Besides talking about how having the flu is awful (Yah think?!) And not being able to solve the problems of bad drivers in Sioux Falls, even if he is one of the (greatest) mayors of Sioux Falls ever.
He brings up that Sioux Falls is one of the best places in America to retire. He seems to be dumbfounded by that. Well, let me explain it to you Mr. Banker(?) Business acumen. We have no state income taxes. I wonder what percentage of those retired folks who have a SD mailbox actually live here all year long?
I waited on a retired couple this last year that was celebrating their new ‘residency’ in SD. They were from Oregon. They admitted to me that all of the paperwork was finished, and they couldn’t wait to get in their RV and leave. They also told me they would only vote in National elections since they didn’t have a clue about local or state politics.
The Mayor also touched on building permits and said, “We are having another good year and the Southside Walmart isn’t even in those numbers.”
Lots of Laughs. I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one Mike.
Lastly, Mike discusses the consultant LMI who is doing a review of our city government and procedures. He said when he brought this up to a retirement home at a Shut Up and Listening session, he got the greatest applause ever. He brings up again that he wants to run the city more like a business. You know, virtually NO transparency, top heavy salaries to do nothing upper management, a massive legal and consulting budget, etc. etc. It would be interesting to get my hands on the first report from them. I have a feeling it’s not all going to be glowing, kind of like that mysterious Events Center siding report that is probably in the same place as the Spellerberg Park VA quit claim deed.
Mike discusses the consultant LMI who is doing a review of our city government and procedures
I want LMI to look at why Sioux Falls citizens are required to clear their sidewalks within 48 hours after a snow storm when the City itself does NOT follow this regulation!?
Today, I saw ONE MORE example of this.
The 5.3 inches of snow we received in the most recent storm ended last Saturday. The City called a snow alert that day.
Today, 4 1/2 days later (or 100+ hours later) the City was clearing the sidewalk on the east side of Upper Sherman Park between 22nd Street and 18th Street. There is NO way that four block stretch of sidewalks was walkable between now and last Saturday!
Retiree’s with SD residency are called escapee’s. escapee’s from what? Paying taxes in their real home state. It’s a scam. But thousands call SF home for just that purpose. Here is a story from 2004. I suspect the actual numbers are much higher now since Alternative Resources is moving to a larger building and a new one just cropped up at the old Kawasaki dealership next to Diamond Jim’s gold mine.
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/10/27_steilm_sodakrvvoters/?refid=0
A consultant to review government and its procedures? The City Council has a professional internal auditor (with some staff, I think). I am familiar with this person and he is highly qualified. What’s up? Too many bad audit reports? I guess I might read a few more of those. Otherwise, each department should be able to review and revise its own procedures, you know like a business manager would do.
RV’ers say they only vote in national elections, and that is SO not true. I did studies of absentee voters in the big RV precincts, where RV’ers represent a very high % of all absentees. They can be ID’ed by their PMB mailing addresses. They vote in large numbers in our legislative races and state ballot issues (like abortion).
The biggest way they subvert our elections is legislative races. In 2010, I compared the precinct voter results in precinct 3-9 (where RV’ers registered using the Tower Campground address as their “residence”) with the absentee voters. Precinct voters voted for Dem candidates, while absentees voted for Rep candidates. When you’ve got 1000 or more RV’ers in a legislative district, and the Dist 9 House race was won by 8 votes this year, there’s a potential for abuse.
Thanks Sue for your research. I’ve long suspected the people don’t decide state or regional ballots. I also suspect RV voters are voting without their knowledge on ballot questions such as Spellerberg and the EC.
The RVer’s pose ballot problems but there is a benefit. We get more federal money because (roughly) 15% of our population does not live here.
OEM (Our Emperor Mike) always gets artificial canned electronic applause but when he’s laughed at it’s real.
I’m sure the mayors building permit figures DID include the roof, siding, window permits from the spring hail storms.
Hmmm, Justin has a point. Repairs should be separate from new building permit numbers.