I have had some time to digest the CNN piece done about our city (Where America Works). The mayor can’t help to take credit for the success. He does it on Channel 16 during a press conference, then again on the Ask the Mayor episode.
While Sioux Falls has had much success in many areas, it isn’t ALL because of city government. The Healthcare & Credit Card industry kind of run themselves, and rely more on state regulations and laws then city ordinance, unless they are tearing up neighborhoods for expansion.
As for development, the big developers are doing well, mostly because they get massive tax breaks through TIFs approved by a city council that receives thousands of dollars in campaign donations from those big developers and a Mayor who is let in on local development investments. It also doesn’t hurt they have the Planning and Building departments wrapped around their fingers. It also doesn’t hurt that since the laws have changed on home buying, many in Sioux Falls can’t afford to buy a home, so apartments are becoming even more popular, and developers are cashing in, and can’t build them fast enough.
As for city government ‘getting things done’ I have joked with many that dictators are pretty good at ‘getting things done’ in a short period of time ‘snark’. But the Home Rule Charter pretty much gives the mayor the power to sidestep the council and he has. He has bragged about his ‘collaboration’ with the council. That one made me literally LMAO. He has hidden information from the council as much as possible. In fact last year, he gave his budget to the council 7 minutes before his budget address to the public. Many times his agenda item PDFs are not listed on SIRE (online agenda software) until right before the presentation (EC updates for example).
It also doesn’t hurt that the city is flush with tax money and consistently raises fees and property taxes every year whether they need to or not. And who can forget about all the borrowing the city has done. We are $400 million in debt. Most of the debt the mayor has incurred was for entertainment facilities, including an indoor tennis facility that he has the audacity to put his name on.
The mayor also appoints the Ethics Commission and their advising attorney, the city attorney. This commission’s job is to look into whether the mayor is being ethical or not. That concept is laughable in itself. It would be like your boss asking you if you thought he was a nice guy. Guess what your answer would be? It also doesn’t hurt that you use the same advising attorney to defend you in an ethics hearing. It would be like playing Poker against yourself. Every hand is a winner. Remember, South Dakota is in the top ten as one of the most ‘corrupt states’ when it comes to government, and Sioux Falls’ ethics commission is certainly contributing to that corruption.
As for ‘good jobs’ and ‘low unemployment’, those statements in themselves don’t mean squat when you consider that over half of workers in Sioux Falls don’t make a living wage and many have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. South Dakota is #1 in working mothers in the Nation. Almost half of school children in the district get free or reduced lunches and our food banks can’t keep up and have been expanding over the past 3 years. Wondering how CNN missed that in their research?
Has Sioux Falls been successful on many levels? Yes. The rich have recovered very well from the economic downturn, mostly because the Sioux Falls residents they employ are hard workers with high productivity. But I wouldn’t exactly credit the mayor and his rubberstamp council for those successes. But like I said earlier, when you are King there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish.
The truth, the real truth. Lengthy but everyone should read this. It’s not good for a social news network because it’s so sad. I know people moving into the area and encourage them to live in the suburbs where midwest values and constitutional liberty thrives. I now live here minimally in a townhome so that the city can’t intimidate me. At some point elections will not be manipulated and my vote should count.
I posted a comment someplace else about the low wage jobs, etc. that didn’t’ get mentioned in that interview. Also there was no mention of the fact that the city fathers don’t want to do anything to help the elderly, handicapped, and low income. It is all about entertainment for the rich.
Too bad for Huether nobody watches CNN. And who the F is Fareed Zakaria?
Joan & LJL, right on. I think CNN wants to report that there’s a heaven on earth. People from elsewhere will come here seeking the American dream. Once they’re here, they’ll realize where they’re from was in a recession but they were free and there was a good quality of life despite their low income. I think they believe we swim, play tennis, & go to concerts full time.
Several years ago I worked in a staffing service and we had a lot of people come in looking for work and they had relocated from the cities and other larger places because they had heard the cost of living was so much lower. What they hadn’t heard about was the low wages. The majority of the people were planning to relocate back where they had come from because they had found housing here was higher than comparable housing where they had come from, bus transportation wasn’t available during the hours that they could find a job, and then there was the wages, which was a complete shock to them.
Dan,
IT REALLY MUST BE TOUGH LIVING IN YOUR WORLD! The rest of us seem to be getting along OK, this city has provided us with a lot of opportunities. You just have to look for them and be ready when they come. It might serve you well, just once, to be positive!
Dan – your vote does count – just not for any more than anyone else’s. Get over it.