And her mumble-jumble, mambo-jambo style of speaking did not disappoint during the Charter Revision Commission meeting (she sits on the board). She gets all flustered trying to set a meeting calendar.
They also invite Joe Kirby, via telephone, to talk at the meeting about changes ‘HE‘ thinks should be made to the charter, cause gosh darn it, the councilors work too much (even though they get paid as much a year as probably someone who works full-time at a Fast-Food restaurant for a part-time gig). They are not overworked, if they didn’t want to serve, they should not have ran for council. Ellis gives us a preview of Joe’s crazy ideas.
Joe Kirby, who was an author of the first charter draft more than 17 years ago, offered a proposal recently that would eliminate runoff elections in favor of an instant runoff. Under that system, voters rank candidates as their favorite, followed by their second and third favorite.
Want to eliminate runoffs? Whoever gets the most votes in the general election wins. Done deal. What if I only have one choice?
Kirby said he thinks instant runoff voting discourages fringe candidates from being elected.
WTF is a fringe candidate? As far as I am concerned everyone who runs for office is FRINGE. You have to be a little bit crazy to want to do it.
And he thinks them poor councilors are working too hard and have too much power;
Sioux Falls voters in 1994 decided to change the form of government from a commission to a strong mayor, city council form. The founders of that change envisioned a part-time council, people who would work 10 to 15 hours a week, so that people of all walks of life would have time to serve on the body.
The council was envisioned as a board that would establish policy. It would then be the mayor’s job, as the city’s CEO, to implement that policy, Kirby said. But over the years, the council has asserted more power than originally envisioned, and now councilors find themselves with what’s almost a full-time job.
I did have to laugh at Quen Be’s response;
But De Knudson, who is on the charter revision commission and who also served on the council for eight years, challenged Kirby on that point. “I didn’t feel like it was ever close to a full-time job. I felt like it was just about right.â€
That’s because she was watching TV during the meetings. Of course it wasn’t work. De also dropped this intelligent statement during the meeting;
“I just welcome input from the public,†Knudson said. “I’ve been trying to find some already.â€
Here is some advice De. Stop rambling for about 5 minutes and listen to people.
In other city news, there was a task force meeting today about chickens and vegetable gardens and code enforcement. I guess councilors Dean Karsky and Tex Golfing think we should limit people’s gardens. Horse Shit. In this economy, people should be able to use their entire yard for growing space.
I was at the charter revision meeting.
Joe Kirby seems very “out of touch” to me…………
That might be explained by his comment…”We will be moving back to South Dakota soon.”
Just how long has this guy lived out-of-state (CA)??
Now he thinks he’s going to tell SF citizens how their local government should be run!!!
Anything wrong with this picture…….!!!???
I saw the Quen asked you to comment at the end of the meeting. You should have went up there and said something about it. the only reason Joe wants to control city government in SF is because he still has a lot invested $$$ in the city, and he would hate to see the working class have any more power. I will commend De for her above comment. It really isn’t that hard of a job being City Councilor, and on top of it, you draw a paycheck.
The fringe candidate line really pissed me off.
And this whole thing about additional rounds of counting 2nd and then 3rd place votes is beyond ridiculous. We already know that a good percentage of people have problems just placing simple votes. Can you imagine doing a sports-ish MVP type of system where you rank the candidates? Or finding people that can accurately count them? Wow!
The EC vote should tell us how ignorant and ill-informed the public is, no wait, Pierre being controlled by Republicans, no wait, not voting out VL, no wait, ending the food tax, no wait, Electing Thune and eliminating the majority leader representing our state, not wait, electing Noem because she is pretty . . . I’m exhausted.
But seriously?! What does ‘fringe’ mean? IMO, Huether is ‘fringe’.
I’m tired of these repugs screwing things up. We need more leaders like Ron Volesky! (Shhh…lets ignore that story)
Read Karsky’s comments in this story about farm animals, he seems concerned that people will be roasting goats in their yards. Hey, Dean, we have a thing called ‘ovens’ now.
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20111203/NEWS/312030023/Fowl-city-has-council-pondering-new-rules?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s
Urban Agriculture is a “property rights” issue…..
Those citizens who live in the Northwest District currently represented by Councilor Karsky need to pay attention AND go to the polls in April…………
I’m guessing by the tone of the “urban agriculture” meeting yesterday that both Councilors Rolfing and Karsky know very little about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights……
No one has asked just how many “urban agriculture” complaints there have been (this is public information). I bet it took very few complaints to trigger this whole discussion. What this is really about is Kevin Smith and his “code enforcement TEAM”!!!! Mike has asked all city employees to troll the city looking for violations. If it’s legitimate violations, then OK, do your job….but talking about citizen’s gardens and how big they can be. And, even going so far as to say that the community gardens are in violation….Did one of you City employees forget that these are sponsored by Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation!!!???
Watch the city calendar for the time and location (library) for the next meeting. siouxfalls.org
CR – I’ve talked with Rolfing and Karsky on a number of occasions. It is clear to me that they can’t spell c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n, even if you spot them the consonants. So understanding it’s significance is beyond their comprehension. Perfect example, when Rolfing told 13wis to remove his hat at the council meeting. I’d have left the hat on to make a point.
Karsky’s flip comment “If you have a goat, can you roast it in your yard?” shows his true colors – the worst kind of bigot, one who hasn’t a clue. Why do you think Kenny A voted against him TWICE in the Council vote last April?
I wonder what Rex thinks his son was fighting for in Iraq of not for freedom and the Constitution.
What this is really about is Kevin Smith and his “code enforcement TEAMâ€!!!! Mike has asked all city employees to troll the city looking for violations.
~CR
You got that right CR. The rank and file city employee will have nothing to do with anything this mayor spits out, but the middle management brown nosers? They’ll be in your yard with a ruler measuring the length of your grass.
In 2009 the city garnered $364,856 in red light camera money. That slush fund has been rightfully put to rest. Where does the city plan on recouping that lost income? Well….in 2005, the city inspected 6,400 properties for tree ordinance violations. In 2008, that number rose significantly to 11,187. Look for that number to increase even more in 2012. In 2005, 978 properties were inspected for the 8″ high weed ordinance. In 2010 that number increased to 1531. Look for those numbers to increase also to harassment levels. Other places the city will recoup that money? Charges in the park system for using shelters. Reducing the number of reduced price swim passes. The list will go on and on.
My family had a store that opened around this time last year. Obviously, the landscaping had to be delayed due to the frozen ground. In early April, with the ground still not ready to complete the task, Huether’s goons threatened to shut down the store if the landscaping wasn’t finished the next day…an impossible task as none of the local sod companies had any stock. The code boys finally relented on that, but two weeks later played a similar game because a neighbor had supposedly filed a complaint on the brightness on the outside lights…despite the fact that they were the exact lamp brightness they had signed off for on the plans. Payback for comments I made here, on my own site, or on KRRO? lol
Scott, the city supposedly has delayed finishing landscaping on the river greenway project between 6th and 8th street because of the time of year. I think they ran out of money, but that”s another story. If, in early April, the landscaping is not done yet, which I can assure you it will not be, will huethers goons write themselves up?
Good point, Poly! lolz
To limit urban agriculture is to completely ignore all of the prevailing urban and economic trends.
Tom – It is SF, we love to shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again. Phillips to the Falls: Nothing developed yet. Pavilion: Cost twice as much as planned. Convention Center: Built in bad location and not large enough. Events Center: Can’t wait.
“I wonder what Rex thinks his son was fighting for in Iraq of not for freedom and the Constitution.”
Oil. Duh!
Simply unbelievable that this city allows the opinion of eccentric, ex-patriot blue-bloods like Joe Kirby to influence the way in which we govern ourselves.
His observations as ‘noted City Charter scholar (by vicarious proxy)’ seem to be the impetus driving much of the regular, minor tweeking of the document. (Waiting for Angry Guy to point out that the City Charter needs to be completely dismantled, rather than tweeked).
The frosting on the cake is a when the guy weighs-in on the role of the city councilor (from freekin’ CA !!) with comments such as “we never intended it to be this way”!
On the topic of urban agriculture –
Not certain how manner of food preparation (“… can you roast a goat in your yard?”) relates to method of agricultural production, Mr. Karsky.
‘… Karsky agreed, citing new immigrants as an example: “If you have a goat, can you roast it in your yard?†…’
____________
Constituents of northwest Sioux Falls agreed, citing wealthy insuarance salesmen as an example: “If you have a whole hog, can you roast it in your yard (at a Hawaiian luau party with all your neighbors and business associates) ?
____________
The difference, of course: the immigrants would have raised the goat and slaughtered it themselves (according to their cultural traditions). Wealthy insurance salesmen would simply hire a caterer to roast a whole animal in their backyard.
Constituents of Councilor Karsky would do well to consider his attitude of cultural discrimination and xenophobia when he stands forward for election to his current appointed position on the City Council.
I was told today that is what his statement was about, immigrants. It is not a big deal for immigrants to butcher, trim out and cook their own animals in SF. This practice is also not rare on any farm in SD. In fact, I have witnessed an immigrant buy a freshly killed barrow pig and prepare it for oven roasting in front of me for a holiday meal in SF, head, feet, tail and all. Karsky acts like people don’t know how to do this on their own. Poppycock. He needs to get back to selling insurance and not worrying about what critters people like to eat and cook themselves. I bet he never gets a pizza from Papa Murphy’s because he can’t figure out how to turn on an oven.
Joe Kirby cracks me up. While he spends the winter in sunny California, he would love to give you his opinion about snowgates and sledding in public parks.
Joe. Why don’t you just take your money, and go far, far, away.
Who were the other “original members” of the Charter Commission?
I know of two, Bill Peterson and Kermit Staggers.
The irony of that is Peterson has been advising the current council on their rights and power as a council (this of course is the rumor I have heard). Maybe he should write a letter to the editor?