This wasn’t the first councilor to make this suggestion. Councilor Janet Brekke, also an attorney and the first full-time city attorney, said they need a citizen’s ombudsman in the office to answer basic questions about property rights, etc. Personally, I think it is a great idea. The city attorney’s office works for us, we pay their wages and benefits and if we have a basic question about our legal rights as a citizen of this city, we should be able to get an answer. This in no way is expecting the city to represent a citizen in court, this is basically a Q & A service to citizens. I wouldn’t even be opposed to this person sitting on the staff of the HelpLine center with a dedicated line and funding from the city. This is important. There are so many slumlords in town and most people don’t know where to turn.
Barranco wants to add funding for this to this year’s budget and as he said in the budget hearing, he knows he has some work to do to win over his fellow councilors,
Also during this period in the meeting Chair Soehl ‘allowed’ other councilors to bring up their priorities with the budget, and that is what Barranco addressed. Lucy was rambling about something with the parks(?). Sorry, every time she talks I just tune out. Merkouris was talking about crime prevention funding, which I totally support, but then quickly went into the ‘kids’ which he brings up a lot. Hey, I’m with you man, but sometimes your priorities are whacked. Go serve on the school board already! This is all the things they address! The city’s responsibilities are simple; infrastructure, crime, fire. That’s it! If you want to help raise the kids of this community, sit on the respective board. It’s not the city council Rich. Curt’s priority was making sure we had ambulance funding in place in 2026 when the contract runs out. I would encourage the council to go a step further and put a plan together for a municipal ambulance service and compare that with a private service. Right now, we are getting screwed as taxpayers and patients! Basically the SFFD provides FREE EMT service and the private ambulance shows up as a taxi to the hospital and the city gets NO reimbursement for that service while the taxi service collects all the fees. With a muni service we hire a third party bill collector and we receive a commission on those rides, and if someone is unable to pay, it is a simple write-off by the city. This isn’t rocket science Curtis the Blurtist!
I’d like to see a renters’ ombudsman, a street sweeper ombudsman, a pothole ombudsman, a street repair ombudsman, an ice, sleet, and snow ombudsman, a crime ombudsman, a bike trail ombudsman, and an affordable housing ombudsman…. Oh, wait a minute, isn’t the City Council supposed to be those ombudsman’s?
( and Woodstock adds: “Say, what about a Burger Battle ombudsman?”….. ( …. “Foodtruck or Boutique?”…
))
The mere existence or thought of an ombudsman means the marriage is not working. It’s like going to or suggesting marriage counseling. But chronic marriage counseling is not the answer, so how is chronic ombudsman-ism an honest answer to a problem? Some people marry the wrong people, while some people elect the wrong political leaders.
will the city be giving lloyd a tif to help with funeral expenses?
“….when he was running for his first term he told the crowd at Democratic Forum he was going to close the Dudley house because he would solve homelessness in Sioux Falls….”
Mexico will play for the wall.
We’ll have so many wins that you will get bored with winning.
Lamont and Beck both have expertise in this type of development.
On day one, I’ll end the war in Ukraine.
On day one, I’ll take care of the price of eggs.
He nominates Jim Jordan for speaker, but claims we need to get the clowns out of the House Republican caucus.
It’s “state business.”
There are the January 6, 2021 Republicans, and then there are the January 20, 2025 Republicans.
Boy, the things that people say, or are we just played?……:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNi7oFaoyJM
Okay, so it’s all beginning to make sense to me. When it’s a local problem, they will claim it’s a national problem, and then when we have a genuine national problem, then they will blame DEI or “Woke” policies. #Gotcha! #IUnderstandYourGamePlan
Last month, FOX News tried to blame the Hollywood fires on DEI, and now Trump is blaming the tragic crash in DC on DEI policies. But just how stupid do they think we are? Is there any chance we can blame the political existence of Trump on DEI. Actually, you can. Its mere existence, DEI, that is, has been a magical trump card for Trump and his allies, but that doesn’t mean we should get rid of our “Woke” advocacies, however, rather it’s time we got rid of the MAGA bullshxt and lit a fire under their asses and then sit back and watch them crash and burn. #DEIisImpactingThePriceOfEggs
Lloyd left, and Vanhuizen has risen. Don’t worry; I’ve got an eye on this.
‘will the city be giving lloyd a tif to help with funeral expenses?’
I heard the city’s general fund increased by 25% the day after he died. #developertroughpaysoff
Now, how would a cemetery plot TIF actually work? I would hate to see the City get buried with a bunch of debt.
After the grace period had expired, would the family have a choice between taxation or exhumation? Else, would the family be held eternally responsible for such taxation like a hand from the grave, which forces a grotesque reality into perpetuity? You know, both like and unlike how they handle trusts in this state with dynasty trusts, which go on forever and allow the dead to profit without taxation while their heirs play. But , perhaps, there is a relationship between such TIFS and family wealth, so the perpetuity of such a unique taxation could merely be paid by the uniqueness of a tax avoidance in another manner, which then allows both the heirs and the dead hand to still play.