As I suspected a local (wealthy) business person gave the legislature and some city councilors a gentle nudge so he could operate a scooter rental business. While Mr. Holt’s testimony was about running a Ma and Pa business, we know he isn’t short on the cash flow. But that doesn’t matter to me, I actually support this kind of business and think it is something Sioux Falls should have.
What I found shocking was they want the scooters to operate ONLY on the sidewalks of downtown. WTF?
I know, when I first heard it today, I wondered if this was some kind of joke. Even councilors Nietzert and Kiley were like no can do. In other cities where these operate (I just witnessed them in San Diego) they must be operated on the street, because they can do around 25 miles per hour. And like riding a bicycle or skateboard on the sidewalk (which is illegal DTSF) it’s dangerous to pedestrians and the riders.
While I could go on a very long, or short rant (like I did tonight at the council meeting) about the idiocy of riding a motorized scooter on a sidewalk, I’m not going to go there. You get it, this isn’t rocket science, though physics are involved.
This is what happens when you have a mentally ill and dull legislature pass laws which they pass down to municipalities with little to no public input, not even from experts. Just how can my rich buddy start his own multiple injury scooter business.
And on top of it, the city councilors proposing this The Count and Heels, didn’t even bother to have a little public input on the topic.
Riding an electric powered scooter on the sidewalk for ‘safety’ is like scooping manure out of hog lot barefoot so you don’t get your 5-Buckle overboots dirty.
I know, they could turn Carnegie Town Hall into a comedy club if it wasn’t so tragic.