South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2018

Marty Jackley

Marty Jackboots tough on crime, except when it comes to his own agents

l3wis 3Comments

This is the kind of rotten individual that is running for governor. Costing taxpayers over $1.5 million to cover up a sexual harassment allegation. Marty needs to be put into retirement come June 5th.

I also find it a bit hypocritical he is complaining about this so close to the primary. You know, kind of like putting out a press release about an investigation that isn’t finished yet in a mayoral race . . . Karma’s a bi*ch isn’t Marty?

The jury is in and it wasn’t good leaving no one a winner. Laura Zylstra Kaiser of Aberdeen held a press conference at the Sioux Falls Public Library on May 23, 2018 to help us understand the case against the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and its administrator Attorney General Marty Jackley. The Jury found in her favor the checks never seem to arrive until now.

It seems a Brown County Sheriff’s deputy was harassing DCI agent Kaiser in 2011. Kaiser reported it to his and her superiors with no support from them. As a result, she received a demotion and then because the supervisors said she didn’t play nice with the harasser, a move to Pierre.

In an attempt to help her set the record straight and save her eight year career she appealed to Marty Jackley the head of DCI. It didn’t go well. The grievance process in place failed her so she had to take legal action.

In December 2017, an Aberdeen Federal Jury found her story credible and awarded her $1.2 million:

– $400,000 for mental anguish, emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of reputation and other damages.

– $311,812 for lost wages

– $498,929 for lost benefits

The state screwed around causing her there were more expenses and losses to cover. The final bill for the state was $1.5 million after the Federal Judge threatened to put state employees responsible for handing over the checks in jail for contempt of court.

By the way, can you identify the trackers recording then quickly leaving the presser? Which campaigns does each belong to?

 

Developers Development Erica Beck Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

TenHaken’s COS Erica Beck promises more transparency w/RFPs

l3wis 7Comments

I’m guessing, and hoping that Beck realizes that when the RFP process is more open and transparent, the public is more likely to go along with it, or at least understand it. Transparency probably also saves the city a lot in legal fees and counseling.

Beck also wants to have a more consistent proposal, or RFP, process for developers, along with more transparency.

While I am glad to hear about more transparency, I’m still a little nervous about gearing up for more developer welfare;

“Our community is at a critical stage in terms of growth. We have to address that growth and understand how we’re going to encourage growth in the future and what kind of growth we need,” Beck said.

While I will agree we are a ‘critical stage’ I look at it as revitalizing the core and pulling the reigns back a bit on more urban sprawl. Growth for ‘growth’s sake’ isn’t always a great idea. I guess I have been of the opinion the city should focus on the core more and if developers want to continue to push our boundaries they can pay a premium price for the infrastructure.

SF City Council Sioux Falls

Where is the Sioux Falls City Council’s REAL agenda?

l3wis 2Comments

I had someone call me today wondering where online they can find ALL the meetings Sioux Falls City Councilors attend, like the City, County & School meeting this morning at HyVee or the Tuesday night council Din-Din.

I tried to find it HERE, but no luck.

The Minnehaha County Commission lists ALL of their meetings where there may be a quorum.

While council staff could slap some piece of paper to the front door of Carnegie to avoid open meetings violations, I’m going to say that is a cop out. Our council staff combined salaries are well over a half million a year, there really is NO reason why this could not be posted online in a timely manner.

Maybe REAL change could happen if the City Council had an ACTUAL certified city clerk?

Platting Fees Sioux Falls Taxes

Don’t believe the platting fee ‘Ruse’

l3wis 7Comments

We were told a decade ago that when we increased our 2nd penny to a full penny (.092 to .100) that developers would kick in another 50-60% in platting fees to help build arterial roads. That never happened. In fact taxpayers have kicked in around 8 to 10x more (from the .08 increase) than developers have. It really doesn’t generate much at all. When you consider we spend well over $40 million a year on roads in Sioux Falls (it may even be higher than that) platting fees only kicked in around $2.4 million in 2017, most of which came from US in that tax increase.

But there are some that think developers are literally paying to build our arterial roads, they are not, they are contributing, but not paying 100%. That’s why I really don’t understand this statement;

Sioux Falls real estate developer Darrel Viereck was one of the early backers of platting fees a decade ago.  Many developers didn’t want to pay the additional cost.  But Viereck saw the city was poised for a building boom, despite the recession.

When in reality, developers are not really contributing much of anything to our roads fund. But they can keep telling that same old lie.

Makes you wonder if TenHaken’s new COS gently nudged Stormland TV to do this story, or if Darrel was just bitching about something again. Who knows?

Paul Ten Haken SF City Council Sioux Falls

What should Mayor TenHaken work on that was neglected by his predecessor?

l3wis 4Comments

Obviously, Paul has a pretty big agenda of his own that he needs to work on. But besides what he wants to accomplish (which we will include in the following list) what else should he focus on?

Transparency. This is a given that Paul promises to work on. It WAS the #1 issue in the last campaign. As I have mentioned besides more communication with the council and public, he must also focus on opening more contracts up to the public for review. This includes anyone applying for TIFs or other government grants and partnerships.

Crime/Meth epidemic. Paul will get a little help in this department from the counties with the triage center. But he will also have to look at how our police department is handling arrests. With an overcrowded jail and a new one a couple of years away, the SFPD needs to focus on handling situations in the field, like I said, the triage center will help with this. Paul also MUST have a better relationship with the police union.

Reducing Homelessness/Hunger. I was impressed with what TenHaken said in a Million Cups debate, he said in 8 years he wants to put the Banquet and Bishop Dudley house out of business. While he may not attain that goal, he should really focus on getting more people off of assistance and on their own feet, this starts with . . .

Workforce development. This is a sticky issue for city government. They can’t really force local businesses to pay living wages, BUT moving forward when attracting new business to Sioux Falls they can ask, very forcefully to provide good wages. The council can even go as far as to shape policy around it.

Public Ambulance Service. While Paul hasn’t really taken a stand on it, that may be a good thing. I think the council could move forward with exploring the possibility and the costs involved. I think it would pay off in the end and would make our community much safer.

Improving Public Transit. This was virtually ignored by the last administration. Not only do we need to make regular service better and more frequent, we need to get costs under control and look at privatizing Paratransit while keeping it affordable.

Revitalizing core neighborhoods. This can be done through revamping community development. One of those hurdles took care of itself yesterday when the director quit. Not only will this help to clean up our core neighborhoods it will help with the affordable housing issues we have.

Updating the city website. This could include a whole host of changes including being able to download city documents, improving transparency and having all the city board meetings available for review with at least audio recordings.

Public Art Funding. I really think the city is missing out on a huge opportunity by not tapping into the entertainment tax fund to use towards public art. Public art promotes tourism and really defines a city’s quality of life. It also promotes local business by using local artists, artisans and contractors to work on the projects. And if nothing else, it makes our city more beautiful and cultural.

Build a Skatepark with a public/private partnership!

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