Councilor Selberg starts the show off with patting himself on the back when it comes to cooperation with other local government entities. While there has been a lot of cooperation lately, there has been little interaction with the public except at the actual meetings where the decisions have already been made before the meeting even started. When it came to mask mandates, MED MJ and Covid money they didn’t bother asking citizens and business owners what they wanted they just cowed to special interests which seem to be at city hall quite a bit behind closed doors. This is NOT true open government and cooperation. I also was a bit confused about how road money is being spent. If you walk or ride your bike around the core neighborhoods you would think you are in Baghdad, the roads look like they have been hit with mortar rounds. A Pettigrew Heights resident told me yesterday that there is no intention of fixing core neighborhood roads until 2023 and this is why the public works department doesn’t even bother with maintenance in that neighborhood.
I’m sorry, but when I hear about Federal money going towards butterfly houses and tennis courts it infuriates me. I have long argued lifting up and fixing our core neighborhoods should be the number one infrastructure priority. Not only does it help with combatting crime and poverty, it would be an enormous driver in supplying affordable housing and local construction jobs. The ROI with such an endeavor would be gigantic. Councilor Brekke actually brings it up during the episode. But instead we throw money at Foreign Egg Roll factories and more unneeded parking ramps.
Councilor Soehl brings up that it is hard for developers to build an affordable house. Hogwash. We could change zoning in Sioux Falls to allow half lots in the core. We could also build tiny houses or smaller one bedroom homes with NO garages.
The regular citizen in Sioux Falls no longer has a seat at the table. This is because apparently it costs $120k to win a city council race by 99 votes. Follow the money. If your last name doesn’t start with an S or L you are screwed.
