South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

March 2023

Code Enforcement Sioux Falls

To Demolish or not to Demolish . . .

l3wis 21Comments

Will the city demolish the $2.75 million dollar mansion?

I have no idea, but let’s look at some scenarios;

On one hand, the city has the legal authority to tear down the house, and since they have been fighting this for 10 years I don’t see any hesitancy on their part. Some would argue that this may make certain people in charge look bad politically, but if there is one thing I have learned from this administration and code enforcement department, they are VINDICTIVE and I don’t see them skipping a beat to tear down this house. Politics be damned when some of the most influential people in the city live in the neighborhood including hospital, media and developer executives, many who have donated to the campaigns of the very people in charge at 9th and Main.

But the Federal judge who said the city has the authority to tear down the house has warned of potential litigation problems if that happens;

Besides the obvious waste of tearing down the house, there are constitutional issues.

My second scenario would be the city finding a suitable buyer, selling the home and being reimbursed for the city’s legal expenses. This would make the most sense and may be the way the city is leaning considering they were granting building permits while the litigation was pending.

Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth,

Many have wondered why the building services department was granting permits. Didn’t the city’s legal department notify the office that they shouldn’t supply permits to this gentleman? I think if the house is torn down he could build a whole case around the permitting alone since apparently there is ZERO communication between city departments when it comes to pending litigation.

Whether the house is torn down or auctioned, in the end the city will make an example, because that is what VINDICTIVE AUTHORITARIANS do. Even if it is saved, the current owners will be hung out to dry.

Personally I think it is BS that someone takes 10 years to complete a house, and I think the city has some authority to speed up or remedy those situations, BUT property rights are a constitutional right and there was probably a million different ways to fix this issue without taking or destroying the home even if they were uncooperative.

This is what happens when you have cruise control government and unqualified leaders and counsel personnel. Ironically this administration has taken a wrecking ball to common sense government so this case just seems par for the course.

6th street Bunker Bridge Bunker Ramp Downtown Sioux Falls Potholes Sioux Falls

6th Street Bunker Bridge starter kit

l3wis 7Comments

The day after the bridge funding was approved by city council a foot soldier told me that the price overrun was odd to him considering this is just a deck replacement. I asked him what he meant. It was his understanding that since the bridge isn’t that old (I think constructed in the 70’s) that the piers would remain and they are simply replacing the deck like they did with the 8th street bridge.

I didn’t want to jump the gun on that prediction so I have been watching the demolition and noticed the preservation of the piers and according to this media report, that is the case;

That’s to build cofferdams to protect parts of the piers in the river that will be reused. 

So for a $10 million cost overrun we are not even getting a total bridge replacement? The taxpayers are certainly going down a certain creek without a paddle.

WHERE ARE THE CITY’S 2022 FINANCIALS?

Speaking of speculative book keeping, the city finance department has yet to release it’s audited or even unaudited 2022 financials. Usually there is a report to city council and the public by March of the following year.

Another foot soldier speculated to me that maybe the reason we haven’t seen it is because the mayor’s office is trying to figure out how they are going to explain the massive reserves the city coffers are nesting on.

Maybe we should institute the 1st Annual Sioux Falls Pothole Day Saturday April 1st and any citizen that volunteers for 8 hours on that day to fill potholes will receive $100 cash and a Sioux Falls ONE pin. That would be a quick way to spend some of that moldy money.

Potholes SFFD Sioux Falls

City of Sioux Falls using firefighters to fill potholes

l3wis 24Comments

I am not opposed to different city departments cross training. I have often said that cross training between two departments would be beneficial to taxpayers;

With the increased workload, Public Works has put out the call for additional assistance. One who answered that call is Sioux Falls Master Firefighter Tim Schons.

“We received notice from Public Works that they were in need of individuals to help out their crews, just man-power wise,” Schons said. He chose to sign up to lend a hand.

Besides the obvious question, ‘If a firefighter has time to fill potholes you wonder if they have enough to do?’ OR ‘Why haven’t we been using the fire department for extra street work to begin with?’

But what I found interesting is this;

The main reason for Schons’ decision to sign up was a feeling of civic duty. “We are paid of course for working, but it is volunteer,” he said. “Public Works and the rest of the entities in the city help us during emergencies — well now they are in need of help and this gives us the opportunity to kind of return the favor — the ultimate goal is to help out the citizens.”

Yes they are, if you look at the city salary data for 2023 you will see that temporary service employees for the street department make around $20 an hour which is decent pay if you are pulling 40 hours a week. Mr. Schon makes around $75K a year which equals about $36 a hour. If I were Mr. Schon I wouldn’t mention that to the other guys at coffee break.

I also wonder what the Firefighters Union thinks of this?

Maybe the city should recruit some engineers to fill potholes, I heard they are not really busy these days.

Donita Trump Noem Kristi Noem Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls Smithfield

Does this mean Smithfield’s will close?

l3wis 10Comments

I find all this posturing about China kind of ironic considering we allow a Chinese owned packing plant to operate in Sioux Falls and send product to China;

This legislation codifies Governor Noem’s Executive Order 2023-02 by restricting state and local governments from contracting with six “Evil Foreign Governments,” including the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Cuba, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

“It’s very clear that throughout history that when we do business with another country that it becomes a more friendly neighborhood,” said Noem. “We are doing an exchange and commerce with them, barriers break down, there is more communication and information with that country because you are doing commerce with them. When it’s a country we don’t like, we shouldn’t be doing business with them.”

So I am guessing once this law goes into place Smithfield’s will be closed? I also see Mayor TenHaken decided to put his two cents in about foreign policy. This guy couldn’t even pick a mural, and he wants to give advice on national security?

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