Lorraine Polak joins the list of officials who have recently left the Noem Administration:
Executive director Lorraine Polak is leaving the South Dakota Housing Development Authority.
Polak confirmed that she has submitted her resignation to Governor Kristi Noem. Her final day is Friday.
The governor promoted her to the housing agency’s top spot two years ago, following the retirement of Mark Lauseng.
Comment was sought from the governor’s communications chief, Ian Fury. “We have no personnel announcements to make at this time,” he said [Bob Mercer, “Polak Steps Down at SDHDA,” KELO-TV, 2023.03.29].
Polak was a seemingly good soldier for Noem, peddling the Governor’s baloney reasons for not investing $200 million allocated for loans and grants for housing infrastructure. But working on Noem’s malarkey-structure seems to wear on people.
What little competency was left in the Noem administration just walked out the door. By all accounts, Lorraine Polak was a great fit for SDHDA and its mission. Noem, clearly, has zero appreciation for competency in public service. She values only self-absorbed hacks like Mr. Furry and The Lew. Plus, it must be like working in an asylum with so many top staffers focused only on Noem’s lunatic obsession with national politics and pandering to the unhinged Trump base.
Best wishes to Lorraine. There are 49 other state governments and most of them value talented public servants who are dedicated to their work and to building a better and more just world.
Ian Fury didn’t know what to say? A Hillsboro boy? They are dropping the school in Florida that fired their principal over David’s penis. Come on Ian, get with it.