UPDATE: Noem’s Photo Op (Found on Facebook)
l3wis UPDATE: Bad things happen to those who don’t love the snow queen.
October 2022
Local Transparent and Open Government is easy
I do support 1st Amendment Rights and the freedom to dissent our government, but there are things the government can do that has very little to do with free speech. The City of Sioux Falls could put these modest proposals in place with very little capital, if any, which would actually reduce the need for constituents to dissent the government.
Some local governments have instituted some of these things;
• Livestream all public meetings on YouTube (including boards) and have that livestream on the main page with . . .
• A rolling calendar of all public meetings . . . (which we have on the council agenda page, but NOT on the main page)
• All public meetings should be after 5 PM during the work week.
• An online search engine portal of all public city documents (the city has something like this, but it is complicated and cumbersome)
• Answer constituent questions if possible during public input (the council used to do this but the practice was ended during the Huether administration).
• Have a weekly mayoral and separate council presser to answer media questions about the weekly agenda (and live stream it on YT).
• Stop limiting council debate during the meetings.
The last one is a new thing. During the past couple of council meetings there has been an effort to limit the council debate. I am not even sure where this is coming from, but it seems there now is an effort from council leadership and the mayor’s office to limit debate between councilors during first readings.
Open government is easy, and most times it costs nothing to do. I think our issues with zoning, homelessness and violent crime could be easier tasks to conquer if we just talked about them openly.
Kermit Staggers the first Republican to try to cut the food tax 20 years ago
There has always been a long standing tradition of our local media throwing the good professor under the bus, even after he died, there is still an effort to paint Kermit as too fiscally conservative, yet over 20 years ago when he served in the legislature, he tried to cut the food tax by 50%;
2001
Senator Kermit Staggers, a Sioux Falls Republican, proposed reducing the state sales tax on food to 2% from the then-4% rate. The Senate Taxation Committee killed it 5-4. SB 171
2002
Senator Staggers again proposed reducing the state sales tax on food to 2% from the then-4% rate. The Senate State Affairs Committee killed it 6-2. SB 67
Staggers also led a small bipartisan group of lawmakers who wanted to exempt food from the state sales tax in North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes. The Senate Taxation Committee killed it 7-1. SB 116
Even when Kermit served on the city council he fought against tax and fee increases. Kermit had a big heart, and he always looked after the working class of this state and city. Funny how twenty years ago Staggers had the vision that the food tax was regressive. This coming from a supposed extreme conservative.
I was surprised the media didn’t use this information to further criticize him, maybe 20 years is too soon?
Mayor TenHaken proposing sale/lease agreement on Bunker Ramp BEFORE developer selected
As I have stated in the past, the selection of who takes over the Bunker Ramp will likely be a usual suspect, and probably already in the hopper. But all assumptions aside, the mayor has sponsored a resolution (Item #59) to put framework in place BEFORE the developer has been chosen. Cough, snicker, laugh, cough;
Background & Objective: This Resolution outlines the City Council support to consider both a lease and/or sale of the property at 140 E 10th Street (Parking Ramp site). It outlines the goals and expectations of any proposals that will be received through the Negotiated Sale process.
It seems this time around they are trying to get ahead of any questions about who is chosen. I look at this as a good thing, besides who is negotiating this sale, likely behind closed doors.
They still struggle with the concept of transparency, and if used the first time around (they had three bites at the apple) we wouldn’t be in this place.
There has been a lot of discussion about what went wrong with the original project, just like how did a slaughterhouse get approved without conditional use permits, why is homelessness and violent crime exploding and musical chair rotating video lottery casinos.
It seems this administration and council have learned very little from the past, but they are trying really, really, really hard (not to blow out the candles during their meetings).
IM 27 opponents spread lies
The worst part about the campaign is it is being funded by the mayor of the largest city in South Dakota. The opponents know they need Sioux Falls to vote this down in order to win so they spread the lies.
Rick Steves was the guest on The Dakota Scout podcast this week. He did a marvelous job of explaining decriminalization further and how it will be up to our state legislature to fine tune the law if passed. He called it the ‘Reefer Madness’ propaganda.
Lalley brought up the sticky situation Mayor TenHaken has put himself in;
But Mayor TenHaken made an interesting point. He said that if IM27 does pass, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy weed in Sioux Falls, other than what’s currently allowed for medical marijuana use.
The mayor brought up Colorado Springs, Colorado, where the city doesn’t allow dispensaries even though it’s legal in that state. Ultimately, it would be up to the South Dakota Legislature to decide how marijuana is regulated, he said.
So I asked him what he would tell lawmakers should that come to pass.
“If I could tell them what to do, I would say we have what’s called home rule in Sioux Falls. I think that is a muscle that we would certainly flex on this. But I can say other vices that we limit. We limit the number of liquor licenses. We’ve limited medical (marijuana) dispensaries. It’s not going to be a cannabis free-fall in Sioux Falls if this would happen and we have to put this here. We need to be pragmatic about if it would pass.”
First off, even with Home Rule, the mayor doesn’t have the power to limit anything, that is up to the city council. I would also find the limitation of casinos, bars, liquor stores as NOT a fair comparison. You can gamble, drink or buy alcohol for home ingestion on any corner in this city. I guess I would ask what limitations he is talking about? By that comparison we could have a dispensary within a half mile of everyone’s house in Sioux Falls.
I don’t care if you are running for office or are advocating for or against a measure. Lying to constituents to get the intended result will always fail in the end. Liars will always be losers no matter what happens on election day.