The mayor is handing out some more ‘feel good’ awards;
The City of Sioux Falls is seeking nominations for the 2015 Mayor’s Neighborhood Champion Awards. The Mayor’s Neighborhood Champion Awards recognize individuals, associations, landlords and businesses that diligently strive to enhance the livability and sense of community in their neighborhoods.
This all came about when All Saints Neighborhood Association’s president, Katrina Lehr-McKinney suggested that certain individuals and landlords need recognition for the good things they do. While I agree, these people deserve recognition, more so they need programs. And while community development does a great job with low interest loans, I have suggested that individual homeowners and apartment owners who are fixing up older properties (improving neighborhoods) they should get property tax breaks and rebates for their work (which I call mini-tifs). Why is it that the big boys who are building condos downtown the only ones that deserve these rebates?