2011

The rich and influential in Sux Falls just can’t stand it when the little guy tries to mess with their archaic plans

l3wis October 2, 2011 6Comments

Joe P. Kirby is up in arms, and for good reason, the city council wants to tinker with the Home Rule charter that he cooked up in the 90’s, a form of government that has benefitted Joe and his wealthy buddy contractors over the years because of it’s lack of checks and balances and oversight;

On Monday, the City Council will vote whether to expand its duties to include review of city contracts. I fear that this level of involvement by the council is a step in the wrong direction. Our current form of government is fundamentally sound and will continue to work well, if we don’t change it into something it was not intended to be.

In 1993, I was part of a group that wanted a more efficient form of city government in Sioux Falls to replace the City Commission form, which had become largely dysfunctional.

And it is functioning so well right now?! The SD Supreme Court has ruled against the city on several occasions, and there is more to come on the unconstitutionality of some of the home rule charter practices. Is this the definition of a functioning government, one that is being challenged in court on a regular basis? The main reason the Home Rule charter was cooked up by uber-wealthy Joe Kirby is so that he and his rich buddies would have more centralized control of city government. Sounds ludicrous? Think about it? It’s easier to lobby just one person instead of nine when you need to slip in a project under the radar. Why else would he blatantly lie about the approval process;

No one thought that the City Council would be involved in such mundane operational details as the approval of contracts. Such time-consuming involvement would expand the time required to be a city councilor and make the position not viable for many citizens.

Joe fails to mention a few SMALL details. 1) the contracts would be listed in the consent agenda and approved all at once just like the malt beverage licenses and unless there was a controversial contract that had to be pulled out – this time-consuming task would take about 5 minutes at each meeting. 2) Joe also fails to mention that St. Paul and Omaha have a similiar form of city government, and in those cities the city council approves most of the contracts.

Just admit it Joe, the normal citizen will be more informed about which of your buddies are getting contracts, for what and how much, during a public forum, and more then just one person in our city government will be deciding who gets those contracts. Not sure if this will pass or not after all the shananigans that took place with the termination of Debra Owen. BUT . . .

This is a good thing for Joe-Six Pack but not for Joe-Greenbacks.

Kylie Huether; The Daily Show is not a credible news source (H/T – TCC)

l3wis October 1, 2011 7Comments

Yeah, because like, MSNBC, CNN and FOX news are;

“Teens are Wired”
By Kylie Huether
Teenagers have a reputation of being lazy and careless when it comes to staying up to date in the world of politics. Of course there will always be the exceptions like myself who choose to pride themselves on being well informed US citizen and choose to be active members in the local politics. This select few will become the leaders of tomorrow, but ignorant followers who are emerging due to new technological advancements will destroy democracy as we know it. The current generation of teenagers spend ungodly amounts of time in front television sets and computer screens. Plus, nobody can forget the iPod, BlackBerry, MP3 and camera cell phone crazes which have captivated the lives of many America’s. Teens can only be described as wired, a scary fact. Every teenager is wired to an electronic device which could hold endless opportunities for advancements. Unfortunately, their uses are not in the areas of educating the public on foreign policies, current events or basically anything worth while. Entertainment is the main focus and in some instances the public may become dumber by wasting their time on these machines.
Instead of receiving information from highly acclaimed news sources, teenagers are choosing to watch MTV and the Daily Show. This is a problem. Teens do not comprehend the dramatic impact politics plays in their lives. The attitude towards politics in the eyes of many teens is “who cares.” They wonder why they should waste time watching politicians attack opponents with negative campaigning. When time could be better utilized watching reality television programs where everything is make-believe and does not affect people’s personal life. The easy alternative is not always the most worth while.
When a teenager is looking for information to write a research paper the first word that pops into their mind is Google. They see Google as a quick, easy, accessible choice. When there are thousands of reliable sources to click on teens go and believe everything Google has to offer. Do not get me wrong Google has saved my grades on numerous sleepless nights, but this technology teaches students to forget about old school source like the public library, old newspapers, and radio broadcasts. Students need to strive to receive creditable information.
New technology has created the unnecessary need for speed. Multi-billion dollar companies are competing to create the next obsession. My fear is that America is moving to fast and loosing quality in the race.

Funny she would bring up public libraries. She should ask her father what he thinks of funding them.