I’m assuming this will be played on the city’s FB page. While I will admit, we need to get people to hunker down, this should have happened weeks ago. Now we just need to figure out how to weather the storm at this point.
Dear City Council Colleagues and Citizens ,
This morning Councilor Janet Brekke and I had a very productive conference call with our City Attorney Stacy Kooistra and our Council Staff person Jim David.
We discussed two items that I wanted to share with you:
1. We discussed a proposed  ordinance that Councilor Brekke and I are preparing that will include safety  standards for protection of employees during this Covid 19 pandemic.  Councilor Brekke and I have spent hours working on this issue and now more than ever we feel it is a necessary part of our safety standards. We appreciate the advice and counsel of our City Attorney  Stacy Kooistra. We will keep you apprised of the outcome of those discussions.
2. We also discussed the  distribution issues related to  Rental Assistance fund.  This fund has $1 million tax dollars in it.  I have been receiving communication from recipients of the funds as to how the fund is being managed. After the conversation this morning with Councilor Brekke and City attorney Kooistra, I  did further follow up and had discussions with Planning director Jeff Eckhoff, 211 helpline director Janet Kitterams and Community outreach member Rich Merkouris. They have all agreed that the payment policy to the landlords could be revisited. Â
In the midst of these conversations, I have suggested:
****Reduce the award to 50%.
**** Stipulate that the remaining balance is forgiven by the landlord who is accepting the payment. NO FINES CAN BE IMPOSED UPON THE RENTER.
****Stipulate that the tenant will not be evicted for a minimum of 90 days.
The discussions are ongoing and we will keep you informed as to the latest developments.
Have a blessed, peaceful Good Friday and Easter.
Theresa Stehly
Councilor Neitzert made this statement on FB yesterday, let’s break it down;
Regarding the Coronavirus response, we continue to receive updates daily. Decision making is fluid and dynamic, as the situation evolves daily if not hourly.
Yet for some reason, the citizens are not being shared this same information. They are being left in the dark, as we saw by the surprise outbreak announcement at Smithfield today. When public officials are sharing important information, they must filter it quickly to what is easy to understand and disseminate it immediately. This is NOT happening.
The timing of when we take action is just as important as the actions themselves. I cannot stress this point enough. It is key.Â
Action should have been taken weeks ago! But like the weak coffee in the breakrooms of low paying employers across this city, our leader’s weakness to make life saving decisions is evident.
Our partners in the medical field and experts have made it clear that each action must be timed strategically in relation to the curve of the number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations we are seeing here locally. Not statewide. Not what is happening in New York. What is happening here in our metro area.
Really? When is our local healthcare providers funded by fee-harvesting credit card companies gonna share this strategic plan?
We consult daily with our partners at both hospitals and with our state department of health, who are part of our emergency operations center. If we act too early, **we will only delay the peak of our curve and unnecessarily extend restrictions and the tremendous negative impacts on our community**. Our response is measured and based on facts and data, modeling and current conditions in real time, rather than on emotion and fear.
So the sooner more people get sick, the faster this goes away?
It is imperative that we do the right things at the right time, to maximize effectiveness, to save the most lives, and to minimize the negative economic and by extension health impacts on our citizens from the consequences of our actions.
The economic impacts are happening, and will be long lasting. That is a forgone conclusion. Right know we must focus on health and not the size of people’s wallets.
Current restrictions that affect commerce and the economy affect tens of thousands of citizens negatively as well, from the loss of income, loss of food and/or housing security, homelessness, and various mental and physical health consequences. It is not a binary choice of “health” vs the “economy”. We are already seeing those negative effects locally, from those struggling to stay housed, to buy food, and to survive. Our homeless population and those on the edge of homelessness have limited options right now. People are being affected physically and mentally from the anxiety, stress, and depression this is causing. It should not be minimized, and it is important to consider it in our actions.
So when is this city government going to address this outside a FB post? Seriously? My brother has been unemployed for several weeks, and I said to him recently, ‘The working man is going to get ‘f’ked’ again, just like in 2008, and he said, ‘Pretty much.’ When are we going to make decisions based on the wellbeing of these people instead of the bottom line of few rich people in our village we call Sioux Falls?
We cannot minimize the side effects and consequences of our actions, which is another reason why it is so important to do the right things at the right time.
The ‘right time’ was weeks ago. We are past the point of no return. At this point we might as well stick our head in a wood chipper to hear the voice of reason.
Perhaps the number one goal is to make sure that we have enough beds and equipment at the peak to care for all of the patients that will need it, both those affected by Coronavirus and those who have other medical needs at the same time. That one goal if we can accomplish it will save the most lives. Our strategy, decision making and timing, made in close conjunction with the hospitals, revolves around that goal.
So when is the public going to hear this ‘master plan’? So far we have heard nothing except a holding pattern of a jet that is running on fumes.
Finally, we have to navigate our legal limitations, both the limitations on what we can do as a city where the state has preemption, but also recognizing that even emergency powers are not unlimited and that civil rights still exist during a crisis. We do have limits on what we can do, but we are finding ways to do what needs to be done. It is a delicate balancing act to take all of these sometimes competing goals into account.
In times of crisis, our country, our state and city government home rule charter have unique powers to react to these kinds or emergency situations. but you and many others in city government have chosen to stick your heads in the sand while Rome is burning to the ground.
I’m proud of our city, confident in our administration and emergency operations center, and proud of our citizens that are making the necessary sacrifices for the good of one another. We will get through this!
I’m not usually a praying man, but at this point, it seems prayer is our only hope, because our elected leaders are leading us to Hell and back.
As I warned, if you didn’t use city resources and had no transparency with the rental help program it could be misused;
“There is no specific agreement that the landlord signs,” said Janet Kittams, executive director of the 211 Helpline Center. “We’re taking it on a good faith commitment that when they receive that check for 70% of the rent that they will not evict that person.”
This is why it needs to be administered by city officials, so they can put in stipulations that evictions don’t occur. Non-Profits don’t have that authority;
Anderson said city officials told him the city doesn’t have the authority to stop evictions from happening based on South Dakota law, but he argued that because the city of Sioux Falls has a mandatory registry of rental properties, making it the sole authority over what “those licensees may or may not do with those licenses.”
“I understand that there might not be any established legal precedent for what we’re asking, but we are living in unprecedented times,” he said. “I have no doubt that you all care for your fellow citizens, but I’m asking you tonight to turn that care into action.”
And once again, Stehly was justified in asking those questions;
Councilor Theresa Stehly pressed city staff on whether landlords were bound to play nice with their tenants if they received money through the One Sioux Falls Fund.
“I don’t know,” Sioux Falls Planning and Development Services Director Jeff Eckhoff said.
The program should have been administered through the planning office. But that is the least of the city’s problems.
This morning Mayor TenHaken said a major employer has become a hotspot. The guess by many and the media is Smithfield (who recently offered employees a $500 bonus for showing up to work over the next month). But our very transparent mayor didn’t want to share that information with the public. Later Noem admitted to it.
WHAT!?
If there is a major outbreak of covid at a major employer, don’t you think for public safety we need to tell the public who it is?! I keep beating this drum, TRANSPARENCY DURING A TIME OF CRISIS IS CRITICAL! I don’t understand why PTH doesn’t get it. The public has a right to know what business this is, for our safety and wellbeing.
This is why a stay at home order for businesses that employ ten or more needed to be implemented a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m afraid it may be too late. The head doctor at Falls Community Health admitted today that since we didn’t have stay at home orders like many cities across the US our numbers will now spike, dramatically. She made this admission today at the health board meeting. An admission PTH failed to inform the public about this morning, and even telling Belfrage this morning that he ‘didn’t want to show modeling daily to the public, because it changes to much.’ I have argued what will get people to stay home is putting the fear of God in them by giving them the realistic projections, instead we have downplayed the pandemic and put on art contests to keep our minds off of the inevitable. Again, NO LEADERSHIP and NO TRANSPARENCY.
The meeting last night (above) wasn’t much better. Cameraman Bruce addressed transparency during a crisis (below-transcript at bottom of article), but it fell on deaf ears. And while Stehly offered amendments for the safety of employees, the RS5 once again said while it was a good idea, they couldn’t support it, because you know, it was Stehly’s idea. Councilor Neizert even commented that by voting against it, people will write bad things about them (the RS5) on social media. Yeah, because you need to stop listening to our moronic city attorney who doesn’t know his butt from a hole in the ground.
At public input, even a citizen pointed out that we have the legal rights to implement rules when it comes to stay at home orders and eviction stipulations.
Besides the lack of transparency and legal knowledge of what to do during a health emergency, it appears some on the council are also worried about their appearance. Put a trucker hat on it, maybe that will make you look better, but just like the bunker ramp, you can only get the sh*t so shiny when you polish a turd.
Bruce’s input transcript; Democracy dies in darkness
Real leaders can take people into the darkness and find the light.
Democracy dies in darkness
Our elected leaders saying I “really didn’t sign up for this†is missing the point of leadership 101. There are no classes to teach imaginative leadership. It does not come from the Gallup Polling service. We have had many leaders who really didn’t understand what they got themselves into even prior to the drought, virus or tornadoes.
Democracy dies in darkness
Government positions are not to be treated as pedestals of success, a position of stature, or a line on their resume. We voters elected every one of you on this dais to lead us through the darkness by giving us disaster plans when times are good. We had boom times up until 2 months ago, why didn’t the RS5 and the plus one up in front of us have the disaster plans ready.
Democracy dies in darkness
The reason we question and then get derided by the RS5 members of this body is because we have been asking for preparedness and all we get are jabs, assaults, broken teeth, jail time and more.
Democracy dies in darkness
Last week, when I was finally able to log into the meetings held in this very room, I saw what could easily be prosecuted as criminal. This is not Soviet Russia or Red China, this body is a public government forum where our rights guarantee our leaders and the public the ability to ask questions. No matter how embarrassing it might be to those in power. To tell the members of this body they cannot ask questions before they vote is criminal. Councilor Starr did the right thing in attempting to adjourn the meeting.
Democracy dies in darkness
The reasons we ask embarrassing questions is because some of us have been lied to and jailed as a result of our questions. Just think the Midco Pool windows, HVAC failures in a building we didn’t need, a death caused by a failed parking ramp project, secret settlements for a lousy siding job and more. As said in the old movie “Don’t pee in my boot and tell me it’s raining.†We know the difference.
Democracy dies in darkness
Opening an official meeting of this city by calling it goat roping is insulting to the body and especially the voters who put you here. Also, hiding the city’s pressers, business and health discussions on a private membership, data harvesting service such as Facebook and not putting them on the taxpayer’s CityLink should be considered a crime.
Democracy dies in darkness
Now more than ever, the public needs a voice in this room because our city leadership has shown window shades are safer than open windows. This city government needs to empty their boots and get to work opening up the process to the public. It has come to the time after hearing the open discussion at today’s Informational, the public should be able to sign up to speak via their phones or computers. If you have to be here until midnight, we don’t care.
Democracy dies in darkness, this is a dark place.