Another great night at the Levitt Friday!
I guess they have been counting the crowds with clickers the best they can, I await to hear the numbers.
JJ’s now has a full-liquor option for basic cocktails, and they serve up until 9 PM instead of 8:30.
Greetings poetic compadre: Below is a quickly penned short poem from yesterday. – C.L.
– – – – – – – –
Untitled Poem – Number Lost
Sitting reading diagrams
on December window frost
I shiver then bark
back at the neighbor’s
small dog
 Charles Luden • 6-27-19 • at Granite City
The end of this transmission.
City Council Informational Meeting, 4 PM, July 2
Presentations on Ambulance Service (Annual Report), Update on the State Theatre Funding and the City Council 2019 budget expenditures.
City Council Regular Meeting, 7 PM, July 2
Item #38, 2nd Reading, Ordinance, More changes to removing ‘gun dealers’ from pawn shops.
Item #45, 1st reading, Ordinance, Annual Ambulance Service rate increase (written into contract, so the CC has very little power over it.
Planning Commission Meeting, 6 PM, July 3
Item#5B, neighbors are resisting a re-zone from residential to C-2 Commercial for a mini-mall retail center.
Item #5C, permit for alcohol for a casino in the former Bob’s Café. The neighborhood is strongly opposed. They are looking for a deferral.
Item #5D, another permit for alcohol for a casino in a former gas station on N. Cliff. Planning department recommends denial due to not meeting alcohol requirements.
Item #5G, Adjusting the 2040 Comprehensive plan growth tier map.
I also noticed that many exhibit maps were missing from items in SIRE. Hopefully they will be up for the meeting on Wednesday.
I first want to say I support finishing the State Theatre, I have actually helped with some charity fundraisers for the facility through ZombieWalk and SF Roller Dollz. I think it is a worthy cause and I applaud Denny Sanford for giving money to the goal of completion. But I think that is still the direction the theatre should move in, private donations for a private facility.
Using entertainment taxes sets a bad precedent, as I pointed out yesterday, and I will tell you why.
Seven years ago, former city clerk Debra Owen won an open meetings case over how her termination was handled. During the proceedings, City Attorney David Fiddle-Faddle argued his case based on the opinion of a former attorney general. 4 of the 5 attorneys who sat on the Open Meetings Commission contended that an ‘opinion’ of an AG is NOT case law, so it did not apply. When Fiddle continued to argue based on the AG’s opinion, one of the panelists asked David cynically, “You do understand that the opinion of a AG is not the same as case law? Don’t you?” The crowd in attendance let out an audible giggle. The commission determined that you have to base your arguments on tried case law, not opinions.
The City of Sioux Falls is trying to say they can spend the entertainment money on a private entity in the form of promoting the city based on a opinion of the AG in 1984. But there is NO case law. In other words, the city could be sued if they try to set this precedent. Even if I supported giving the State Theatre MORE tax money, which I don’t, it should come out of the CIP not the entertainment tax.
Listen to Allison Weiland talk about the State on Jon Michael’s Forum
In other news, Cameraman Bruce attended a luncheon today talking about open meeting laws, 3 of the panelists were former State Legislator Dave Knudson, Argus reporter Jonathan Ellis and Jon Arneson (Argus attorney). They all contended that the most recent open meeting laws that Knudson helped write, said that if text messaging or emails during a public open meeting are being used, that correspondence can be used in a court case. So council, if you were smart, you would put the phones and email chatting away during the meetings.
At the last Neighborhood Summit the previous mayor held (PTH has not held one yet) Mayoral candidate David Zokaites suggested that the bike trail be 24/7 and not close at 10 PM since it actually a commuter trail for many cyclists and NOT just recreational. The pushback from the city is they may not be able to parole it at night. Even with proper lighting on your bicycle it could still be dangerous to ride at night. I have suggested installing solar lighting in the darker areas to accommodate that. I know that the cycling community is starting to discuss this idea. I fully support making our bike trail 24/7 and many communities across the country have done it.
What do you think?
l3wis