UPDATE II: Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken gets involved when his ‘people’ are affected

UPDATE II: Well I stand corrected again. Apparently the mayor didn’t initially respond to the neighbors complaints, not until he got wind of the media reports he took action. So know it seems he is even ignoring his friends. I wish the media would pressure him on a whole host of things, making him accountable gets action.

It also comes down to the public works department authorizing these towers?

UPDATE: As I heard, VAST is going to bury the boxes;

While the company is within its rights to place the boxes within the utility easements of private properties once they receive their permits from the city, it’s the lack of communication that’s led to action by the city, with TenHaken calling it “unacceptable” and adding the city had ceased issuing the  business permits until representatives had a plan to fix it.

Vast’s statement said the immediate change would be that freestanding pedestals not located with other utilities would be replaced with units flush to the ground.

While I agree with them being buried, I’m wondering where the complaint department is with the city to bury the ugly 5G towers all over Downtown? Isn’t it astonishing when the mayor’s friends complain, quick action is taken. Which is wonderful, but what about us regular folks who don’t fund election campaigns? We certainly now know who he represents.

While I can understand that the people in this neighborhood are upset because Vast didn’t notify them properly I will point out two very important things on this topic. This was noticed with the city council and approved by them AND would you rather have a goofy little green tower in your yard or a big ugly 5G tower? I think we know the answer.

At first, Will Bushee assumed the green box in his front yard was temporary.

There’d been road construction near his home in southern Sioux Falls, but when a hole was bored into his front yard and filled with a green pedestal, he started to have concerns and contacted the city.

They told Bushee it wasn’t a city project, though. Vast Broadband, an internet service provider in Sioux Falls and Vermillion, is expanding their fiber optic network throughout the city.

And once Vast receives a private utility permit from the city, they’re allowed to place “telecommunication pedestals” within a utility easement on private property, which can include a home’s front yard.

Competition is a good thing? Right? For the longest time all you ever hear from people is how Midco needs competition and they are essentially running a fiber optic monopoly in town. But what peaked my interest in this story was not the project but a particular person complaining who has a direct/indirect line to the Mayor’s Office. Mr. Bushee is the VP of MarketBeat, a company ran by Matthew Paulson. Why is this important? Matthew Paulson assisted both Mayor TenHaken and City Councilor Alex Jensen in getting elected to office. You can connect the dots.

So it didn’t surprise me when the mayor put the brakes on this almost immediately, even though this was passed by the city council. I also find it a bit ironic he seems to be so concerned about transparency (in the private sector). I do agree they should notice people, but as the city engineer said, they went through the proper steps, they just supposedly failed on the last one.

But the other part that makes Paul’s immediate action glaring is his support of Verizon’s 5G network in Sioux Falls. By halting Vast’s project he could be showing deference to not only Midco but Verizon on a project that was approved by city council. Where were these people when those meetings were taking place?

I guess if you need something done in this town by our Mayor, it’s best if you helped him get elected, he’s there for yah.