South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

October 2022

County Commission Minnehaha County

Minnehaha County proposing NEW $50 Million dollar JDC facility

l3wis 4Comments

A heads up to a journalist who called me yesterday asking if I knew about THIS & THIS (he also wanted to know if I was at the meeting yelling in the background 🙂 I was not, only LOSERS do that).

I did know that there has been planning for it over the past 3 years but it was kind of a sticker shock considering they will have to bond for it (higher property taxes). While the City of Sioux Falls is throwing $10 million at a college for ‘landscaping and other stuff’ the county is borrowing money for kid jails. Maybe we could spend $60 million on an advanced tech mentorship program from DSU to public school students in Sioux Falls. Now that’s crime prevention. I’m sure Matt Paulson is all over it!

SF City Council Sioux Falls TIFs

Sioux Falls City Councilor Neitzert lone vote against SW Brandon housing development

l3wis 6Comments

Greg decided to vote against the project because he questions the state legality of the TIF,

Sioux Falls attorney Brendan Reilly, retained by the city as independent counsel to advise it on TIF legalities, told the Council that its members have “wide discretion” about what qualifies for a TIF. And though state law prohibits TIF funds from directly paying for the construction of housing structures, the tax incentive program can be used for infrastructure directly related to housing.

Councilor Greg Neitzert, the lone dissenting vote, said he struggled to square state law that prohibits TIFs from being used to subsidize housing with the request coming from the mayor’s office.

I think the bigger question is NOT legality, I think it is legal, but TIF definitions are so wide that this would have given the council the authority to deny it. I just don’t see this benefitting lower income people in housing. Will it help people? Sure. But it does nothing to build density and bring the core back up to snuff and address our housing crisis. We can do this thru community development loans and federal grants and don’t have to issue ONE SINGLE TIF.

While I support Greg’s NO vote, his reasoning misses the mark.

Curt Soehl Downtown Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

Is the revamped Facade Easement program just political payback?

l3wis 7Comments

I saw this coming a mile away.

When the program got reinstated earlier this year I knew what was up. Councilor Soehl pushed for reinstating the program while his campaign’s treasurer was restoring a building in Pettigrew Heights. Look who got a grant, item #6, sub-items #4-5;

Conditional Façade Grant Agreement for building commonly known as 100 South Grange Avenue, Boulevard Properties, LLC, $95K

This is for the proposed coffee shop at 9th and Grange that already got special zoning and street parking. This is a massive conflict of interest on Soehl’s part and he should be charged with an ethical violation. It is the epitome of quid pro quo.

And it seems the mayor’s very special campaign donors are getting some facade monies;

Conditional Façade Grant Agreement for Lucky’s at 224-226 S Phillips Avenue, Blackstreet Partners, LLC, $25K

This of course is part of a conglomerate of investment and development partners who have given thousands of dollars to Mayor TenHaken’s campaign and pro-Haken candidates.

Gee? I wonder why the facade grant was reinstated? Ethics be damned!

Affordable Housing Sioux Falls

Omaha has figured out affordable housing in their core. Why can’t Sioux Falls?

l3wis 7Comments

Not only is Omaha building density in the core, they are doing it for affordable rents;

According to rent.com, the average cost of an Omaha one-bedroom is about $1,000 a month.

“The buildings or apartments will range from $450 all the way to $750. We have studios, one-bedroom apartments and two and three-bedroom apartments for families,” said Christian Gray, executive director of inCOMMON.

The Bristol will have 64 units and the Georgia Row House will have 11.

This is what I thought was promised before the election, then the city did a 180 and decided to build slab houses in SW Brandon.

“Its proximity to transportation, to job centers, to downtown. It doesn’t isolate people into deep parts of the community and exclude them from those opportunities,” said Gray.

Yeah, what a concept! Building affordable housing close to transportation resources! During a presser the other day about the zoo merger, the Mayor brought up our supposed competition with Omaha. Yup, in Omaha they are more concerned about helping their low income workforce than they are about animal prisons.

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