According to NACO (National Association of Counties) The two counties are going to get almost $50 million between the two of them from the latest Covid recovery bill. That’s a hefty chunk of change.
Besides helping alleviate medical costs for the uninsured, I highly suggest starting in April they setup a drive thru massive Covid vaccination site where individuals and families can drive thru to get shots simply by hanging their arms out the window of their cars.
Other states and cities are doing this or at least prepping for it as a fast and efficient way to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.
Sometimes good ideas are just that simple.
They are also recruiting volunteers from any sector (besides nurses, doctors and pharmacists) that are qualified to give shots like animal vets.
The health systems, the community health clinic, and pharmacies could join forces and set up such a site(s).
Sadly, I suspect they will blow it on something else, you know like the state did with the first round of relief money giving it to hotels, developers, restaurants and go kart tracks.
I hope the counties get their poop in a group and spend the money wisely, but like most places run by right winger nutzos greed and selfishness will probably win the day.
If you FF the above meeting to 1:10:00 you will see an incident that should have never occurred. It was all spurred by the chair of the meeting (Mayor TenHaken) attempting to shut down public input. Though after he gets his butt handed to him by fellow councilors he proclaims he wasn’t going to shut it down. Yeah, sure, you betcha. He announced at the beginning of public input on the mask mandate that he was going to shut it down at one hour, and exactly at the one hour mark he proceeded with his ‘summary’ in which councilor Starr asked for a point of order. All the shouting back and forth could have ended there.
How?
Well, the chair should have automatically recognized the point of order, he did not, because even after 2 years he still doesn’t understand how to run a meeting.
The city attorney could have jumped in, but since he basically only works for the mayor, he sat there like a bump on a log.
It was actually the job of the city clerk to recognize the point order, he eventually did, but he had to get chided by several councilors to do so. Tom Greco, the city clerk, has been here long enough to know he should intervene in these matters, he works for the council and it is there meeting, he should have automatically, politely told the mayor they needed to rule on Starr’s point of order.
I have often been concerned about the cozy relationship between Greco and TenHaken, it is unhealthy and not good for open government. Tom was appointed/hired by the city council and he must answer to his 8 managers NOT the mayor’s office or even the city attorney’s office.
I highly recommend the city council have an executive session with Greco (this is the legal way to handle personnel issues) and encourage him to intervene moving forward. I would also encourage the council to tell him they fully support him and will back him up if he gets any attacks from the chair for doing so. I don’t think it would be appropriate to punish Tom or censure him for what happened Tuesday, but I would tell him that this is a polite reminder and warning to do his job or take a hike.
Sidenote; I’ve been hearing a lot of blame going around that Councilor Starr is the one who forced the mayor to vote on the tie, but the interesting part is the mayor is the one who was playing games. I guess he approached a certain councilor to vote a certain way so he wouldn’t have to break a tie and that councilor refused, so right before the meeting Paul supposedly cornered Jensen to vote so he wouldn’t have to break a tie, and Jensen bailed on his promise to Kiley. This of course is why Starr likely pulled the Joker from his hand. It’s often important to remember that our beloved mayor plays a lot of these games behind the scenes, and when things don’t go his way he is quick to point fingers. Paul, you are the one that is responsible for the Sh!t Show Tuesday night, no one else.
While I think there are more smarts between two drunk squirrels then what’s swirling around in the mostly empty cavity between Kristi’s ears I think she knew if Trump wasn’t elected for a 2nd term (he really wasn’t elected for a 1st term) that things would get pretty dark for her and South Dakota.
Within 60 days of Biden’s term he has already done this;
• Blocked Keystone pipeline (I believe this is permanent.)
• Fireworks cancelled at Mt. Rushmore (this should have never happened to begin with in 2020, it was obviously a Trump campaign rally that endangered public and sacred lands. I knew once Deb Haaland became Interior Secretary, a Native American herself, she would put an end to it.)
I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg and I think if the Democrats put up a strong candidate to run against her you will see money pouring into the state from blue supporters.
The backlash has just begun and I think the Federal funding issues and cancellations are just the beginning of the Biden administration making it very miserable for Noem and frankly the rest of us. I actually think there will be Federal investigations into how the state has conducted business.
Thanks Kristi for dragging the rest of us along for the ride because of your sick obsession with the Orange Menace.
Yes, in a town where most people are middle to lower income some rich folks in town want their own airstrip next to their homes. The two petitioners are involved with a large construction company and the ethanol industry. The developer helping with the project is former City Councilor and current State Legislator, Greg Jamison.
While the proposal was a tie/stalemate with Minnehaha County voting for it and the City Planning Commission voting against, that means it goes to the Minnehaha CC and Sioux Falls city council for joint meeting approval on March 23.
A city official told me today that it may not make that date because the FAA is rumored to have already put a kabosh on it. We will see.
l3wis