UPDATE: Forgot to mention Pride being held at the Canaries stadium. Several wondered why there was no alcohol at the event. I always assumed they wanted to make it more family friendly, but that was NOT the case. Besides being charged an atrocious amount for rent of the facility they got NO staff from the Canaries. SF Pride had to staff the entire event and I guess the Canaries said NO ALCOHOL since they would NOT be providing staff to serve it. Now, SF Pride could have taken out a temporary license for the event, but that takes a little planning.
I was shocked to see Kristi during Pride festivities. Cricket didn’t look so good.
I used to post these, and I am going to start again. It’s the weekly state of politics according to Sheldon, enjoy!
In politics: Nationally: Per polling to date, Trump’s felony conviction has had only a small effect on the Presidential election in November. It is hard to believe that only a small portion of the electorate is bothered by the thought of having a President with a finger on the nuclear button who is ineligible to purchase a firearm in most States.
In South Dakota: The main stream wing of the Republican Party suffered a solid defeat in the primary elections held last week. Fourteen incumbent Republican legislators were replaced by insurgent and, generally speaking, more conservative (MAGA-like) candidates. The South Dakota Democratic Party (SDDP) might have been able to take advantage of this rightward drift of the GOP if they had fielded a full slate of candidates. Unfortunately, the SDDP handicapped itself by running Legislative candidates in only 52 of South Dakota’s 105 legislative races, one of the SDDP’s poorer candidate recruitment efforts in recent memory. They will have to wait until next year as they say in sports, or the next election cycle, as they say in politics.
The SDDP will hold its State Convention next week and it is long past time form it to reflect on its current direction. Democratic registration continues to decline, breaking the support level of 144,000 as of June 4th, ending with 143,993 registered Democrats, down 250 since May 1st against a Republican registration gain of 1239. The is the 10th consecutive month Democratic voter registration has declined. Over this time period, which just happens to coincide with the current SDDP leadership’s recall of their State Chair, Jennifer Slaight-Hansen, the Republican plurality over Democratic registration in South Dakota increase by 10,096. As I often repeat, the voting public in South Dakota is not buying what the SDDP’s current leadership is selling.
So when the Proud Boys wanted to sponsor a street dance in Scotland a few years back, the city was like, “Come on down.” Until Frankie and the other towns folk said, “Get lost.”
Hey Will, it is the ROCK you and your fellow legislators have created over the past 60 years so don’t act all surprised when these A-Holes arrive in Pierre.
At the informational on Wednesday council got some updates on our new transit provider (FF 19:00). The Planning Director told council that last year the legislature permitted agencies like Dakotabilities and Lifescape to take a 100% reimbursement on Medicade for transit services. Jeff asked if the city would be repaid that money and the agencies said they are using the money and they are only getting 80% from the state right now. Hopefully in the future the Feds will reimburse us for Paratransit rides.
SANDFORD WELLNESS CENTER
At the regular council meeting Wednesday night the council pulled the item that will fund the fitness center we are buying from Sanford for $9 million. (FF: 8:30);
A motion was made by Council Member Merkouris and seconded by Council Member Soehl to approve Sub-Item 5, Parks/Recreation: Offer to Purchase Commercial Real Estate and Asset Agreement, 24-0070, Sanford Wellness Center; Sanford Medical Center; $9,000,000.
Roll call vote to approve. 7Yes: Basye, Cole, Merkouris, Sigette, Soehl, Spellerberg, Barranco; 1 No: Thomason. Motion Passed.
During the discussion, Jeff mentions that Sanford will have to lease back the property until January 1st until the city takes it over. Sanford sent club members an email;
Valued member,
We have some brief updates to share regarding the timeline for the proposed purchase of Sanford Wellness Center Tea-Ellis by the City of Sioux Falls. Following final approval from the City Council at this week’s meeting, Mayor TenHaken signed the purchase agreement with a tentative closing date later this fall.
We acknowledge and appreciate that this approval represents a major change for our members along with some temporary uncertainty as details are worked out. With that in mind, we continue to reiterate and reassure you that nothing will change with your Sanford Wellness Center membership at this time.
Here are a some additional details:
The purchase process will move forward with an expected closing date within the next three months.
On the closing date, the City will officially own the building; however, we will continue to operate Tea-Ellis as a Sanford Health facility until the City is prepared to take over operations.
Tentatively, the City will take over in late 2024 and no later than Jan. 1, 2025.
This purchase does not include our Oxbow location, which will remain a Sanford Health facility.
The City’s next steps include developing plans for operations as well as membership and programming options.
Throughout the purchase and transition period, we continue to welcome questions and conversations. To help address some of your most frequently asked questions so far, we have the following resources available:
Posters with our question submission QR code have been placed at Oxbow and Tea-Ellis and are available for anyone to ask a question.
Answers to these questions are primarily available on the FAQs page referenced above.
We look forward to sharing more details with our members in the coming months.
Thank you for your patience, and importantly, for choosing Sanford Wellness Center to be part of your health journey.
Be Well,
Mike Davidson, General Manger, Sanford Wellness Center Scott Hettenbach, Director, Sports Performance and Wellness Centers
I also found it interesting that Thomason voted against the measure after asking about membership fees. I have a question into Richard asking him why he voted NO and wait to hear back from him.
You can also listen to my public input about the Dakota Scout becoming the legal paper for the city and during public input I said this;
Scott Ehrisman spoke on TIFs, development & project costs, and a previous Councilor not living in the district he represented.
This was in the notes, notice they didn’t put the name of the councilor in the minutes, I said the name, Marshall Selberg. Sneaky. I should ask the clerk’s office to amend the minutes.
The police have been patrolling the bike trails to check speeds and E-Bike classifications. Only E1s and E2s are allowed. E3s and any other electric mobility devices that are not for ADA use are NOT allowed.
Make sure your E-Bike classification sticker is visible for police if they stop you. If you don’t have a sticker the police WILL look up your bike online to see the classification.
They are also checking speeds! Which is great! Remember the speed is 15 MPH. I have settings on my bike so I set it at 13 MPH, I recommend everyone else does the same. Always use extreme caution when passing others.
We have to exhibit to the council over the next year that as citizens we can handle the responsibility of riding an electric bike on the rec trail. If you want to horse around or haul ass, take it to the streets!
