FREE Hot Jazz Wednesday Night, Icon Lounge
l3wis 
April 2016
Sioux Falls city council tidbits
Holy 2nd readings BAT MAN!
Items 49-72 are all second readings mostly doing with rate increases. Looks like city hall is trying to pack two pounds of crap into a one pound bag before the new council rolls in. To be honest with you, I have never seen this many 2nd readings in one meeting.
Then fast forward to item #78, appointments to boards. In some strange bizarro world, 3 names popped up that I wouldn’t expect.
So a congrats to local freelance journalist and preservationist Lura Roti for her appointment. Lura and her husband Shon own a darling little home in central Sioux Falls that is about historic as it gets (from the roof to the foundation). Lura will make a good fit on the preservation board.
Katherine is the daughter of Dell Rapids Mayor and State Legislator, Scott Fiegen. I believe Katherine works in the architectural drafting industry. She is also my neighbor.
And, it looks like John Paulson got the consolation prize of planning commission after losing to Theresa Stehly recently in the city council election. That didn’t take long . . . wink . . . wink.
The Always Affable and Tax Happy Mayor Huether
The little talked about Board of Tax Appeals got interesting last time around, especially when Mike Huether showed up;
I stated my objection to the increase and the mayor put his hand up for me to be quiet. He visited with Kenny Anderson, then asked me what I paid for my condo. I told them, and he visited with Anderson again. He asked me if my condo was the same as the one across the hall. I said, “Yes.†He informed me she paid $202,000. I objected, as her purchase included furniture. I also informed them they couldn’t know the actual cost of the unit because of that. (I later asked her, and she paid $10,000 less).
I started another statement of facts and the mayor raised his hand to quiet me again. He spoke to Anderson, and asked for a vote of the commissioners. All said, “Aye.†I said, “Excuse me, but I would like to know what you decided?†The mayor stated they decreased my assessment $4,000, which will determine my 2017 taxes. I informed the mayor I had owned property in South Dakota for 50 years, and never has the assessed value, the prepaid taxes and realtor fee exceeded the selling price of the property. As usual, the Mayor rudely raised his hand to quiet me.
I would not expect to be treated like that by an elected official. He is obviously more interested in acting important than caring about a voter or her problem.
He cares. About taxing the living crap out of you. Gotta pay for those play things.
Who will replace Darrin Smith? Or will there be a replacement?
While studying the city management salary increases over the past five years, we came across some interesting title changes. People were hop-scotching back and forth between the public works department and engineering. Not sure if this had to do with pay adjustments or what. It kind of looked like an accounting game.
Either way, there seems to be a discussion going on similar in the community development office. Will Darrin Smith have to be replaced or will restructuring of the department eliminate a Czar of community development?
With the new council rolling in, and the change of rules when appointing department heads (council must also approve the mayoral appointment of the director, no matter the size of the department). Could be interesting to see what kind of extra duties some of the other directors may have to take on to avoid a mayoral appointment.
Of course this wouldn’t be the first time the mayor would be playing hard and fast with the rules.
Stormland TV really needs to get over the late school start date
It was decided in a democratically held election that a majority of voter taxpayers prefer a later start date. Time to move on and do stories about how (AP) students can adjust (the only ones affected by the change).
Here comes the tired old excuses;
Due to a later start to the school year, Sioux Falls students lost three weeks of preparation for their Advanced Placement exams.
I’m still curious how they lost 3 weeks? Sure in actual class time, but with all the time students get off between the beginning of the school year and now, there is plenty of time to read and study on their own time to make it up. Three weeks is a drop in the hat. Last I checked no one forces these students to take AP courses. Why should a small percentage of HS students be determining the school start date for the large majority who don’t take the courses? Of course, the same people who are whining about this (the teachers) got a massive raise (working 9 months out of the year) from increasing the price of food on the same students who’s parents can’t afford it to begin with.
Want to be smart and go to the college of your choice? Study harder.