Homeless Task Force • 4 PM • Carnegie Town Hall • Monday Sep 12
• Understanding & Discussing current operations of the County
• Understanding & Discussing opportunities to support Bishop Dudley Hospitality House
• Understanding role of the Helpline Center’s Network of Care
• Opportunities for Housing Families & Potential Ideas
• Open discussion and public input
(I think this meeting will be a turning point for the homeless task force. They will actually put the meat on the table of what should happen. I had the opportunity to have coffee with chair Merkouris a few weeks ago and told him that I think we know what needs to be done, but the heavy lift will be the council implementing the policy and getting taxpayer buy in. Most people want to see homelessness reduced and the panhandling to be under control, but I think people think this will come only thru policy. It will take a lot of taxpayer capital to make the policies effective. Are people who live in the extreme NW, NE, SE, SW willing to put up tax dollars to fix a problem that only effects the central neighborhoods and downtown business owners? We will see how much the ‘good Christians’ in these districts are willing to sacrifice.)
Informational Meeting • 4 PM • Tuesday Sep 13
• Commission report; Audit Committee: Thursday, August 25, 2022 (Council Members: Jensen (Chair), Barranco, Merkouris, Neitzert) (We will see if we finally get an admission that the Internal Audit Manager has left the city council staff and went to work for the administration. When I talk about transparency in city government I am NOT just talking about the Mayor’s office or his departments, I also speak of the council. This is a gross failure of leadership by council vice-chair Jensen who is in charge of the council’s staff. When a manager leaves a position, whether transferring or leaving for the private sector, the public should be made aware immediately via a press release. She was appointed publicly and her departure should be made public. There hasn’t been sh!t! When were they going to spring this chicken?)
• Main Street Business Improvement District Growth Plan by Joe Batcheller, President of Downtown Sioux Falls, Inc. (I had a very productive phone convo with Joe on Monday. He explained to me that this proposal will end the million dollar property cap. As of right now whether your property is worth $1 million or $30 million in the district you pay the same bid tax, it is a sliding scale on those under $1 million. In other words it is a regressive tax under $1 million valuation and a pretty good deal over $1 million. This is what they want to change. There are also a lot of other details he will touch on during the presentation.)
Regular Council Meeting • 6 PM • Tuesday Sep 13
• Item #7, Change orders, highways and streets, Full Depth and On-Call Concrete Repairs; Unknown conditions, Dakota Contracting, $26,651 (I don’t have a issue with change orders, things happen, but saying ‘unknown conditions’ just doesn’t cut it for transparency for me.)
• Items #13-20, Deferred from the meeting of Tuesday, August 16, 2022; New 2022-23 Retail Malt Beverage License for Deuces Casino 13, 6010 South Cliff Avenue, Suite 101, with Conditional Use Permit (016569-2022) being approved on July 6, 2022. Pending final inspections per Health and Building Services. (this is in the former Bonus Round bar on Cliff. It is total BS that they can use the parking lot as a secondary address to put in 20 machines, I also don’t know how 20 machines will fit. This place is falling apart and one of the reasons the Bonus Round left the place. As I understand, the landlord also owns the rental house to the South that is in shambles. If you wanted a code enforcement hay day, this would be the place to go. I am hoping the council denies the casino, not suitable owner or place and tells code enforcement to do their job and get both places condemned and bulldozed. It would be a perfect location for affordable apartments.)
• Item #22, 2nd Reading: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD, PROVIDING APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE IN PROPERTY TAX REVENUE PURSUANT TO SDCL 10-13-35 AND THE MEANS OF FINANCING FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2023. (this is the unneeded property tax increase, Starr will offer an amendment to not increase, I assume this will still pass 6-2. Our tone deaf council will approve millions in tax increases in the middle of an inflationary economic crisis, because that is what they do best).
• Item #37, A RESOLUTION DECLARING IT NECESSARY TO LEVY AND LEVYING A SPECIAL FRONT FOOT ASSESSMENT FEE FOR STREET MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR. Sponsor: Mayor, Background & Objective: This resolution approves a $1 front foot assessment fee for street maintenance and repairs to be levied in 2023. This is an annual approval with no rate change from 2022. (this is just another tax hike they have put on cruise control since 1992. It started as $.40 and has shot up since. There is absolutely NO reason to increase frontage fees). CORRECTION: This is NOT a $1 increase just that it will remain a dollar for next year.
Item #40, A RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY ADMINISTRATION NEGOTIATE WITH WASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT, INC. TO ACCOMPLISH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE ARTS TASK FORCE AND THE CITY’S VISUAL ARTS COMMISSION AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES THEREOF. Sponsors: Council Members Merkouris and Jensen, Background & Objective: The resolution recommends that the City administration negotiate with the Washington Pavilion Management, Inc. to accomplish the objectives of the Arts Task Force and the City’s Visual Arts Commission. The City Council will also consider a supplemental appropriation to execute this provision if successfully negotiated in the new management and operating agreement. The agreement with Washington Pavilion Management Inc. expires on Dec. 31, 2022 (this seems to be a back door effort by these councilors to stop the full-time arts coordinator position. While I agree 100% we don’t need this position, I don’t agree the Pavilion should have it either. I was thinking today about the role of local government in terms of this position. Is it the role of government to determine the best path for the arts in this community, or to be involved with ANY cultural endeavor? Yes and No. The city should encourage and foster the arts, they should also get out of the f’king way. Arts flourish thru independent thought. While I love it that a city administration wants to foster art, I really am not on board of them dictating it. Art and artists work best when they are allowed to create, tourism and business getting involved only throws turpentine on that painting.)
Should we call it “under control”, or “channeling”. In a town which is forecasted to grow to 325,000 by 2040, I’m not so sure we can control it, but we could possibly channel it. Maybe we should do like Governor Abbott and bus them all to Manhattan. I can see it now, a headline in the New York Times which reads: ‘Three Buses from Sioux Falls’.
( and Woodstock adds: “Say, what about a Workforce Development Institute for the panhandlers?”… (… “Why doesn’t anyone talk about workforce development anymore?… (… “I thought the Republicans were big on that”…. )))