[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPeyNPq1jHY[/youtube]
Charlie’s full testimony (the mayor cut him off at 6 minutes): Spellerberg Pool Points
The Sioux Falls City Council under the careful guidance of Fiddle Faddle sure is making some bonehead moves lately. Silencing critics with jail time is one thing but issuing orders to Council Members to NOT talk to the public is another.
Fiddle Faddle is taking his workload a bit too serious. Why, he is even confusing the responsibilities of a City Council with that of a runaway jury. You remember the John Grisham movie “Runaway Jury” where the juror and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer?
Our City Council is supposed to be a legislative body, able to gather facts, figures and stories from their lives, friends, neighbors, newspapers and officials to make decisions. We citizens do not hire them to do only what they are told by an out of control city administration. Their job is to investigate and ask questions. They are not judicial in any sense of the meaning in their jobs as our representatives.
Fiddle Faddle is getting very tired and needs a break based on his stupid rulings of late.
The four guys who got up and talked at public input Monday night did so to remind the council of their responsibilities to us. The city government’s marketing chief and puppet master needs to actually take notice of the things said Monday night.
Think about this: the 4 different citizens all included assertions that “the City (Hall) doesn’t follow their own ordinances or statutory procedures”. At what point does our city government have to begin to follow the laws governing the rest of the United States and South Dakota. Even sovereign tribal nations have to follow most laws. Why not Sioux Falls?
One of the take away revelations from Monday night, There appear to be several state and federal lawsuits being dropped on Fiddle Faddle concerning not only ambulances but railroads, illegal property seizures and more. How many Fiddle Faddle marketing opinions are being challenged in the courts we have not heard about?
Intelligence at these meetings comes from the audience not the deaf & dumb council. The Coca Cola Christian mayor manages like how the Indians used to hunt buffalo. The lead buffalo runs the herd up to and over the cliff without a single shot fired. All public comment was pertinent and important. More important than the usual councilors digging deep into picking their noses.
There’s a climax coming to this soap opera when the court cases come to resolution. The federal court case will be most interesting. The city attorney might have to eventually appear in court instead of sending in the clowns.
I know the mayor’s answer to everything. Hire a dozen or so private consultants so they can present ($60k each) what the city tells them to.
Good points in the 3 page link. I’m going to keep beating this into the ground. A good part of that 3.9 million add on is being spent on the 50 meter pool area. Added on seating for 500. Added on a mezzanine to surround the 50 meter pool. Added an elevator to get to that mezzanine. The city of Omaha runs three indoor pools. All have competitive swim meet lanes. One has open swim only on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00. Another has the same as above, with Wednesday nite from 7:30 to 9:00 open swim. The third has same as above, with one more week nite open to open swim. The other times are relegated to pay packaged amenities like swimming lessons. Hint. Bring your wallet…and your first premier bank card credit card….you’ll need it.
So what will we have? Very limited open swim times which we won’t hear about til after mmm cuts the ribbon. Family passes in Omaha go for $175 an INDOOR season. Not exactly spare change when you consider the median household income for those families living within a three mile radius of Spellerberg is only $40,590 a year.
Make no mistake about it. This thing is being designed for the 1%ers who’s kids are in swim clubs. The new master plan with a 50 meter pool and 3500 square foot wade in pool is 24 million.The cost without the 50 meter pool and 1700 more square feet for the wade in pool was over 9 million dollars less.
So again, why not build the pool to accomadate ALL of the kids of SF, at reasonable rates with reasonable hours of open swim, and let t Denny build one for the monied class who need the 50 meter swim meet pool?
The mezzanine with the elevator to it along with the increased seating in the 50 meter pool area were NOT any part of what was sold to the voters.
The ONLY reason you would need all of these additional items would be to accomodate competitive swim teams.
Before the public vote, all of these special interest groups said there would be private money forthcoming if this was passed. Let them pay for these additional items which will only be of benefit to them!!
This added 3.9 million reeks of “dirty pool” pun INTENDED! …..Just as the whole project has from the beginning.
Kudos to Christine Erickson for rocking the boat a bit to try and get some answers because the figures didn’t match her calculations.
Kermit continues to ask the right questions and does a good job in attempting to keep the council accountable and be a good steward of OUR money. The mayor is deplorable to him, yes, mayor we hear your snickers over the mic. as well as your rude remark to him last night!
I am glad there will be a public informational meeting regarding the increase as there are a LOT of unanswered questions!
“The mayor is deplorable to him, yes, mayor we hear your snickers over the mic. as well as your rude remark to him last night!”
Yeah, I found his comment to Kermit ironic, since the mayor says the same shit over and over and over again at his press conferences. That’s why you never see councilors at his PC’s, they are tired of listening to his crap, accept of course for Dean, he’s stuck to MMM’s pant leg like Velcro.
Back when I was a kid growing up in Sioux Falls in the 60’s, swimming in a public pool cost nothing. Back in the 80’s when my kids used the public pools, there was a family pass price, but it was so little, I can not recall what it was.
Today? Everything is geared towards revenue. Take the Snowfox swim club for instance. May be wrong, but are they not a Sioux Falls Parks and Rec club? That “club” costs $1556 a year per person to belong to. Competitive swimming is what it’s all about. There is added cost to register to swim in a meet and costs then skyrocket when going to a competition out of town. The city of Sioux Falls wants in on this swim meet hosting bonanza. They are only able to host a couple events a year at Frank Olsen during the summer. Now, with the new Snowfox facility, disguised as an aquatics center for everybody, hosting meets year round will finally come true. That’s fine, IF you are into competitive swimming and the costs it incur. BUT, for the majority of people this place was billed as catering too, it will simply be inaccessible.
A final note. Frank Olsen, the pool now being used by Snowfox, and where my kids spent many, many summertime hours, will now close down since Snowfox has a new home. Frank Olsen was a pool that normally admitted in the neighborhood of 37,000 a year to enjoy. Most from median Sioux Falls family incomes. The median income as I have stated before, for families within a three mile radius of the new Snowfox complex, is $40,590 a year. How many of these people will be able to enjoy their new “family” pool?