As you can see the City Council will meet on Monday instead of Tuesday this week. Have no idea why, because, as you know, this council and administration are not real big on transparency.
At the informational meeting they will discuss the September financials and a sewer study (which means spending more money 🙁 and a fun filled executive session. Is it just me, or does this administration have an unusual amount of these? Oh, right, the secrecy and corruption thing again.
At the regular city council meeting, it is pretty sleepy except for item #6, Approval of Contracts, Sub-item #9; Engagement Agreement to Provide Legal Services as Plaintiff’s Counsel, Woods Fuller Shultz & Smith P.C., $20K. Could we be more vague? It seems this administration is getting sued quite a bit. Who is the ‘Plaintiff’? Is it a city employee? An elected official? Shall we play Bingo to figure it out?
Item #31, 1st Reading, addresses the Historic Neighborhood vote the Planning Commission decided to throw into the consent agenda and have a zero discussion about.
Item #43, 1st Reading, raises the vacant building fee from $200 per year to $1,000 per year. I fully support this. I have a property owner in my neighborhood who has had 3 vacant houses and several other commercial buildings for several years (10 years? 15th and Cliff). They have now become a dumping ground for his junk vehicles, tractors, trailers and whatever other crap he can throw there. I have pressured the city numerous times to at least get him to clean up the property and rent out the houses with NO avail. But as I have said in the past, it isn’t happening on White Church Lane, so it doesn’t matter.
Items #45-46, resolutions, more (Covid) money to welfare queens, Lewis & Clark. Once these guys see a government tap of money, they come a running, and now strangely, the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, City Council is authorizing monies from the State of Iowa. Did GOP chair, Iowa Dan Lederman have something to do with this?
Item #47, As we all know, the city plans to sell the parking lot directly South of the downtown Ace Hardware to Lloyd properties to build an apartment building. I may be wrong about the developer, but this sh!t show has been in the works for so long, if they sold it to someone else I would be totally shocked. This, of course, is what happens when you have a former executive from the company working as the mayor’s chief of shaft. It will be curious what kind of ‘deal’ they receive for the property and other tax incentive goodies for building an apartment building in the heart of downtown.
Item #48 is curious since there is NO attached documents telling us what this surplus property is. Shady I tell yah, very Shady!
“White Church Lane”, could there be anything more symbolic than that?
( and Woodstock adds: “Say is that near Hood Road, or is Hood Road nearer to White SUV Drive?”… (“Why not a Black SUV Drive or Way?”… ))
It could be interesting for the media to interview those showing up on Tuesday evening. Hardly enough notice.
Scott, thanks for posting this and helping to keep us informed.
The mayor isn’t very good about announcing when city council meets at an odd time. It’s as though the public is tolerated instead of invited.
I’m not pleased with the city’s habit of selling property based on discounted old appraisals. It looks like corruption in action.
When there are important issues, move the meeting. It’s the code for corruption. Next thing will be voter suppression redistricting and hiding polling places. Oh, it’s been done. Well, how about an open bar on Election Day for all who vote Strong Mayor and Lloyd Conspiracy.
There is NO voter suppression in South Dakota. I have never been banned nor blocked from voting, nor have I had any issues getting to and from the polls.
Moving the City Council Session to another day is not a problem, they did announce it a week ago, both during the Informational Meeting, and the City Council Session.
There was NO corrupted manner of moving the City Council Session.
I am perfectly happy with the districting process.
Long voting lines at super precincts are fun. It’s a good time to meet up with old friends. It’s like a living FB, where live and spreading conspiracy theories embolden your voting intentions. There’s also no racism, or climate change, and life is good thanks to a neighborhood Chick-fil-A. (?)
Fear,
I 100% agree, I have found conversating with people in those long lines to be extremely beneficial to educating, listening, and learning of other people’s political viewpoints. Make a fun, enjoying, satisfying day out of it. Standing in that line is more fun, than cheating the system and sending a “ballot” by mail.
Mike, how is mailing a ballot in cheating the system? It has been used in SD for decades and across the nation and is perfectly legal. There are many reasons people mail them in, ADA, elderly, transportation issues, health, military, snow birds, etc. One of the major reasons Trump lost the election because he told his voters (who are mostly white old people) to not vote by mail. Who on earth tells your supporters to NOT vote!?