.

  3. Jenny 2019-04-06 11:53

    Cory, Montana Democrat governor Brian Schweitzer started the branding iron veto theme. This wasn’t Noem, Rhoden or Sheldon’s idea at all. Just google it. The big difference is, Schweitzer used his branding iron for the truly bad bills like letting new open pit mines using cyanide.

  4. Loren 2019-04-06 12:29

    Social Services? Medical Services? K-9 handler? ‘Splain to me how that ties together into a nice 2nd SD income steam. I must be qualified for a lot of things that I haven’t even thought of yet. Where do I get the application forms? ;-)

  5. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-04-06 14:18

    Wow, Jenny—for $60K a year, I’d expect some original ideas.

    And as Jenny points out, Gov. Schweitzer was able to surround himself with people who supported his veto.

  6. Debbo 2019-04-06 14:39

    The Noem Maladministration bears a strong resemblance to hogs at the feeding trough.

  7. CLCJM 2019-04-06 14:48

    I worked for the state of SD for 26 years and never got anywhere near that much! Even if he’s got a master’s degree, $60k/yr is a lot for part time work!

  8. Bill Kennedy 2019-04-06 16:03

    To the winner belong the spoils.

  9. mike from iowa 2019-04-06 18:00

    What happens when the winner, by cheating, turns out to be a spoiled 2 year old,orange imitation of a human being?

  10. Roger Cornelius 2019-04-06 18:54

    Well, mfi, the orange thing in the White House, is known to lie and cheat
    Last week a book was release about his cheating at golf, he is notorious and blatant about it.

  11. leslie 2019-04-06 20:14

    related right wing propaganda: The New York Times

    @nytimes
    Apr 3

    Exclusive: Over the last 6 months, @jonathanmahler and @jimrutenberg visited 3 continents to interview more than 150 people to chart how the Murdoch influence machine destabilized democracy in North America, Europe and Australia.

  12. T 2019-04-06 20:46

    What have they dine in the past?
    This seems a little extreme
    What did duugood do?

  13. Adam 2019-04-07 02:35

    I have seen the quality of Gov. Noem’s silly videos and I think it’s clear that Ryan Sheldon is far overpaid for his ‘work.’

    The guy might be good at other things, but he doesn’t seem to even shoot South Dakota’s cute little Governor with as good as a standard 4K camera and I find that sorta insulting considering my taxpayer dollars going toward his $60,000 pay check.

    It just always seems like her pretty face is often in pretty darn low resolution, in her videos. I just don’t get it.

    And you’d really think there would be some fancy captions or ‘bells and whistles’ in her videos, but there just aren’t any – ever – at all.

    Of course, maybe I just haven’t seen the guy’s very best work; or maybe I just need to watch more Kristi Noem videos – but I’ve already seen quite a few and made a mental note at the time on the poor quality video filming and production.

    Ryan Sheldon must be a friend of a freind or something.

  14. Robert Kolbe 2019-04-07 04:20

    We on the farm would say
    You gotta Slop the HOGs when you got feed!
    Now if he was paid by the Rep Party
    or from the Gov Noem personal Acct . I’d
    have no problem. BUT a created job that did not exist prior and being paid by Tax Dollars smacks of immoral behavior as is nepotism. BUT then again
    What’s New.

  15. T 2019-04-07 07:56

    Maybe we are paying for the lip and cheek injections as well
    Do we know?

  16. Jenny 2019-04-07 08:53

    But the Republican legislature won’t do anything about it. Grossly overpaid videographers for a self absorbed governor are more important than saving nursing homes.

  17. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-04-07 17:53

    Adam, we see how Kristi likes to keep the brim of her hat low to inexplicable hide her face in her campaign photos. Is it possible that Noem is no longer the friend of the hi-res camera that she might have been in her pageant days?

  18. leslie 2019-04-07 19:22

    She may be leery of exposing to broadly the militia graffiti on her tatical ball caps she wears to send messages to her red neck base. A vote is a vote, endangering the general public or not. Riot boosting oh my!

  19. leslie 2019-04-07 19:23

    too

    Digital media-the wonder

Comments are closed.