There has been a lot of back and forth in South Dakota about all of our FREEDOM and LIBERTY that our Box of Rocks Governor has been spouting about, and how she doesn’t support mandates. Unfortunately, Noem has no authority when it comes to private employer mandates. The state legislature would have to change state law in order to prohibit private employer mandates;
Employment relationships in South Dakota may be ‘terminated at will,’ which means an employer does not need a specific reason to fire an employee. This is the same concept as an employee not needing a specific reason to quit a job. Generally, the only exceptions to this rule are when: A contract for employment exists.
Of course, you do have the option to quit if you don’t want to get vaccinated, but you can’t prevent your employer from mandating it and neither can the governor. When authoritarians talk about all the FREEDOM we have here, they are referring to the ruling class, NOT us.
My suggestion is to just go get a shot or a doctor’s note if you are too high risk to get one and you don’t have to worry about your employer mandating it.
After more than 80 years, the Sioux Falls Shopping News is ending publication.
For full disclosure I was Mr. Lesnar’s employee, TWICE. I did not work in the Shopping News division, but in Customer Service and estimating for Western Commercial Printing before he sold that portion of the business.
Trust me, I know the stories out there about ‘K’ but I can honestly tell you that he always treated me with respect by telling me what he truly thought, did not mince words and defended me when my political opponents put pressure on him to fire me (this happened several times). While we did not agree on mountains of things, he always wanted my perspective, even if he didn’t take that advice.
I think sometimes that is missing in family owned businesses these days, reporting to the General directly. I always appreciated that I could walk into his office anytime of the day, and have a discussion about clients or co-workers. He wanted to know and did not pass that buck. He was truly hands on.
I wish him luck in his retirement and for having confidence in me as an employee. See you later ‘Hot Dog!’ and don’t be a ‘Turkey’.
While the almost 5 hour meeting last night had many fireworks from the Med MJ ordinance discussion (this was only 1st Reading) towards the beginning of the meeting they approved TIF #25 with almost zero discussion (they moved it up so the VIP wealthy developer getting a handout wouldn’t have to sit thru all the people’s REAL business).
Besides the same lame brain presentation from the Planning Director about the TIF itself only one speaker emerged to defend the TIF, and it wasn’t the developer. In fact the developer has said NOTHING about the TIF except when he made a presentation to the council at an informational meeting. His daughter did say a handful of words when the Planning Commission approved the TIF, but the developer himself has said NOTHING at the 2 readings of this ordinance. Not even a please and thank you for getting this handout that the rest of SF property tax payers will have to make up for. Of course, why should he? All of those negotiations were done in secret over the past several years, this is also why you didn’t hear a peep from the councilors either, just a gigantic sound of 7 whaps on the dais with a rubber stamp. (Marshall Selberg was absent)
Wouldn’t it be great if getting food stamps was that easy?
So who was the only defender last night? Joe Batcheller, Director of Downtown Sioux Falls. While Joe and I are on good terms, even if I disagree with him about bringing snakes to outdoor events (he thinks it is fine) 😊 we also disagree on TIFs. As a trained urban planner, Joe adamantly thinks they are good thing. He also even makes the tired old argument I hear councilors make ‘TIFs may not work well in other communities, but golly gee they work great here’. The problem with the argument is that we have NO economic or financial evidence of that, NO studies have been done on TIFs in SF or SD that shows an actual benefit to the public.
Which brings us to another point Joe made. He said this TIF was justified because we are getting a Return on Investment (ROI). I’m not sure a parking ramp (this is what most of the TIF will be spent on) that can only be used by the public on nights and weekends is much of an ROI when you consider that the Bunker Ramp is mostly empty at night and barely filled during the day, we will have another parking ramp sitting at the Sioux Steel Project and my long term argument is parking ramps really probably won’t be needed in the next decade. The irony of it all is that by the time this TIF runs out in approximately 20 years, it will probably NOT be a parking ramp.
Joe also made the argument that TIFs are not ‘Handouts’. I’m not sure what else you would call them. TIFs are essentially a tax rebate you get to use on your private property. The developer builds a parking ramp that they will be using during the day, and likely charge for access and they get that ramp paid for by getting a rebate on the $25 million dollar taxes they are supposed to be paying to the county, the school district and the city while raising taxes on the rest of us due to the total valuation of the project. It would be like you personally getting a $500 dollar property tax rebate to fix your front door. While that benefits YOUR property, it has very little benefit to the tax payers who have to pay their full tax bill, while also supplementing your rebate. Sure they throw us a few crumbs saying the TIF will also build roads (to their private project, to their benefit) and we get to use the parking for the Levitt (even though I have yet to see a parking issue at the concerts even when the lawn is packed) the true beneficiary of this REBATE is the developer and his investors, this is why it truly is a HANDOUT.
The most egregious part about the almost $200 million dollars in TIFs the city council has gleefully handed out this year is that this could ALL be done with private investment. The money is there. It has been proven by the past decade of record breaking building permits that have been issued to contractors in this city who have asked for ZERO tax breaks. Besides the public building permits, I think most of the private permits issued by the planning department are 100% privately funded. It would be a great presentation and study done by our Planning Department, but of course that would shoot holes in the whole NEEDING TIFs to succeed in Sioux Falls. Believe it or not, I think that is fantastic that private business, can invest privately while providing good jobs without a government HANDOUT.
Which brings us to Joe’s last point, that was so ridiculous when he said it, I laughed for about 5 minutes. Joe said it was important to remember that Cherapa II’s developer was taking on 100% of the risk for this approximately $350 million dollar project.
Really Joe?!!! He should be commended for that after getting this handout from the city?
Isn’t that how the Free Market system is supposed to work? Oh never mind, in Sioux Falls it’s called Developer Socialism. You give us massive tax breaks and we will make sure we spend it on us and never present data that shows otherwise.
And lastly, Jeff, a Thank You would have been nice.
While Sioux Falls only offers this service during the summer so kids can get to their friends house across town to play video games, Rapid City offers all year so kids can get to school;
As parents and students scamper to buy school clothes, sneakers and supplies, one of the key boxes on the school checklist that impacts many families is reliable transportation to and from school. The City and Rapid Transit System (RTS) is again offering the ‘Youth Ride Free’ program for the 2021-22 school year.
What a concept! I have felt for a long time it should be all year and anyone 17 and under should be able to swim for FREE at the outdoor pools. Instead the city has cut their transit routes and are looking to cut back on our bus system more and more each year. The reason ridership numbers are dwindling in Sioux Falls is because we have terrible service. Maybe we should just terminate SAM, sell all the assets and buy anyone without a car or driver’s license an E-Bike?
Cincinnati, OH – Former Young Democrats of South Dakota President Heather Krause received the Young Democrats of America “Leadership in Action†Award at the YDA Biennial Convention.d
“I’m humbled to be granted this award and feel honored to accept it on behalf of the entirety of YDSD, which continues to work so hard to keep young progressive focused issues at the forefront of the conversation. Recognition from YDA validates our work and helps showcase to others in our community that YDSD is growing, strengthening, and ready to take on future elections to help create meaningful change in our state.†- Said Heather Krause, former YDSD President & Award Recipient.
“Heather is the reason that our organization is here in Cincinnati, representing South Dakota on the National Stage. She re-established the Young Democrats of South Dakota while the world was in the depths of a global pandemic. Throughout her term, she led the organization with a kind heart, even while marching through numerous stressful situations, both within YDSD and in her own personal life, that nobody could ever have planned for. She kept the heads of those around her held high when times were low. If the future leaders of South Dakota are anything like her, we’re in great hands. She is as deserving as can be of this award, and I was proud to accept it on her behalf. â€Â – Said Addison Miller, YDSD President. The Young Democrats of South Dakota are the official youth arm of the Democratic Party, advocating on behalf of and providing a space for all Democrats age 13-35.
The Young Democrats of South Dakota re-established themselves as an organization in August of 2020, with Heather Krause serving as YDSD’s inaugural President. The Young Democrats of America received 136 nominations for all of their award categories. Heather Krause is a recipient of one of four separate awards for individuals presented by the Young Democrats of America.