South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2017

SF City Council Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls oligarch tells city councilors to stop working so hard

l3wis 11Comments

Not Joe Kirby (image: therenaissancepet.com)

It has been a long time since I have read such a preposterous and ridiculous letter to the editor. If it weren’t for the obvious status of the author, you would think it was satire. Mr. Kirby suggests our city council works ‘too’ much. The highlight of his column is this remark;

I would like to see them resist the urge to do more, to become more involved in the details of the administration of city government.

What Mr. Kirby is really saying is, stop nosing around in a government us rich folk have been running just fine for years through the executive branch.

I would in fact urge the exact opposite, I would ask the executive branch (the mayor) to stop nosing around in the legislative branch (council) and let them legislate policy while the mayor runs the day to day operations of the city. That has NOT been the case.

Even Mr. Kirby’s good intentioned arguments are laughable at best;

The city council job was thoughtfully designed in the 1990s to be a part-time legislative position, requiring 10 to 15 hours a week.

Basically after their myriad of council meetings on Tuesday, that leaves the city council around 1.5 hours a day to do their job. That’s reviewing contracts and agenda items, taking tours of city facilities, attending luncheon meetings, talking to the media and most importantly shaping policy and RESPONDING TO CONSTITUENTS.

The city charter of home rule was implemented in 1994, (passing by a mere 125 votes – hardly a mandate) at that time the city population was around 110K. Today it is 180K. A population growth of 70K people! To apply the same ‘time’ standards to the job today as when the charter was implemented isn’t even a reasonable argument.

Basically what Mr. Kirby is asking the council to do is NOTHING or very little. And he isn’t even asking, he’s essentially begging them to get less involved. He wants the executive branch (one person) not only do their job as operations manager of the city, but to write policy and negotiate the ‘big deals’ while the council just shows up for a few hours a week to blindly rubber stamp the mayor’s agenda. Can’t we just get a group of volunteers to just do that instead of paying them? And the heck with meetings, why can’t we just do it by mail?

Mr. Kirby’s letter wreaked of elitism and is disgusting proof just who runs city hall. Not the people. But those waves of change may be coming and it scares the living sh*t out of Mr. Kirby and his ilk. So scared he took 15 minutes out of his California beach time to pen this letter.

Developers Development Mayor Grump Toad Mayor High Crimes Mayor Hubris Mayor Pants on Fire Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Sioux Falls

Who is this Mysterious Anti-Development crowd you speak of?

l3wis 12Comments

The Mayor is now hallucinating and making up secret minority societies that oppose development in Sioux Falls (FF: 9:30).

I’m not sure who he is talking about. I have been following city politics for over 12 years, and besides a few older citizens that liked things the way they were in 1979, I don’t hear to many people who are opposed to development.

Has there been serious and mindful disagreements about how to accomplish that growth and development? Yes.

Redevelopment of existing core and central neighborhoods and businesses instead constantly buying up cornfields to build strip malls. Which only add to our infrastructure costs and maintenance. I have thought for awhile the redevelopment of Minnesota Avenue to be more bike/pedestrian friendly would spur more private redevelopment. I have lived here since 1991, and it looks the same as it did than (actually worse).

Tax incentives and TIFs are NOT needed to promote development in our community. Most developers, investors and builders in Sioux Falls have done just fine without government’s help. Some ask why we give these incentives? Because they ask for them and our mayor and his minions on the council roll over like an old dog. Besides, it’s not their money they are handing over to developers that may be investing with. End the corporate welfare and the let the free market do it’s job.

Eliminate or reduce regulations for redevelopment to make it more affordable.

More working class homes and apartments and less luxury homes and condos.

More community development loans and grants for individual homeowners.

Stop allowing the Hospital Industrial Complex buy up and eliminate affordable housing in central Sioux Falls.

There may be many disagreements with Mayor Huether on how to intelligently grow and develop our town, but just because we disagree doesn’t mean he is right.

Employment Mayor Grump Toad Mayor High Crimes Mayor Hubris Mayor Pants on Fire Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Sioux Falls

City Employee defends mayor on diversity with FB comment

l3wis 3Comments

The comment was deleted, but not before it was left on Jolene Loetscher’s FB page in response to my comment about the mayor throwing mayoral candidates under the bus for not taking a stand on the parking ramp. I pointed out that Jolene did take a stance on the topic;

The person who left this message recently got promoted to the diversity department. I’m not sure if I have ever taken the mayor to task for diversity, I’m also not sure what he has done for diversity, maybe she is right, not sure. I will agree I have been critical of some city employees, but that criticism is usually pointed at a certain department, a director or policy. I agree that the city employees work hard and have the best interest at heart, unfortunately their fear of Hizzoner stifles them sometimes.

I do know that my conversations with individual employees (retired, supervisors, firefighters, police officers, etc.) haven’t been happy with how their boss has been running the city. In fact many of them are very angry with his performance, to put it lightly, and can’t wait until he is gone. Obviously those who report directly to Mike, like this person does, have an appearance to keep up, and I get it. I just suggest they stop drinking the mayor’s kool-aid in the new city hall cafeteria and stay off of FB in the middle of the night.

Art Downtown Sioux Falls Music Sioux Falls Washington Pavilion

Pavilion cancels Thursday night Jazz

l3wis 1Comments

Now that the 5 year contract has been renewed and the over a million a year in subsidies is coming in it’s time to start the chopping.

While the Thursday night jazz was not free ($5 cover) I felt it was well attended every time I went. I was told that they averaged about 50 people per event. In the bigger perspective, that’s a pretty good crowd for local jazz on a Thursday night.

There are also rumors flowing from the place that the Visual Arts Center will see major changes over the next year. Not sure what they will be, but what I have been hearing isn’t good.

It’s unfortunate that after almost 20 years the Pavilion is actually providing less and less FREE (or affordable) arts events to us common folk, even though the bonds were paid off years ago and the yearly subsidy and remodeling projects have increased by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Where is the money going?

The Pavilion was built for the upper crust, and it is getting crustier by the day.

Developers Development Sioux Falls

Do Record Building Permits really matter?

l3wis 5Comments

The smoke machine at city hall is in full burn this afternoon;

Today, City officials announced a fifth consecutive record-breaking year of construction values. The construction valuation for building permits issued by Building Services in 2017 reached $720,369,333 by 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13. Last year’s record (2016) was $701.9 million, and the previous record set in 2015 was $676.3 million. 2014’s total was $619.5 million, and the total in 2013 was $588.2 million.

“The confidence, the momentum and yes, the record breakers just keep growing, and I can’t thank the builders, investors and dreamers enough for making it happen. Look what you’re accomplishing, Sioux Falls!” says Mayor Mike Huether.

But does it really matter, at least for the rest of us working stiffs? Think about it. In the last five years while the records keep breaking (obviously due to population growth) what does it mean for us?

Like the lie Washington DC tries to sell us every year since Reagan was president, trickle down economics just doesn’t work. Since this was first proposed by Ronnie, wages have stagnated, unions continue to disintegrate, the gap between rich and poor grows wider, poverty is at an all time high and the middle class will be gone within a decade or sooner.

Why doesn’t it work? Besides the mountains of evidence, the facts remain the same. The rich don’t re-invest their savings in taxes and tax incentives into jobs or higher wages, they simply just stuff it away.

But let’s look at this locally. While city hall has gone into ramrod mode with TIF’s, tax incentives and handouts to local developers (because they are suffering so much, just look at the building records we are breaking each year) has it really affected ‘growth’ in our pocket books? Nope. Because whether you look nationally or locally, trickle down does not work.

1. Wages are still low in Sioux Falls. Wage collusion runs amuck.

2. Food Banks continue to grow at a record rate.

3. Besides drug crimes, domestic violence continues to soar in Sioux Falls. One of the number one things couples argue about? Money.

4. Even with a new events center, sales tax revenue continues to be stagnate.

5. Even with all the record building in housing, affordable and even working class housing continues to elude us.

So while I am glad developers, builders, investors (which include our mayor) and banksters are making oodles of money, it really isn’t reflective of our total economic picture in Sioux Falls. But let’s not talk about it, because that would be negative and sinister.

*Over $40 Million in permits were city projects (public). I have often questioned whether city/public projects should count.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

Downtown Sioux Falls Homeless Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Was the Mayor TenHaken’s presser about panhandlers or manhandlers?

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

UPDATE: Did the City of Sioux Falls get permission from the CORPS of Engineers?

Downtown Sioux Falls Music Sioux Falls

I Really Get Into It: The Underage Architects of Sioux Falls Punk & the Black Crowes

6th street Bunker Bridge Bunker Ramp Downtown Sioux Falls food tax Homeless Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

Is the TenHaken Administration one of the most fiscally irresponsible & corrupt in Sioux Falls history?