Sioux Falls Stay-At-Home ordinance, much to do about nothing

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I watched the Sioux Falls City Council meeting last night in somewhat disbelief (well not really) about how little people know about city ordinances and law, or how our system of local government even works. Hey, I’m not bagging on these folks, just look at who is running the city, they don’t have a clue of what they are doing either. The city attorney and city clerk are changing agendas and documentation on the fly on the online agenda without noticing that change to the public (big open meetings violation) then they lie about the timeframe it changed (needed to be 24 hours). Oh, and then there was the supposed executive session last week that was broadcasting throughout the entire building in Carnegie in which several citizens listened to the whole meeting. But that wasn’t the biggest issue. The biggest issue was the session was probably  illegal because the topics covered have nothing to do with executive session protocol. In other words, they are kind of in trouble over it, but we will cover that on a different day.

But what troubled me the most was all the citizens that showed up to protest this ordinance. Don’t get me wrong, they have the right to do that, but I think if most knew what it actually does (basically nothing) they would not have even bothered. There is really no teeth in the ordinance to stop people from operating their businesses. On top of that, pretty much any business can claim to be ‘essential’. There are a few exceptions, but they have already been closed for over a month. What the ordinance really should have laid out to be effective in keeping people at home is limiting businesses to groups of employees of 10 or less. Either in the office, or broken up into groups at a manufacturing plant for instance. This current proposed ordinance is basically a strongly worded suggestion that you try to stay at home (unless you have to go to work, the grocery store or the hospital).

There is a ton of people freaking out about really nothing. Even if this passes 2nd reading on Tuesday (which it probably won’t), it really isn’t any different than what is currently in place. It’s just a feel good suggestion from the city. If you need to work, and you can do it safely, go for it. No one will be stopping you.

Thinning of the Herd?

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When I say this, I’m NOT talking about lives. No matter someone’s age, every life matters in this crisis.

I am talking about certain businesses that will ultimately close, and that’s not such a bad thing. I do however feel bad for the people who will lose their jobs permanently due to bad business planning.

The first victims will be small, privately owned restaurants and bars. I will miss a handful of them, but for the most part, some of them I will not. I have often argued that Sioux Falls has 700 restaurants yet not a decent place to eat. Some of these places will not be missed.

The second victims will be small franchise restaurants. A lot of them will close due to national sales and little to do with what is going on locally. Good riddance.

The third victims will be privately owned clothing boutiques, gift shops, etc. Or as I call them, rich doctor’s wives hobby businesses, I know that is not completely accurate, but a lot of them will not be missed either.

I have a feeling that many small telephone booth casinos will close to. Thank GOD! I wish they would all close.

Further down the road many of these smaller, privately owned car dealerships will shut down as the economy begins to spiral out of control. Also will not be missed. When I was looking for a used car a few months ago, I was amazed at all of the crooked crap they tried to pull over on you. I ended up purchasing a car from a trusted, local, larger dealership.

Many realtors will be also out of work when the housing market begins to go sour. This one is hard to predict though, because it could go in the opposite direction with rock bottom interest rates. This sector will be interesting to watch.

Small landlords will also be going bankrupt when renters can’t pay, and they can’t find tenants. This is sad, because they supply housing to many lower income folks, their options will dry up. Affordable housing will go straight out the window. This may have some positive results with the city looking at rent control legislation.

You may see some small national retailers close and some smaller grocery franchises.

I also suspect some major manufacturers will have some big layoffs or closures. Many have already started including a certain ‘ag’ business and a certain ‘energy’ company.

The good part of all this, thrift stores will be booming, I love thrift stores. I rarely buy anything new unless it is a tomato or apple. LOL. But it may be slim pickings for me 🙁

As I told someone last night, once the virus ends, the real sickness comes, the bottom dropping out of our economy locally and nationally. I am hoping we can recover quickly, I really do, but I also remember what 2008’s recovery was like, I still think some sectors are still in recovery from it. I compare this virus to getting a broken leg, it only takes a split second, but the recovery takes a lot longer. Don’t believe what the POTUS says, we won’t bounce back from this in a couple of months.

It’s going to be a rough couple of years. Enjoy the time you may be spending at home, use this time as I have to self reflect on what is important in your life. More and more the answer to me has been very simple; Friends. I miss them more than even Big Macs.

SD State Rep. Michael SABA Face Mask Donation

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PRESS RELEASE

Hearing of the rise in COVID-19 cases in South Dakota, an international business contact of SD Rep Michael Saba (Dist. 9) sent a supply of face masks so Saba could distribute them to people who badly need them in District 9. Rep. Saba has distributed several hundred of the facemask donation around the District 9 region of rural Minnehaha County and the towns of Sioux Falls, Hartford, Humboldt and Crooks as requested, to people who particularly need them.

“This generous donation was unexpected and greatly appreciated at a time of personal protective equipment shortage” said Saba, “I still have facemasks available to distribute to organizations who are struggling to protect their volunteers.”

The donation to Representative Michael Saba came as a response to the assistance he has shown in bringing international trade delegations and various international trade opportunities for South Dakota.

“We are all in this fight for our health and well-being” Saba added, “the international trade group donating the 1000 hospital quality facemasks believe in the people of South Dakota. We are one big world.”

Saba has so far distributed them into Sioux Falls to the Urban Indian Center and to the immigrants primarily who worked for Smithfield who are without face masks. He has also donated them to meals on wheels groups that are getting food to elderly and disabled people and will continue  to donate them and to put together packages of face masks for other people in need as the supply remains. Rep. Saba also distributed them to various churches who do community outreach in our District 9 region.

More information can be obtained on how to reserve some of the remaining free facemasks from Representative Saba, contact him at his office phone number 605-526-5000 or his email Michael.Saba@sdlegislature.gov.

Sioux Falls ‘Stay at Home’ order will be an interesting City Council discussion and vote

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As Mayor TenHaken said today, the city council will consider the first reading of a stay at home order on Wednesday but will have to wait until next Tuesday to implement it. We get a peek of what it looks like below and HERE (Items 22-34). I have a feeling the discussion on the ordinance Wednesday night (not on the normal Tuesday) will be high drama. At this point I think the council is split on the issue, but I do encourage them to at least pass a 1st reading and if things change or get better by next Tuesday, they can just kill it or scale it back. I don’t think that is the case, I think by next Tuesday we will be in dire straits.

Many businesses are pounding on Councilors and the Mayor (mostly the self-employed) about not doing the order. I have argued with many councilors and business owners “If you can’t survive a 3 week closure of your business, you obviously 1) don’t have a good business model 2) don’t have a backup plan or savings for when these things occur. There has already been a stay home order in place pretty much for people who work in restaurants (wait staff) the elderly (65 and older) most public employees, teachers and students. Oh, and also covid patients that are not hospitalized. I’m not sure how all of these peeps can be forced to stay home, yet others cannot? But they can, as we will see (or not see).

I also remind businesses that there is Federal help available if you seek it. Many businesses I have talked to have taken advantage of the programs while still paying employees. You do have options.

While the stay at home orders are inconvenient, I have to remind people, until there is widespread testing of almost all of us, there is no safe way to work together in large groups. We can talk about possible treatments (the president invests in) expensive Cadillac ventilators (we are paying for, instead of effective cheaper models) and a vaccine that is probably over a year away, but let’s face it. There are only two ways to stop the spread at this point. Stay away from each other and ramp up testing, big time. Public health and safety should be our top priority, not whether the nation can have their BLT’s.

Here is the important part of the ordinance;

Section 1: Stay at Home Mandated

Effective immediately upon publication on April 24, 2020, residents of and visitors to Sioux Falls shall stay at home or a place of residence if possible, except to work in a critical infrastructure sector job or to conduct essential activities, both as defined herein.
A “critical infrastructure sector job” is one listed below or in the attachment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Workers During COVID-19 Response, updated March 28, 2020, attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference. The following are “critical infrastructure sector jobs” for purposes of this Ordinance:
• Construction workers who support the construction, operation, inspection, and maintenance of construction sites and construction projects (including housing construction)
• Workers such as plumbers, electricians, exterminators, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, construction material sources, and essential operation of construction sites and construction projects
• Professional services, such as legal or accounting services, insurance services, real estate services (including appraisal, home inspection, and title services), and veterinary services, inclusive of support staff.
• Employees of biotech companies
• Employees of financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, and insurance companies For purposes of this Ordinance, homes or places of residence include apartments, hotels, motels, shared rental units, dormitories, shelters, long-term care facilities, and similar facilities where a person may presently reside.

This of course covers a wide range of workers, in fact, I would argue unless you are making toy trains or whirly gigs, you are pretty much an essential worker – few workers will be affected. Amazingly, at my employer, while over half of us are already working from home, we probably fit in 3-4 different categories above, and ONE for sure.

I also find this ‘tif’ between Paul and his Snow Queen a bit interesting, especially when this juicy tidbit just came out today;

The source — who has been at the highest level of Republican politics — said Noem is making such a mess of things that she if she doesn’t land a job with Trump, she may face a strong primary challenge in 2022.

Among those who might take her on? Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, who is frustrated with Noem’s failure to lead during the COVID-19 crisis, when he has asked her to declare a statewide shelter-in-place order.

Another dismal of a failure Sioux Falls Mayor looking to be king of the state, while he has to rely on the city council to bail his ass out with a watered down ordinance that doesn’t take affect (April 24th) until half of the town is already infected. Thanks!