TenHaken said he'd repeal a policy that keeps city info private. But he changed his mind.

Joe Sneve | Argus Leader

Mayor Paul TenHaken won't repeal a Huether-era executive order that threatens punishment for city employees who share confidential information with the public, despite previously saying he would.

During the lead up to the May 1 election, TenHaken championed open government and included a bullet in his 100-day plan to rescind a 2016 executive order that says city employees who "inappropriately discuss or disseminate confidential information" could face "disciplinary action."

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The topic came to light when then-City Council candidate Janet Brekke, a former city attorney who won an at-large seat at Carnegie Town Hall this spring, said during her campaign that the executive order could be leading to struggles media and members of the public have had in obtaining government data and records requests.

TenHaken, though, said Thursday he no longer intends to repeal the executive order after learning more about its purpose.

"It's one thing to be an arm chair quarterback when you're outside of City Hall … but once you get in the inside and understand the backstory about why some of these things were done and the way things were done, your opinion changes, and that’s OK,” the mayor said.

Where did this executive order come from?

To TenHaken's point, Sioux Falls Human Resources Director Bill O'Toole told the Argus Leader in April that the executive order, signed by former Mayor Mike Huether, was at the request of the Human Resources Department.

It's long been practice, O'Toole said, to do annual refreshers with city employees highlighting harassment, discrimination, social media and confidentiality policies.

"Rather than continue the practice of having employees sign confidentiality statements, we felt it would be more efficient to place this provision in policy," O'Toole wrote in an email then.

Brekke, though, still believes some of the language in the confidentiality executive order is too vague, especially phrases that say city employees shall not share "sensitive information" and only when it's related to the "business necessity" of the city.

Because those phrases, Brekke said, aren't strictly defined, it could be causing "a chilling effect" when it comes to city staff's willingness to share the government's business with the public and the media.

"I still think it should be rewritten because I still don't think it's appropriate for government," she said. "That might be appropriate if you work for Apple computers, and you can't let anything leak out of your system. But when you're working in government, that kind of policy is overly broad."

If a full repeal is off the table, Brekke said she hopes to have more conversations with both the mayor and O'Toole about softening the executive order or better defining what is and isn't confidential.

TenHaken said that's not out of the question.

"There’s really been no issue with it as it's currently set up. It's more optics, and I think that’s what Janet wants to address," he said. "It’s a new day and maybe we could soften it to make sure city employees are comfortable sharing information."