September 2015

UPDATE: Rest in Peace I.L. Wiedermann

l3wis September 14, 2015 4Comments

IL’s service will be at Miller Funeral Home, downtown, 5:30pm on Sunday, September 20, 2015.

When a fellow South DaCola foot soldier goes, it is never easy. I.L. passed away peacefully this past Saturday in hospice at the VA Medical Center in Sioux Falls. He had stage four pancreatic cancer that quickly spread.

I.L. was well known to be gaveled by the past two mayors at Carnegie Town Hall. His last gaveling was when he asked the mayor, “When are you going to follow Roberts Rule of Order?” I remember chuckling at the notion of our Mayor following rules.

I.L. was most famous for his SD Supreme Court case in which he got the Red Light cameras shut off in Sioux Falls because they were unconstitutional. I believe state law now prohibits there use.

I.L. taught me one thing about addressing the city council, stand up for what you believe in and don’t be scared. He attended most city council meetings with enough cash to bail himself out if he were to be arrested while testifying at public input. It almost happened a few times. Folklore is that when the silly guard rail was put in last year at the council chambers it was because of I.L. When we told him this, he just got a big grin on his face. I never feared the man. He spoke for what he believed in, and I admired him for it. Sometimes words scare people, especially when those words are true. I wouldn’t doubt I.L. got into with St. Peter before they let him in.

A tentative service will be this Sunday at Miller Funeral Home. I will keep you posted. I.L. was of Catholic and Jewish decent.

Sorry, Huffington, We ARE NOT the next San Francisco, yet

l3wis September 14, 2015 1Comments

I kind of wonder if this was some kind of ‘snark’ from the popular liberal online news source?

All those things that everyone loves about the famous, jaded, sea-beaten SF (and more!) can also be found in a fresh, friendly, affordable Midwestern SF: Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

One’s hilly. One’s flat. Both are beautiful. And you’ll never believe how much they have in common.

LOL! As a person who has visited San Fran three times, I can tell you that Sioux Falls will never be anything like San Fran. Not that there isn’t some nice notables in the article about the finer (progressive) things going on in Sioux Falls, and the fact that I have been noticing Sioux Falls is becoming more fun, I think we are going to need more then 10 different attractions in Sioux Falls to make us more like San Fran – which I am all for. The first thing to changing the perception of Sioux Falls would be to have a more transparent and open government, locally and statewide. Progress comes from transparency and the open flow of exchanging ideas. While this may be happening in board rooms in Sioux Falls, it is not happening at City Hall or Carnegie or at the halls of the Capital in Pierre. While some may believe progress has been attained in Sioux Falls due to a business-like acumen dictatorship, I would have to disagree that we are anything like the city that produced great progressive politicians like Harvey Milk. While on the surface, Sioux Falls is a pretty looking cake with a nice frosting job, we are really going to have to implement progress and openness on all levels of government in Sioux Falls before we attain the ‘SF’ of the Midwest status. It seems in Sioux Falls, beauty really is only skin deep.