In the latest episode of Greg Belfrage’s Mayoral blab fest, once again, Mike is in complete denial of the rising violent crime rate in our city and blows it off as a result of fast growth, meth and alcohol use and mental illness. Huh? We will get to that in a moment.
But before all the talk about locking up your car and crime, the mayor told Smello radio listeners that we have ALWAYS paid for infrastructure upgrades to sewer and water from the enterprise funds.
Now I think he is just lying for the fun of it.
He also thanked councilors Anderson and Karsky for getting the EC built and Snowgates tested, then mumbled something about struggling with Jamison and Staggers.
But back to crime. While it should be NO surprise the chief denier is in denial over our soaring crime rates, his comment about blaming the mentally ill for this rise in crime is neither productive OR truthful.
He gets on the other Smello media source and says;
many Sioux Falls crimes stem from drug and alcohol abuse, as well as mental illness.
The city is going to combat each of these issues? I know it’s illegal to be drunk or high walking down the street, but now it’s going to attract attention from city officials if you have a mental health issue and dare to go out in public?
I guess the county jail had better stock up on cots and plan on at least two people per cell when there’s a concert at the event center, the city is going to start rounding up not only the homeless, but alcoholics, drug addicts, and people with mental health issues too.
So while the state has formed a task force to ensure people with mental illness get better treatment than they do now, and hopefully spend less time in South Dakota’s criminal justice system, once again the Sioux Falls Mayor knows better and instead has preemptively decided that people with mental health issues are criminals and a matter of public concern. Hello ACLU?
No wonder the city can’t keep a human rights coordinator.