John Michael’s Forum: Landlord Rod Schmidt says don’t worry about rent
l3wis 
Listening to these two characters talk is worth the time.
March 2020
UPDATE: City of Sioux Falls is using the backdoor for rental assistance
UPDATE: This was the explanation from council staff;
$250k is from the Planning and Development Services budget.
The administration is requesting the Council to appropriate an additional $750k  from the General Fund available fund balance (reserves) to support the One Sioux Falls Fund.
The funding for the Community Foundation is for $1,000,000; $250 (P&D) funds and $750 (General Fund Reserves).
The funding is one in the same.
I want to thank the city for finally contributing to rental assistance, and I think they will have to do a lot more, but I do have some issues with how this assistance is being delivered;
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD, PROVIDING SUPPLEMENTAL EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR HOUSING.
WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, the Mayor issued Executive Order No. 218 declaring an emergency to address the novel coronavirus (COVID-19); and
WHEREAS, the Mayor has collaborated with the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation to establish a One Sioux Falls Fund (the “Fundâ€) to help local residents and businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 in Sioux Falls; and
WHEREAS, the Fund will consist of both public and private sector contributions; and
WHEREAS, the Fund will be used for public, charitable, or humanitarian purposes and accommodation. Specifically, the funding shall focus on any of three critical areas: health, housing, and food security; and
WHEREAS, Section 5.07 (b) of the Charter of Sioux Falls allows for an emergency appropriation to be made to meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property, or public peace;
I don’t take issue with the amount of funds themselves ($750K) because I think we are going to need a heckuva a lot more.
NOTE: THERE IS ALSO A $1 MILLION FIGURE IN THE CONSENT AGENDA WHICH IS CONFUSING – ARE THESE SEPARATE EXPENDITURES?
What is wrong here is the delivery system because it lacks transparency. It would be logical to assume no matter who pays for this the money will be direct payments to the property owners of the rentals. But by transferring public dollars to a private fund, the taxpayers will never see who is receiving these funds. Once again, I will stress, this is not about knowing the names of the renters, they will not be an equation in this because they will never see the money, it’s about knowing what property owners are receiving the payments. Will it be the big guys? The little guys? Will it be evenly spread between them? We will never know because the city will be giving up their rights to transparency by having a private non-profit distribute the money.
So what is the fix? The property owners need to apply for the funding from the city themselves so that all transactions are open and transparent. I keep telling people that during a time of crisis, full transparency is the key, this is just another example of a backroom deal that doesn’t need to happen to accomplish the ultimate goal.
But there is another issue with this money transfer, the city council was not consulted on the ordinance before it was posted (or at least some of them weren’t) they also were not asked to help draft it or the amount. While the mayor may have some emergency powers, the council is the legislative body that is in charge of drafting legislation like this. Some have even suggested to me that the mayor is violating charter and ethics by proposing this distribution before consulting with the council. It should be an interesting meeting to watch.
If Sioux Falls has emergency plans, what are they?
I’ve been told by several people that ‘maybe’ the city has plans for things I have pointed out over the past week;
• Temporary hospitals
• Food insecurity
• Housing assistance
• Flood control
I have argued that if that is the case, we certainly haven’t been communicated that. At the Thursday special council meeting several officials bragged about the daily press briefings on the virus crisis, but if they are not sharing critical information and plans, what’s the point?
We have heard about the plan to help people thru the Community Foundation, but that pot is going to have be a lot bigger and the city needs to start preparing to dip into the reserves. WHAT IS THE PLAN?
Feeding South Dakota has been giving out food but lack enough volunteers. I suggest city employees help with this, but what is the long term plan when grocers shut down? WHAT IS THE PLAN?
We have heard literally nothing on temporary hospitals being set up. Maybe all the cars at the Sanford Fieldhouse were people setting one up there? But I doubt it. WHAT IS THE PLAN?
Many people have been reaching out to city councilors asking if we have a stock of sandbags in case a flood occurs again. WHAT IS THE PLAN?
If we do have plans, that is wonderful. But in a time of crisis we must share those plans with the public, if we don’t have plans, we need to be working on them instead of concentrating on campaigning for the next election.
Now is not the time to ignore transparency. Democracy dies in Darkness. Tell us WTF is going on!
Fill out your Census – It’s the Law!
As you can see, Sioux Falls is behind on filling out the census. I filled out mine online and it took 5 minutes. If you do not fill it out, it will be mailed to you. I recommend you go that route, otherwise they will be knocking on your door.
I have argued for a long time that this is important because I think our population count of 190K in Sioux Falls is high and was artificially inflated by the previous mayor. Maybe I am wrong, but I would still like to see the numbers. What most people don’t know is our borrowing power as a city is determined by our population, that is why it was bolstered during the past administration.
