South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

l3wis

Developers Development Downtown Sioux Falls Railroads Sioux Falls State Funding State Legislature TIFs

Failures of the RR Redevelopment negotiations rear their head again

l3wis 15Comments

And here we go, throwing more Federal money at the project and it’s an EMERGENCY even though the trains have tooting their horns through SF for over 100 years!

While I don’t oppose creating quiet zones throughout the city (even though we know this is probably for DTSF exclusively) it is pretty obvious we have to do this because we failed to remove the RR tracks from downtown during the negotiations. While it will make DTSF safer with the crossbars, the only noise it eliminates is the sirens from the trains, you will continue to hear them barrel down the track and cause traffic interruptions.

I have NO DOUBT the Feds will probably reimburse the state, but you have to admit since we didn’t successfully remove the tracks from this area to begin with, we are just playing a game of whack a mole and this is the latest.

So far the developer in this area has received millions in improvements to the River Greenway, a significant discount on the land, multiple TIFs (to build condos) and now another $5 million to create quiet zones next to those condos.

Here’s a concept DON’T BUILD CONDOS AND APARTMENTS NEXT TO A RAILROAD TRACK, or better yet work with our Washington delegates to get the tracks torn out. Nope, let’s just keep throwing tax dollars at small bandaids that doesn’t fix the bigger problem TRAINS RUMBLING THROUGH DOWNTOWN FOR NO DAMN GOOD REASON!

Downtown Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

Who Appointed the Sioux Falls 2035 Downtown Committee Members?

l3wis 4Comments

I will give you the short answer, Mayor Paul TenHaken (Item #25).

The City Council will vote on a resolution approving the committee and its members. I asked a city councilor if the council was asked by mayor’s office for input. They said they were not asked but not sure about the other council members. I think it is unfair to the council not to have input on at least half of the picks (there are 16 members).

While you go through the list you will notice people on it that have something to do with downtown businesses and organizations. Two of the members even previously worked at DTSF. But two of the members have incredible conflicts of interest with the mayor, Kevin Tupy (Cresten Capital Holdings) and Natalie Eisenberg (CEO of Click Rain).

Natalie’s conflict is obvious since she now runs the company that Paul founded, but Kevin’s is a little more tricky.

Kevin with one of his investment partners, Matt Paulson, threw tons of money at Alex Jensen’s campaign, so he is politically connected to the city using his wealth for influence. He has also been buying up property downtown like a madman so he financially connected to how DTSF is shaped. Ironically Paulson’s director of StartUP Sioux Falls, Brienne Maner, also is an appointee to the committee.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many people on the board who have some financial interest in DTSF, and there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is Tupy’s connections politically and financially that make this appear unethical.

What often frustrates me about Paul’s appointments is he doesn’t really extend out from his inner circle, his youth council showed that, where NO O’Gorman students sit on the council and most are kids of friends of his.

I would hope the council asks why they were not asked to participate and about the conflicts.

Corona Virus Mark Willadsen State Funding State Legislature

South Dakota State Representative Mark Willadsen gets laughed at during the Legislative Coffee

l3wis 19Comments
Class Clown Willadsen

It all started with a question from moderator Melanie Bliss (FF to 1:18);

‘Will the legislature outlaw masks and vaccine mandates?’

After one legislator answered, Mark takes a stab at it;

. . . I think we have had great leadership . . . (Referring to Covid and the Governor)

After the very audible laughter from the crowd, you could hear Bliss say ‘Thank You’ to which Mark says fine, and you could tell he was very angry. Bliss coninues, ‘I didn’t say thank you to you I said thank to them because they stopped laughing. Mark then continued about all this great leadership and how the schools and state stayed open.

What I have always found ironic about that statement is that it is false. Many state, education, and City of Sioux Falls employees worked from home for months while the rest of us either trudged through at our private sector jobs or took unemployment because the businesses were closed especially in the hospitality industry.

It is probably why he was laughed at. When you say ridiculous things YOU will get a reaction.

Elections SF City Council SF School Board Member SF School District Sioux Falls

PACs are being used to funnel big money into city elections by a handful of people

l3wis 7Comments

Before we get to the PACs dark money into our city elections an update on the races.

In the school board race there are 3 people circulating for the two seats. Baker and Reiter plan to run for re-election, and the 3rd person’s name escapes me, but it is a woman from the banking sector.

MATT PAULSON IS USING HIS PERSONAL WEALTH TO FUNNEL MONEY INTO THE RACES USING PACS

The first PAC that is doing this is Paul TenHaken’s PAC ran by his mentor Joel Dykstra, Next Generation (DOCS). Which has funneled money to Merkouris and Curt Soehl. Major Donors below;

But the big PAC is the one that seems to be funded almost solely by Matt Paulson, Falls Community Growth (DOCS). Paulson funneled $20,000 of his personal wealth (Half from himself and Half from his LLC) into the PAC and turned around under the shield of the PAC to donate $2,500 to Soehl (which explains why certain people have decided to NOT run against him, I won’t say names) and $5,000 to Barranco.

For the record, this is totally legal, it’s just a back door way for an individual with a lot of money to give thousands of dollars to candidates while not classifying it as an individual donation. It has been going on for years from donors like Sanford, Dykhouse and Lloyd.

As someone said to me yesterday, “It seems Mr. Paulson sees himself as a kingmaker.” Money can buy you a seat on the council, he helped pay Jensen’s rent and now he is all in on some more candidates.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

Business Diversity Ordinance needs to be implemented Downtown Sioux Falls

Charter Revision Commission Ethics Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mayor TenHaken Mike Huether Munson Open Government Open Meetings SF City Council Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Charter Revision Commission Triple Check the Charter

I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Kirby

Harrisburg School District Open Government Open Meetings

Update I: Did the city of Harrisburg violate open meeting laws

SF City Council Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls City Council Agendas are WHACKED