OPEN THREAD
l3wis 
2010
One more reason why the Home Rule charter handcuffs our council
I just magically appeared after a little rain and ice.
This should come as no surprise that our mayor, or any mayor of Sioux Falls for that matter (cough . . . Munson . . . cough), just does things without consulting the council, well, because he can. The Home Rule charter pretty much gives absolute power to the mayor. But as we have been finding out more and more of this power has been found unconstitutional. So does our new council have the guts to dismantle the charter or will it be in the hands of the people? Comments from at least one of the council members is encouraging, but I am not going to hold my breath;
There wasn’t a mayoral candidate in all of Sioux Falls who didn’t have a thing or two to say about potholes.
And after securing victory, one of the first steps Mayor Mike Huether took was to redirect $2.6 million to the war on crumbling streets. That money piggybacked on former Mayor Dave Munson’s redoubling of efforts on street repair in March.
But the additional money didn’t materialize out of thin air, and it will come at a cost to other projects. About $1.4 million of the additional money will come from the city’s arterial street expansion program, meaning that some projects, including work at major intersections, will be put off.
Huether made the decision unilaterally, without consulting the council. He has the authority to do it, but City Council Chairman Greg Jamison said it would have been nice to get a heads up, especially for councilors who had projects in their districts delayed because of the switch in funding.
“I just felt like, out of courtesy, he could have brought us in,” Jamison said.
While I agree our potholes should be fixed pronto, I think the council should have been a part of the decision. Like I said above, these kind of decisions will continue unless we tear down the Home Rule Charter. Case in point;
Huether and four new councilors were not around when the council fought a bruising battle over arterial streets. Faced with an $85 million backlog, a split council in 2008 voted to increase the city’s second-penny sales tax and development fees for more work on arterial streets.
And who made the final passing vote on this debacle that has FORCED taxpayers to pay their fair share but not the developers? Mayor Munson. But even more troubling, some developers still are blaming the weather;
Chuck Point, a vice president at Ronning Cos., was among the developers who pushed for more money for arterial streets. He said he’s not worried about diverting some money from arterial streets to make repairs – for now.
“I can’t fault him for it,” Point said of Huether’s decision to divert funding from arterial roads. “If you drive around Sioux Falls, you saw it. What I get frustrated about is people blaming the wrong thing. It was the weather.“
Bullshit!
While the weather did make the potholes literally explode, I find it hard to believe that this happened overnight. These potholes have been festering for years. Like I have said in the past, I have ridden my bike on the streets of this town for years, they were in bad shape to begin with, and if you just ignore them, they will only get worse, which happened. The city, the past mayor and council ignored keeping up with infrastructure during good economic times. We had record sales tax revenue and we squandered it, now we are scrambling to fix something we have no money for. We missed the boat to literally put money away for a RAINY DAY, now we have to pay the piper, and that means delaying new projects.
This new mayor and council better come to a quick realization that prioritizing should be their number one concern.
Yah Think?
You think rock & wood thingy is FREE? Pay up bitches!
During the city election campaign I told a candidate for the city council what makes are city great; PARKS & LOW CRIME. In fact it doesn’t take a freaking rocket scientist to figure it out, just a parenting magazine;
SIOUX FALLS, SD – Many families are spending Father’s Day honoring the men in their lives and for some that means spending time together doing activities. The Family Fishing Park near Sioux Falls was a hot spot today. It’s one of dozens of parks in the area and according to Parenting Magazine, it’s also one of the top cities for families.
Sioux Falls ranks at number 11. The results are tallied by considering the city’s crime rate, unemployment rate and numerous recreational areas. Those enjoying what Sioux Falls has to offer agree the city deserves its rating.
What makes are parks great? Most of them are FREE (sure, we pay taxes to have them maintained). But a part of me worries a bit. The Parks department has been continuing to raise rates for certain amenities. Are they going to start nickel and diming us for stuff we already pay for thru taxes? How pathetic would it be to have to pay a toll to ride on our bike trails? I have often thought out trails are ‘extravagant’ (ie, we could have functional trails for a lot less) and that some day we would pay the piper. We have expanded them during good economic times, now we want to maintain them and the money has ran out. Go figure. Deal. Cut back. Make sacrifices, like the rest of us have. Like I said before, this isn’t rocket science, just third grade math.
Keep our parks, Keep our cops (even Gaye Mustache) just do it on the cheap.
Fu Bp
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyg5mEV3_iM&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
What’s goin’ on with the Sioux Empire Arts Council and the Pavilion?
There has been a lot of ‘rumors’ floating around about why the director of SEAC quit and what might happen to the Horse Barn Arts Center (HBAC). Let’s not focus on them, let’s just look at the facts;
• The Director of SEAC quit, on her own without pressure from the board of SEAC.
• The board president of SEAC is David Merhib, he is also the director of the Visual Arts Center at the Pavilion (something some may consider a conflict of interest).
• Both the HBAC and VAC offer classes to adults and children, the HBAC is significantly cheaper or free.
• Funding MAY be running out soon for SEAC.
• The new director of SEAC, Nan Baker is married to Bob Baker of First National Bank, large contributors to the Pavilion. Nan also served on the SculptureWalk board.
Okay, so what this all mean? Is the Pavilion sneaking their own people into the organizational levels of SEAC in hopes to destroy it from within? Not sure. I guess we will see.
Ironically, Merhib, who draws a paycheck from the taxpayers of Sioux Falls doesn’t even live here – he lives in Brookings. I’m glad to see they found someone from SIOUX FALLS  to be board president of the SIOUX EMPIRE ARTS COUNCIL! This whole thing smells fishier then Falls Park on a hot August day.