South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2016

SFPD Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls Police, Sensitivity training and Entrapment

l3wis 1Comments

Sometimes you would think I had a crystal ball. I have been warning for a long time that our police department needed to go through sensitivity training and not just because of the LBGTQ community, but for diverse cultures, etc.

The department plans to send representatives to Pierre in December for a three-day training workshop that will include sessions on interacting with transgender people. Attendees will share their training with the rest of the department upon their return.

One of my native friends used to joke with me that the SFPD would often pull him over for DWI (driving while indian). This isn’t just a a transgender issue, this is a real issue in our community. With the dramatic increase in violent crime in Sioux Falls, it is time our police force bucks up and becomes more professional.

I knew this ‘sex sting entrapment’ crap would eventually blow up in the SFPD’s face

A few years ago a judge warned that posing as Mickey Mouse to entrap potential sex offenders wouldn’t fly. Now it seems the tax payers of Sioux Falls may be paying for their stupidity;

Murphy in his lawsuit claims that he tried to leave the meeting after learning the age of the woman he was supposed to be meeting with, but was held against his will. He was then arrested by undercover authorities.

The lawsuit alleges that Murphy’s rights were violated because he wasn’t allowed to leave once he refused the undercover officer’s offer. The lawsuit alleges Murphy’s Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated.

Is a person who is seeking a prostitute a creep? Well, yeah. But in his defense (I use that lightly) he did refuse the service once he found out it was an underage girl. All that aside, I have never understood why our PD wants to ‘create crime’ to make it look they are tough on sex trafficking. Our State’s Attorneys office is overloaded with REAL criminal cases, why create more work for them? Like I said, the guy is a creeper and probably deserved the 2 year sentence. But instead of creating situations for people to commit crime, why don’t we crack down on REAL criminal activity. I’m starting to get more and more why our PD didn’t get a raise.

Greg Neitzert SF City Council Sioux Falls

Councilor Neitzert doesn’t tell the ‘whole story’ to Stu Whitney

l3wis 16Comments

greg-neizert-city-council

You can read Whitney’s diatribe about Theresa, some of it is true, some of it is stretch. His constant HATE of all things Staggers and his close relationship with the mayor is no secret. I have always contended that he should have stayed at the sports desk, the section of the newspaper I automatically pull out and put in recycling. Not to say Stu can’t write, but like many reporters in this city, they have NO historical knowledge of city government, so they write trash, some still call it a ‘commission’. The only good reporter they ever had on the city beat was Ellis, and after the Mayor cried to Beck, they pulled him off the beat.

But I have to take issue with this statement by councilor Neitzert;

“I have not been bullied by the administration and no one ever said that we can’t talk to the press. Being asked to follow certain codes of conduct does not mean you are being suppressed.”

Really Greg? Really?

Greg has told me in emails and on the phone that he has in fact been bullied by the mayor for talking to the media, in fact, Greg has bragged to me he has gotten the best of the mayor in an email exchange after the mayor chastised him over a letter to the editor.

If Greg wants to give criticism towards Stehly, he is well within his rights, she has stumbled. But to say the mayor hasn’t bullied him is complete boloney.

Rex Rolfing SF City Council Sioux Falls Theresa Stehly

Authoritarians on the March, September 20, 2016

l3wis 11Comments

The sign of a despot losing control is when the gavel flies. The Sioux Falls City Council Informational meeting on September 20, 2016 showed a city leadership spiraling out of control. When City Council members are told what to do, who they can talk to and what they are to believe something is rotting down deep.

Before you start watching the video, click on it so you can view it full screen. This is our first use of a five camera blend to show you the action of the room. Notice when the city attorneys join the video and how even Fiddle Faddle gets into the act and appears to yell out something with the crowd.

Those of us who have followed city government for years have known this day was coming. City Council leadership takes their marching orders from the mayor’s office and his directors. You can see it when Rex Rolfing looks to the mayor’s attorney for guidance as Theresa Stehly uses her open discussion time to bring up the illegal use of the Executive session process. We have been documenting the abuse of the secretive executive sessions to hide the public’s business from the public.

The secret executive session was called to discuss ethics but in fact was a scheme to go after Stehly to set her up as an example. YOU MUST OBEY OR ELSE!

Why shouldn’t we hear this? What is so secret about ethics? Is it actually kind of oxymoronic (get your dictionary out Rex) for our town to teach one version to the council but not explain it to us?

The abuse of council members, the public and the process must stop. A past council member once told Cameraman Bruce explained the rule passed down by the mayor, “Councilors are not to intervene on behalf of constituents.” If this is the case, why do we even have a city council?

1st Amendment Ethics SF City Council Sioux Falls Theresa Stehly

Bully Council Chair Rex Rolfing gets handed his A . .

l3wis 8Comments

If I were to say I haven’t known about what has been going on for awhile, I would be lying. In fact, I’ve known about this kind of (council) intimidation well before Huether even took office. When councilor Kevin Kavanaugh threatened to press charges against then mayor Munson who was running for a second term over middle of the night contract deal on Phillips to the Falls, he was brow beat by a group of ‘concerned citizens’ to back off. He did.

Since then, when councilors don’t play ‘reindeer games’ they get bullied and beat up. Theresa is just the latest casualty, but she wants this kind of intimidation to end;

“I have been bullied, intimidated and threatened. … I have been told not to talk to the media. I have been told not to advocate for the citizens,” she said while reading from a prepared statement.

As I have stated, elected officials are legally guaranteed by the US Constitution to 1st Amendment rights. In other words as long as they are not telling the public or the media about confidential contracts or voting on items they speak about (conflicts of interest), they are free to speak about the issues. When they use their free speech to benefit themselves or to sway votes or meetings, then they are in violation (Federal courts have ruled on this).

As far as I can tell, Stehly has not done any of those things. She has spoken honestly to the public and the media about issues facing our community. She has NOT used her speech to benefit herself or others. She is for transparency, period.

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