Greetings Dear Citizens, The topic at hand this month is Citi¬zen Safety. I am grateful that our Mayor Paul TenHaken organized a Town Hall meeting on gunshot violence on July 30th at the Kenny Anderson Center. The Argus Leader reported that over 350 citizens showed up to voice their safety concerns to the Police Depart¬ment about the increasing gunshot/gang activity. The messages I heard were: 1. Lock your cars and homes. 2. Start a Neighborhood Watch Group. 3. Call 911 for suspicious behavior. No one wants a gunshot outside their home or into their home. We all need to watch out for each other as our community grows. Let’s keep Sioux Falls a safe place for all citizens.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR OVERTIME PARKING FINES
On August 13th, Councilor Pat Starr and I will be proposing a resolution asking the Mayor to consider allowing citizens to make a donation to the Banquet’s school supply program in lieu of paying an overtime parking fine. The City collects approximately $250,000 a year in overtime parking fines. The school supply program has been heavily supported by the generosity of Kmart and Shopko. Of course we have lost both stores. We would like to give citizens the option of donating their fine to help the school supply fund for a week or two in the month of August. Overtime tickets are $10.00. Citizens can also donate now to the SOS program by dropping off school supplies to the Banquet.
PETITION DRIVE STARTING FOR CHARTER CHANGES “The Triple Check the Charter petition drive†will allow (1) a re¬turn to simple Council elections, (2) allows the Mayor to leave the Council to concentrate on the town plus (3) require a super majority of members to pass bonding. (Providing a safely gauge for the tax¬payers.) The charter amendment process requires voters to sign petitions and then vote to improve the Home Rule by implementing positive functional changes to the Sioux Falls City Council. To sign or get one to circulate call 376-8087.
10TH STREET BUSINESS OWNERS BRING CONCERNS TO THE CITY Last month I had the pleasure of attending several meetings with business owners in the 10th street and Indiana area. (This is also known as the Whittier neighborhood.) I listened to concerns about crime, vandalism and vagrancy. We have a vibrant gleaming down¬town area. The businesses on the east side of the 10th Street Bridge deserve to have the same opportunity for economic growth, safety and beatification. After several initial conversations, I was concerned enough to ask the Handy Man employees to help me facilitate a meeting with City staff and Police to seek solutions. I want to give a special word of thanks to Handy Man and Andy’s Alignment for being leaders for this effort. Some suggestions from the meeting were: 1. Provide porta potties for the Bishop Dudley residents. 2. Increase Police foot patrol. 3. On site Police officer for the Bishop Dudley. 4. Prohibit single serve high potency alcohol in the Bishop Dudley area. 5. Establish a small Police Precinct in the area. 6. Develop a drop in day center for Bishop Dudley residents. 7. Develop a business association district. 8. Make stronger laws for public intoxication and vagrancy. We look forward for good things to come for homeowners and businesses in this area.
EVENT CENTER STUDY GROUP UPDATE by Cheryl Rath I have attended all meetings of the Events Center Campus Study Group since March 2019 when the meetings were opened to the public. On august 1st they met to discuss the draft for their final recommendations. The final recommendations and attached costs will be presented at their August 21st meeting. It is scheduled to be at the Convention Center at 8:30 a.m. #1. Demolish the Arena #2. Double the Convention Center’s flat floor space to 120,000 square feet #3. Seek a Public/Private partnership to build a second on-site hotel #4. Demolish and Relocate the Sioux Falls Baseball Stadium (*re¬quest a new Task Force be formed to look at this option) There was NO media present at this meeting, and NO mention of putting this to a Public Vote.Â
CHARTER DRAFTERS PROPOSE CHANGES IN THE CHARTER by Joe Kirby Twenty-five years ago, we started drafting the Sioux Falls City Charter. We feel the mayor council form of government we put in place back then has been a huge improvement over the commission form of government it replaced. But, not all aspects of city govern¬ment have worked as well as they could. So, we are in favor of look¬ing at ways to make it operate even better. Here are some possible charter changes we believe would improve city government: • Return to plurality voting for council seats, or in the alternative, adopt ranked choice voting. • Reduce the legislative role of the mayor by eliminating his tie break vote. Keep the veto power, however. • Require a super majority of 6 on bonding issues. We see these changes as a thoughtful, good faith effort to restore the intended power and function of the city council, to return our city elections to a more logical system and to enhance the protection of taxpayers from a mess like they are experiencing with Village on the River.
COME ON OUT TO LEVITT AT THE FALLS AND ENJOY A FREE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY CONCERT BEFORE THE SEASON IS OVER! Everyone is welcome. For more info, visit www.levittsiouxfalls.org. The High Kings Thursday, August 8 7 PM Farewell Angelina Friday, August 9 7 PM KORY & the FIREFLIES Saturday, August 10 7 PM
THERE’S STILL TIME FOR FREE BUS RIDES AND LUNCHES FOR KIDS by Cathy Brechtelsbauer Thanks to a group of sixth-grade girls who went to the City Coun¬cil, the children of Sioux Falls ride city buses for free in the summers, and more could. (Thanks also to City Councilors, who unanimously approved their idea.) Until school starts, there is still time to go out and enjoy getting around the city. Your school ID serves as your bus pass. If you don’t have one, get a “Freedom Pass†at the SAM office, 500 E 6th St, with proof of age. Last summer, kids took over 9000 free rides and showed them¬selves to be well-behaved, respectful citizens of our city. We’d love for kids to get to the free lunches on weekdays. Free summer meals help reduce hunger and prevent the summer learn¬ing slump. To find lunch info, google “summer meals Sioux Falls†for locations, dates and hours.
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