South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2010

James Milne SF City Council Sioux Falls

SF Central District Council Candidate James Milne’s campaign platform

l3wis 22Comments

20674_233755274293_233559819293_3067110_4142377_n

Sioux Falls is a great place to live and raise a family. Our current Councilman has done a great job representing the central district and I wish to continue his tradition of fighting to keep taxes down and representing you.

Keep taxes low

Penny increases in taxes seem like little things now, but when these little increases are added up it can be more than we bargained for. In our current economic times finances are tough for many people, and it would not serve their interests to unfairly burden them by asking for more money, no matter how small it may seem. Low taxes are what has helped Sioux Falls grow, so let’s keep them down where they belong.

• I will work to stop any tax increases. Higher taxes leads to larger government, which needs more taxes to support itself.

• Sioux Falls enjoys a low tax rate, let’s keep it that way.

Be fiscally responsible

The money the city has is not it’s own, it is from us the tax payers. As such it should be spent in the same manner we spend our own income, with thought and foresight. Taxes have been raised to pay for this or that and in the meantime the condition of our roads has deteriorated. Where will the money come from to pay for the repairs? Another increase in taxes is my bet, but I want to address the budget and make adjustments where we can so that taxes will not need to be raised.

• Before raising taxes we need to see where we can save money.

• It’s not the cities money, I will be as economical with taxpayer money as I can.

Events center

It would be a great addition to the city, but we simply cannot afford it. Sioux Falls has grown without a new event center and it will continue to do so because this is a great place to live and work.

Listening to you

Serving on the City Council is a privilege, and it would be my honor to serve. The City Council is there for you, and all the councilors should be available to meet with the public when needed or asked so we may better serve you.

• We need councilors that will not be doing things other than listening to the great people of Sioux Falls.

• Always available to listen to your concerns. I know how frustrating it is trying to communicate with an elected official, only to eventually get a form letter or simply be ignored. I guarantee that will not happen.

If you have any questions about a particular issue I would be very happy to talk with you about your it, so feel free to email me at James_Milne@live.com or call me at 605-553-7102. I promise to get back to you in a timely manner.

Sioux Falls snow removal

The Snowgate Debate

l3wis 24Comments

snowgate

Theresa Stehly attended the City Council meeting last night to talk about snowgates. Obviously snowgates only are effective in 0-12″ of snow (which is most of our snowfalls) and would not have worked very well in the past storm ON ARTERIAL STREETS, but they would have been handy on the emergency snow routes. As you can see from the video, it doesn’t slow down plows either. Of course anti-snowgate Vernon Brown couldn’t resist to get in a game of he said she said with Stehly. Whether they work or not is not the argument here, what I can’t figure out is Brown’s resistance to experimenting with them, at least on emergency snow routes. He doesn’t have a problem with spending millions to build rhino barns at the zoo (something that has ZERO benefit to the public – ZERO!) but pisses and moans about spending a couple of grand on an experiment? This kind of prioritizing by Vernon tells you what kind of mayor he will make.

Sioux Falls

A small but vocal segment or a large silent majority?

l3wis 9Comments

Beck, publisher at the Gargoyle Leader, once again, can’t resist the chance to take a whack at the little guy;

It also is why a small but vocal segment of our community never will accept the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science as anything other than a tragic waste of taxpayer money. “It would have been a lot more useful as a parking lot,” my old friend, Ralph Murphey, once told me. Murphey died several years ago, but his ideas remain very much alive.

I think a majority of people are not ‘against’ the Pavilion, they are against the money pit it has turned into. It was poorly planned and poorly managed – I think this is pretty obvious. But our city government refuses to do anything about it, this is why people are so scared of the Event Center proposal, they have been burned in the past. But let’s talk about ‘small vocal groups’. Yvonne Hawkins, one of your minions at the Gargoyle, who cooked up the SF Next project, told a friend of mine that only 150 people responded to your series of stories. This website has between 10,000-15,000 readers a day (computer users). I’ll put my numbers up against yours any day. Secondly, I am constantly approached by strangers who have seen me at council meetings that tell me they agree with me 100% when it comes to city government and that I need to keep after them. I hope this silent majority shows up to the voting booths on April 10 and voice their opinions in the form of a vote, so we can tell you to STFU once and for all.

And no surprise that the Ed board defended the arterial street tax increase;

Still, a program to use the combination of development fees and sales tax revenue remains a solid concept.

No concept is solid when it is based on LIES and DECEPTION. If we want developers to pay for 50% of new road costs, it needs to be in writing, signed and dated by the developers, otherwise what is the point? You don’t ask developers to chip in 50% you tell them to.

What’s disappointing, though, is the loopholes that some developers are using to avoid paying the new fees.

Disappointing? More like extortion. But I don’t blame them, if a private business can get a handout, they will take it. I blame city hall and their ineptness to follow through. I also blame the apathetic council that just lets Munson ‘handle things’. The proof is in the pudding when last year the council was against hiring 21 new employees this year and they wanted to review it. Munson said ‘I’ll handle it’ He sure did, he hired the 21 new employees without a peep to the council.

The silent majority has had enough, and I suspect a record voter turnout in April for the city election.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

Music USD Vermillion

F’ing USD

Bike Trail Public Utilities Public Works Sioux Falls Uncategorized

Sioux Falls is hostile towards bicyclists and peds

David Barranco Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls State Funding State Legislature Uncategorized

TenHaken’s comment about Culture Wars shows his ignorance on how laws are made and his greed

Art Music Sioux Falls

The Color of Sound