A day after sportsman and journalist Kevin Woster fried Governor Kristi Noem for delaying appointments to the Game Fish and Parks Commission and for imposing unusual loyalty demands on prospective commissioners, the Governor announced appointments to two long-vacant seats on that commission:
On Thursday, Governor Kristi Noem announced the appointments of a former legislator, Julie Bartling of Gregory, and a former long-time public broadcaster, Stephanie Rissler of Vermillion.
They fill the vacancies left by the term-limit departures of Mary Anne Boyd of Yankton and Gary Jensen of Rapid City.
Bartling currently serves as Gregory County auditor. She served in the state House of Representatives and the state Senate a total of 16 years over two different periods.
Rissler moved from the television arm of South Dakota Public Broadcasting, where she worked 23 years, to communications manager for the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations in December 2020 [Bob Mercer, “Governor Names Two Women to South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Commission,” KELO-TV, 2021.07.15].
Governor Noem broke the law in waiting until July to make these appointments. The rotating terms on the commission expire on January 10, and SDCL 41-2-3 requires the Governor to appoint replacements by March 1, likely so that the Senate can confirm during the regular Legislative Session.
These illegally delayed appointments aren’t just one more thing that full-time out-of-state campaigning distracted Noem from handling during the Legislative Session. As Woster explains, the problem was quite the opposite: Noem was paying keen attention to those appointments, because she wanted toadies:
Dozens, maybe scores, maybe even more names have been submitted or discussed through GF&P as candidates for the two spots. I’ve heard some of them. They were good candidates. They didn’t get picked.
I’m not sure how many made it from GF&P to the governor, where Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden, a West River rancher, has a role and a keen interest in protecting landowner rights.
But plenty of names went there and plenty of names were rejected.
…At least one commissioner has made it clear that Noem expected her philosophy to be followed if the person was appointed. That’s understandable, up to a point. But there has traditionally been some room for GF&P commissioners to follow their own hearts and minds and beliefs in their votes, even if they sometimes differed from the governor who appointed them.
There weren’t any litmus tests, as there apparently are today [Kevin Woster, “As Noem Delays GF&P Appointments, Sportsmen Fear Their Voice Isn’t Being Heard,” SDPB: On the Other Hand, 2021.07.14].
Noem appears to have hoped that the Legislature would pass House Bill 1115, which would have removed the current provision that prohibits having more than four members of any one political party on the eight-member commission. Noem’s favorite lawyer and lobbyist, Matt McCaulley, testified in favor of HB 1115 before House Ag and Natural Resources on February 9. HB 1115 passed that committee and the full House but foundered in Senate Ag and Natural Resources on March 2, leaving Noem without legal cover for stacking the GFP Commission with her ideological drones. She must have gotten a really bad case of the grouchies from that denial of her power, since she took over four months to pick Rissler and Bartling for the commission.
Toadies, case of the grouchies…you sum things up very well, Cory.
This is hilariously funny. I wonder if one must be a resident of South Dakota to serve on this commission. Imagine if we had Texans and Nebraskans on it.
“Governor Noem broke the law in waiting until July to make these appointments. The rotating terms on the commission expire on January 10, and SDCL 41-2-3 requires the Governor to appoint replacements by March 1, likely so that the Senate can confirm during the regular Legislative Session.”
So, Cory, when does the Senate confirm these appointments, since, they obviously haven’t been confirmed with the state legislature out of session this time of year? So, are these appointments (without confirmation) even legal and is someone going to challenge them?
Julie Bartling is no ones toadie. She is a conservative Democrat who was not afraid to vote her beliefs and served in leadership roles because she was greatly respected by her fellow Democrats. I’m sure these two Ladies will represent the interests of all South Dakotans, we should be very careful to not judge those we do not know.
Jim, I don’t think Bartling is a toadie, but Noem sure held out for a long time trying to get one.
Well…Bartling is fine…would prefer to see her on the Board of Education.
Jim peterson
Fine and good, although Noem’s subjective selection criteria appear to be a separate matter apart from your summary qualifications of the individuals. As Kevin Wooster’s article makes clear, “at least one commissioner has made it clear that Noem expected her philosophy to be followed if the person was appointed,” and “the joke around sportsmen’s groups as they wait for the commission spots to be filled is that Noem was having trouble finding a Democrat who would agree to do what she wants. That’s probably a case of much truth being said in jest.”
While that may not make Bartling a toadie the article does suggest toadies are what Noem wants. Is that a judgment? If so, it’s a well-founded judgment of someone we’ve come to know all too well.
Young Ms. Bartling did not cow the toe to anyone when she was in the legislatures. Why would she start now?
In a parallel vein, poison hemlock has a home in South Dakota. I’m sure the current political atmosphere was all the encouragement this stuff needed to root in state.
https://www.keloland.com/keloland-com-original/poison-hemlock-in-south-dakota/