Oh, that’s right, they continue to wipe there ass with the US and State constitutions;
SIOUX FALLS, SD – The South Dakota Supreme Court says the city of Sioux Falls exceeded its authority when it enacted a zoning ordinance controlling the location of businesses seeking to place video lottery machines in their establishments.
The justices agreed with a lower court ruling that regulation of video lottery is a state function to the exclusion of municipal regulation. Casino owner Rick Law sued the city after it sought to regulate where he could open new casinos.
The justices in their decision said municipalities are not given the power to license video lottery establishments or otherwise control the location of such establishments. But they said municipalities do have the power through zoning to control the location of alcoholic beverage establishments.
Agree or disagree with video lottery, doesn’t matter. The state controls the number of machines a business can have. When the council voted on this I knew they were barking up the wrong tree. I think Quen Be De Knudson said something like, “Bring on the court challenges.” Another genius move by De.
when is the rest of the state going to learn that we are sioux falls, dammit and what we say goes! it sounds like quen de got some bad legal advice, probably from her husband.
She has always been an opponent of VL (the only thing I have ever agreed with her on). But she must also realize that you must follow the law when making decisions on the council. Something the past council and mayor struggled with, constantly.
City policy is unconstitutional. State Supreme Court says so. Hopefully, some day the state will revoke the charter and return oppressed citizens to democracy. Meanwhile, vote out all city leaders and vote in anyone who advocates repealing Home Rule Charter.
You know, Debra Owen was doing some research about the city charter and always comparing it to other cities in the region that have home rule to improve it. She was also pushing the council to take more control of the budget, one of the reasons they want to approve most contracts. I wouldn’t doubt if this may have been another mark against her.