For a guy who hasn’t made an official announcement, some wonder why TenHaken has raised so much money.
TenHakens July 6, 2021 Finance report
I guess O’ Shucksberg and Heels have some money laying around to.
Maybe Paul is waiting to break $100K before he officially announces so he knows for sure the super rich in town still support him and cruise control government
During the public input portion of the meeting tonight, former city councilor Stehly asked the mayor to stop spraying for skiters in broad daylight. I guess the trucks have been emitting their chemicals before dusk throughout neighborhoods with complaints from people with kids, to people walking with pets. It is also kills beneficial insects. The best time to spray is from dusk to dawn when the skiters come out to play. I guess the city doesn’t really have a reason why except it costs more to spray after dark. I didn’t know running headlights was so expensive. I have complained for years that the city should use safer, natural methods to control skiters. The one reason I don’t have a vegetable garden is because of the spraying. The emission can also cause developmental issues in toddlers. But that’s typical of authoritarians, save pennies over here while harming the health and welfare of citizens while handing out $20 Million dollar plus tax rebates to developers.
I didn’t see Paul’s face, but when Theresa was addressing him, she asked him to look at her (I guess he was staring at his shoes, something you can do when the cruise control is on).
Informational Meeting • 4 PM
Three presentations;
• EMS Annual Update and Rate Increase (notice in the linked documents there is NO mention of what they are asking for in a rate increase.)
• Senior/Disabled Municipal Property Tax Refund (not sure what the presentation is about, this is something that is already offered by the county. Maybe the city will start doing it now also?)
• Public Safety Home Buying Assistance Program (this is something that is done in other communities across the country with some success. Basically if Fireman and Police want to buy homes in lower income neighborhoods they would get assistance. While I am NOT opposed to the idea, as a realtor told me yesterday, this city is allowing the hospitals to eat up and tear down all the affordable housing in these neighborhoods and slumlords neglecting rental property instead of letting people buy these homes and fix them up themselves. I have felt for a long time we are neglecting our core, and we could easily implement programs to fix it up rapidly while providing home ownership that is affordable. But I guess that is some kind of far fetched hippy idea.)
Item #6, Approval of Contracts;
Sub Item #6, Health Dept, Agreement to grant funds for Operation Hope Fund for use in
public, charitable, or humanitarian purposes and accommodation. Grant funding shall focus on improving continuity of care for individuals served at The Link. Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, $500K. (this seems like an interesting backdoor way of funding the LINK without having an additional subsidy. The city council will eventually have to do this because the LINK has been plum full since day they opened. This of course should be NO surprise).
Sub Item #28, Parks & Rec, Conditional Gifting Agreement for house renovations with other improvements to be located at the Tuthill House within Tuthill Park. This gifting agreement will provide for exterior and interior house renovations and hardscaping to be funded and completed by the Tuthill Neighborhood Association, Tuthill Park Neighborhood Association, $0.00 (As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is a rare one. The Association took care of the entire project with very little from the city, design, contractors, materials etc. The sad irony is that this place should have been taken care of to begin with and never got into such disrepair. Some people are starting to wonder what is the Parks Department doing with their money?)
Item #7, Change Orders,
Sub Item #2, Phillips Avenue Improvements, 14th Street to 18th Street; Additional quantities and unforeseen conditions, T & R Contracting, $223K (I’m not sure what this is about, but I have warned that with prices of construction materials going up, contractors will be trying to have that inflation covered. I would like to see a councilor pull this item and have the street department explain what ‘additional quantities’ is?)
Item #23, Application for one day liquor licenses. (Notice the applicant who provides beverages at Levitt is asking for all of the licenses at the first meeting of the month, good idea.)
Item #57, 61-63, 2nd Reading, Sioux Steel TIF, which used to be 22 magically becomes 24 with the snap of the city’s fingers, yet they can’t figure out how to follow IM 26 rules without a lot of consternation and unrecorded task force meetings.
Item #59, 1st Reading, Ambulance rate increase (when you look at the original contract, you will see they are going from a 3% rate increase to a 5%.)
Item #65, A RESOLUTION ADVISING AND GIVING CONSENT TO THE APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO CERTAIN CITIZEN BOARDS. (Notice that former city councilor Erpenbach is getting appointed to the REMSA board, could this mean more transparency? LMFAO!)
Item #67, A MOTION TO PROVIDE ADVICE AND CONSENT FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF JONATHAN THUM AS POLICE CHIEF. (I told you the pretty one was going to get this appointment. Wonder if he will get any tough questions during his confirmation? Don’t hold your breath, that is NOT how cruise control government works.)
“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.†– Patrick Henry
“Information is the currency of democracy.†– Thomas Jefferson
“Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.” – Ben Franklin
“Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe.†– Abraham Lincoln
“A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.†– James Madison
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Ben Franklin
“Secrecy is for losers.†– Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“Sunshine is the greatest disinfectant†– Louis D. Brandeis
“Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.†– Lord Acton
l3wis