At about 1 PM today I drove past several places in the Sanford Sports Complex, this is what I saw. Great Shots had only two cars in the parking lot and appeared to be shut down. Power and Grace and the Iceplex only had one car in each of the parking lots and seemed to be shut down. The MatchPointe throughout the week has several cars in their lot but today was down to about four. The Pentagon however (first picture below) had over a dozen cars and I saw people showing up dressed for basketball practice and gym bags. At the Fieldhouse I saw over 20 vehicles in the lot. This tells me they are still operating. These facilities, according to the new ordinance passed need to be shut down, especially considering their connection to a healthcare facility.
If we are going to shame private business on social media for being open and endangering lives, the big boys have to play by the same rules.
I look at this a couple of ways, I think it would have been virtually impossible to hold the election in a couple of weeks. I also think that two months of absentee voting is good, and safer. But I also think that many people are not thinking about a city election right now, and hopefully this clears by the end of May so there can be a little concentration on the election and the candidates.
Also, I have been thwarted by several folks over the past few days that the city council doesn’t have the legal authority to change the election date. I believe they do, and I think it is as simple as practicing their right to change city ordinance under the Home Rule Charter. I also look at this as something the courts could weigh in on. How could the city possibly hold a public city election at the height of a dangerous pandemic with NO poll workers? Well, Sherlock they couldn’t, and I think a judge would agree that gives them the legal authority to change ordinance on the fly. Remember, law isn’t what is written on paper, it is what the courts and judges decide, it is all fluid. And if a governmental body is unable to hold an election, that body has the legal right to remedy the situation, and I don’t think there is a judge in the land that would side on endangering the public because the legislature said a city MUST have an election on a certain date come Hell or highwater. Maybe what we are really saying is if the election can’t be held on April 14th, there is no election, and candidates Neitzert, Mickelson and Stehly get to remain in their seats automatically for the next term? I have a feeling the same arguing against me would argue against that scenario also. Funny how that works.
While we have been putting up billboards and closing down telephone booth casinos across the city, we are ignoring plans we could implement right away to help us get through this.
Even after the virus spread is over and a vaccine is in place, the repercussions of this will be enormous and long lasting. Even the things we don’t think about are now starting to rear their heads in the national news like suicides and domestic violence. Tonight on PBS Newshour (BTW, the only news source I have been following for fair and accurate reporting during this crisis) they had on a national expert about domestic violence pleading with people to watch out for you neighbors. It is only one issue we are dealing with.
Here is a very short but important list of what our local government needs to do to assure we can weather the storm, and BTW, screw the lawyers, the city has the legal authority to do this thru executive and legislative powers under the home rule charter. A lot of these things are not at a crisis level yet, but we need to have a plan in place;
• Marshall the Events Center, the Convention Center and Arena for a temporary hospital for NON-emergency and NON-corona virus patients. This will free up our hospitals for critical emergencies and protect those patients from being infected in the regular hospital setting.
• Demand our local food banks and grocers work together to have a safe food distribution system where people who have food insecurity can pull up in the safety of their vehicle to get food by simply opening their trunk and have people give them essentials without person to person contact.
• Free city utilities for the next 3 months if not longer.
• Rental assistance from the general fund in combination with private donations. (the city has around a $60 million dollar surplus, specifically designed to help us in a time of an emergency).
• A sales tax holiday on at least food for the next few months – city and statewide.
• Flood preparedness. Let’s face it, this will come in the middle of this meltdown, and if we are not better prepared this time around it will compound our problems.
• Seek volunteers to assist in anyway possible who are young and healthy to help with this crisis.
• Require public employees (who have job security) to pitch in where they can, manning phones from home, helping with temporary hospitals, checking on the elderly with food and medicine delivery, etc. Do you know there are several public employees who we are paying right now that are not doing anything. This is what we pay taxes for, they need to help us in a crisis. I’m not shaming them, they are only following directives of their managers and elected officials, and their managers need to put them to work – NOW!
• Lead and don’t look back. This is the most important. Don’t worry about the critics (like myself). Put on your big boy pants and make quick, smart, decisive decisions. This is why we elect you, to help us in times of a crisis. It isn’t about ribbon cuttings and new parks, it’s about assisting those who fund this society through our taxes. If it is too much for you, please, step aside and let those willing and capable to do the job. We won’t hold it against you. You can only fail if you choose to do nothing.
Trust me, I am trying to stay positive through this, because I know the sh*t storm hasn’t even begun, and it is going to get much worse before it gets better. But if we have a strong plan of attack, we can come out of this with less scars. I do agree with our president on one point, we can recover, and we can come back from this nightmare, but where I disagree is that it won’t come from wishful thinking and crossing our fingers behind our back. It will happen with a solid plan. If we do all this and we didn’t need to implement some of these plans – GREAT!
Get to work for those of us that are out of work. I’m praying for you, and I don’t need a live streamed pastor to tell me that is also a part of the equation. Blood, sweat and tears solve problems, wringing your hands solves nothing. Let’s make some solid plans and let’s do it NOW!
I’ll leave you with one my favorite songs (I can actually play the harmonica parts). Helping each other will be the key to our survival.
After watching this morning’s Corona Virus briefing and the health board meeting today and ending with the city council meeting I think it has finally sunk in that this is very serious, and I was impressed with the Mayor, the Health Director and the City Council for taking more preventative steps. They are not suggestions anymore folks, we need to listen to our elected leaders and heed the warnings. This can ultimately not get any better unless we take precautions, and your city government just stepped it up today, I thank them for their actions.
All week long I have noticed many patrons at the Match Pointe Tennis Center, The Sanford Fieldhouse, and tonight several people golfing at Great Shots. It surprised me that facilities that are under the umbrella of a healthcare system would have their recreational facilities still open to the public. Hopefully the new ordinance the city council passed tonight will close that down.
Also today I was sent this from the city charter concerning elections and if the city council has the power to change a date;
Section 6.01 City elections.
(a) Regular elections. The regular city election shall be held in even numbered years. Conduct of the election shall be in accordance with provisions of state law. The date of the city election shall be set by ordinance as the second Tuesday in April. The city may combine its election with that of the Sioux Falls School Board.
As I see it, while the city has to follow state law with how the election is conducted, the city council has the power to move that date no matter what the state legislature decides. Under our Home Rule charter, it is our council that makes the decision of the date of the election. No matter how the legislature votes on this on Monday, I still think the city council has a legal right to move the election if they need to. I’m no legal scholar, but I think the language is pretty clear who picks that date, and it’s not the legislature.
The City of Sioux Falls has about 10 billboards up around town to build awareness about social distancing.
They feature a big picture of Mayor Paul Tenhaken with this quote:
‘By staying apart, we will stick together’
The billboards are up in strategic spots, including 41st and Western and 12th and Kiwanis.
The TenHaken administration is using every means available to get the word out on ways to stop the spread of COVID-19.
I hope the billboard company is doing these at no cost to the taxpayers, but I don’t know the answer to that. But what concerns me is why do they have a picture of the mayor on them – smiling no less? It reminds me of our job recruitment billboards with the former mayor on them. I think this is a horrible time to be campaigning for the next election on the taxpayer’s dime. I would have just put the quote up by itself, and I’m not even sure this is an original quote from Paul? It’s bizarre and certainly in bad taste.
At the afternoon press conference today (video above) when Paul was asked how Noem is doing with leadership on this issue he told a reporter ‘I didn’t sign up for this’. Last night on FB (video below) he complained about open meeting laws (24 hour notice of meetings) and said he could get more done if he didn’t have to bother with that notice.
Actually, Paul, you could get a lot more done if you would just lead. Under the Charter you have the duty and responsibility to manage the affairs of the city, you don’t need to notice anyone. After almost two years as our mayor you don’t understand leadership, our charter or our open meeting laws. Why is this? Because one of the first things Mayor Selfie did was give executive authority to his COS, Erica Beck, who has been running the city while he has been jettsetting all over the country and world. Hey Paul, you ran to be our mayor, the city manager, didn’t you know what that all entailed? Apparently not.
He also complained in the this afternoon’s press conference that he was tired of employees calling him to complain about their employer. He basically said that wasn’t his job to tell them what to do. Yet, he doesn’t seem to have a problem with telling employers how to recruit mentors or donate money to a rental relief slush fund.
See, folks, Paul does understand one thing, it is a right to work state where people don’t have worker rights do to the lack of widespread organized labor. I agree with Paul, stop calling him, he isn’t going to do anything for you, he has proven that over the past few weeks. I suggest you contact OSHA if you think your employer is endangering your health;
Sioux Falls Area Office Sheila Stanley, Area Director U. S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration 4404 South Technology Drive Sioux Falls, SD 57106
(605) 361-9566 (605) 361-9652
I personally was required to study Marty for over a year for my confirmation classes, and one lesson that Paul should learn from him is that Marty was a great leader who in the face of adversity and crisis in the failed leadership of the Catholic Church didn’t back down to that challenge. If you want to quote Marty, maybe this one will suit you better (it’s from the other Marty)
l3wis 
