At the Shut up and Listen session today, a rather rambunctious older gentleman got quite upset with the mayor accusing him of not answering direct questions. At one point the man put his hand to his ear and said “ANSWER THE QUESTION!” Then he says, “You remind me of Karl Mundt, just spinning your wheels.” I laughed out loud. If there is one thing a SD Democrat does not want is to be compared to, it is Karl Mundt, one of the most corrupt and controversial senators SD has ever had.
I also intervened and suggested to the crowd they should vote NO on Shape Places so the council has a chance to fix it. I also told the mayor that comparing the EC and Indoor Pool expense to taxpayers to the bike trail isn’t an ‘Apples to Apples’ comparison, because one is FREE and one you have to pay an admission to and to remember that when voting. I also questioned him about the RR relocation and this supposed ‘Quiet Zone’ an audience member said he questioned Erpenbach about it, and her idea is to have the trains stop using their whistles DT and instead have gates that come down when trains pass over roads. While I understand her idea, I ask, “Who is going to pay for that?”
The mayor also went on a Drake Springs bashing tirade, and talked about how an indoor pool should have been built there (even though the aquatic consultant said that there is ground water issues at the site and would not be a good spot for an indoor pool). Most of the tirade was about how by voting for that site was bad because of the poor design of the existing pool. Well guess what Mike, talk to your Parks Department about that, because while I attended a public meeting about input for what the residents wanted, the city went and built what they wanted to without listening to the residents. They wanted a lap pool and never got it. Ask Stehly, she has said several times she had ZERO input on that facility and was never contacted by the city. Hopefully if Spellerberg wins, and they get another outdoor pool, the public will be able to suggest an appropriate pool for the area. I still like the natural filtration pool.
I will also have to give props to Commissioner Gerald Beniga, who runs Active Generations, where the event took place. He was watching from the front desk, and a question about the county safe house came up. The mayor asked if he would like to comment and Gerald said, “I’ll pass.”