CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL • 4 PM
Several topics for conversation.
There is an update about Falls Park Safety, as I understand it, the city hired outside counsel to get advice on how to move forward. Not even sure what that means.
There is a presentation about the Planning Department and ‘Who they are.”
SECOG does yearly presentation and Councilor Kiley does update on Veterans Cemetery.
CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING • 7 PM
Public Input will be the hot topic of the evening, yet there are some other important topics.
Item #105, 2nd Reading of moving Public Input to back of the meeting. As I understand it they are planning to defer this item instead of killing it. The reason? They (5 councilors) want to keep this in their toolbox in case the council doesn’t approve Item #106 as a ‘threat’. Yeah, what a great way to govern. It should be killed.
Item #106, 1st reading, compromise on public input. There are several good ideas in this measure. Including allowing public input at 1st and 2nd reading and limiting time and speakers. They will have to amend the portion about allowing visuals using the overhead. Hopefully this will get passed without little pissing and moaning. I do know that the 3 councilors that were left out of the process to begin with (Brekke, Stehly and Starr) are NOT happy about how this came about, but are willing to move forward, but I’m guessing they will be expressing their opinions about how unprofessional the actions of the other five were and how this does NOTHING to solve the problem of disruption. In a way, I feel sorry for Mayor TenHaken being pulled into this. I think he wanted change, but I also think he had very little to do with the proposed legislation. As councilor Selberg pointed out last week, they had been working on this before the election. Our council needs to start working together, and I hope this is the LAST time they pull behind the scenes negotiations, especially ones that are possible violations of open meetings laws. Also, TenHaken needs to put on the big boy pants and gavel disruptions moving forward. He can be nice guy 6 days a week, but on Tuesday he needs to take charge.
Item #113, Resolution. New appointments to various citizen boards.
Item #115, Consent to re-appoint city directors. It surprises me that 3 former mayor holdovers will remain. Parks Director, Don Kearney, who was the Former Mayor Bucktooth and Bowlcut’s chief deceiver and liar. Everything from mowing lists that don’t exist and deceptions about an indoor pool. Jill Franken, Health Director, who concocted the awful contract with Paramedics Plus and cover up of phantom ambulances and Sue Quanbeck-Etten who has done absolutely nothing to improve IT services to the citizens of Sioux Falls and carried the water for the administration building we did not need. Hopefully TenHaken will see the light and let them go eventually.
Item #116, Consent for Mayoral Successors. As you may know, if our mayor resigns suddenly, has serious health issues or dies he must have a successor until a special election can be held. His list is interesting, but not surprising;
1. Chief of Staff, Erica Beck
2. Public Works Director, Mark Cotter
3. HR Director, Bill Dah’Toole
4. Health Director, Jill Bride of Franken
5. Planning Director, Mike Cooper
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