South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Downtown Sioux Falls

Bishop Dudley House Downtown Sioux Falls Homeless Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

Fence around the Dudley House is just a developer scam

l3wis 10Comments

UPDATE: During the meeting last night the Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese came up to podium to answer questions. He basically said that the city wants the entire lot (including the building) in 5 years for a construction staging area (to build the convention center). It is always amazing when folks from non-profits come to the podium and tell us the ‘REAL’ reason this is happening. I’m sure it took awhile for him to pull his foot from his mouth and the mayor’s boot from his behind.

The city council in all their ‘wussiness’ deferred the fence to March 4th. Much of the public input tonight was about how horrible of an idea this was and the council knew in all of their weakness if they passed this tonight all Hell would break loose, so they did what a gutless body of government does, kick the can down the road. They like to do this. I call them the ‘Hand Wringing’ council. This is what you get when no one has challengers and they take money from the elitist class. If you think the council works for you, please let me in on the good stuff you are smoking.

They want to have a neighborhood meeting (which is code for we want justification for our YES votes). City government is so predictable I thought about starting an online gambling site betting on their decisions. I would make millions!

But the kicker tonight wasn’t about giving a religious organization worth billions of dollars a fence, it was about a lease deal to take over the property, and guess what that is for? A convention center.

I gotta tell yah Pastor Poops, the Convention Center will fail, HUGE! Why? Because you have never completed anything in the public sector except F’cking things up. You have ZERO leadership skills, and you are kind of a jerk! You are also very angry, which I don’t understand. How is it a family man with a successful business and regular church attendance worth millions can be so stressed? Weird.

So in an attempt to move the shelter the city came up with this complex plan to build a fence.

If I just remove myself from this community and look at this from an exterior lens, it is pretty obvious what is going on here.

It’s not about a fence, it is about the ‘SNAKES’ in city hall trying to shove a convention center down our throats. Any councilor who votes for this will never recover. Trust me on this. Make the BDH pay for this. It is their property and they can do what they want.

1st Amendment Downtown Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

1st Amendment 1, Mayor 0.

l3wis 8Comments

During the council meeting tonight I was able to speak on the gifting audit (FF: 2:17:00). I first want to clarify, what I was talking about is what the city GIFTS to non-profits and this is NOT what the audit is for, so yeah, I was off topic, but no councilor corrected me. The audit is for gifts given to the city that have value, like the Brockhouse Animals. But I still think it was a pertinent topic to address in the same wheelhouse, the city giving millions away to non-profits with little accountability. Once again, just like clockwork the mayor tried to shut down my testimony because I was off topic. Well this time, the mayor got a tongue lashing from me, and when he tried another bite at the apple, he received another lashing, then sat back in his chair like the weak, ineffective leader he is. Maybe he brushed up on his 1st Amendment rights before the meeting, but I think he knows he was soundly beat, because I can almost taste that 1st Amendment lawsuit. Keep it up Poops, my list of people you interrupted is growing by the day, and they are a great bunch, might even say they are CLASS ACTION, uh I mean, CLASS ACTS.

I also spoke during public input (FF: 2:32:00) about the tax scheme the city tried to pull on citizens in the legislature for that stupid Riversh!t Pisstrict. I think I said it was a ‘snakey’ move. Which now I look back on and wonder why I don’t prepare my testimony like Chad Bishop. Oh, that’s right, it takes hours to research conspiracy theory sites and pull this together, I ain’t got time for that, meeting some friends for pizza in a basement to trade Chomsky and Marx books.

1st Amendment Downtown Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken Property Taxes Riverline District Sioux Falls South Dakotans State Funding State Legislature Taxes

What’s next for the Riverline District?

l3wis 6Comments

I can’t imagine the meetings at City Hall today after the SD Legislative Taxation Committee killed the 3rd penny tax in a squeaker, 7-6. It is no secret their ignorant plan was to convince some rubes from rural districts to support this so they can build a street. But most people knew the jig was up. This was about building a Convention Center that nobody wants or cares about. The Ice Ribbon is a great example of a project NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE asked for. But now $16 million later here we are.

So some are asking, without this special 3rd penny tax authority can we move forward with the Riverline District? Yes and NO.

While I think the mayor is about as bright as a bar of soap in a truck stop restroom, I think he knew this may not pass, so they may have a backup plan.

I hate to break it to you Poops, but the legislature is dug in on this one, it ain’t going anywhere. Even if passed out of committee it would have been DEAD in the full legislature.

So how can they still salvage the Convention Center deal? It will be financial gymnastics, but they can still do it within their means, but on a smaller scale. My guess is they will push all bond expectations toward the project and see how much they can borrow. They have also been banking reserve funds which I think they want to use for a down payment (It is between $70-80 million) Why does the city have a savings account from our taxes that is 3x what ordinance asks for? With this surplus and borrowing authority the city could build this without a special tax, but the private donations would have to be significant.

My suggestion all along is to implement an INCOME tax on corporations in SF that have more then 500 employees, Hotels and Hospitality to pay for this. They are the benefactors of conventions, visitors and tourism, the average citizen buying a Twin Bing at the GC won’t benefit BUT these industries would. MAKE THEM PAY FOR IT!

To tell you the truth, the more I think about it, I am not opposed to the city buying the land, it has potential, but with this crappy tax revenue source killed, the city will have to get creative. My suggestion? Demo and plant grass, form a committee that will tell us the best use for the land for the least expensive capital improvement. One idea I had years ago is turning Fawick park into a sculpture garden and put all the SculptureWalk sculptures in the park as a destination, essentially an outdoor museum. We could do this here for minimal costs.

It is no secret that Poops would benefit financially thru this deal (still digging on this one, and will crack that case).

Make no mistake, TenHaken’s lack of leadership, transparency and vision put the last nail in this coffin, and I got to admit after I watched the vote live, I howled in enthusiasm. I think I even did a jig. I am a good jigger.

But don’t get lazy, they will try to cut a deal and we must ride their asses until they are dragging on a gravel road. This ain’t over.

The irony of all this is Poop’s record on getting things done. It is awful. And if I was him I would be embarrassed and resign. Bunker Ramp, 6th street bridge, Delbridge dead monkeys, and the constant lying and belittling of public inputers. YOU ARE NOT A LEADER. YOU ARE NOT A VISIONARY.

Developers Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

Tifilicious in Sioux Falls

l3wis 2Comments

With the recent passing of a major developer many readers have been asking me the question,

How much did his company get in TIFS just in Sioux Falls?

I could only find numbers back to 2005 (TIFs were introduced in 1989). Since 2005 the developer received around $40 million in TIFS. The developer also has received TIFs in other SD communities, including RC and Madison and I think out of state. This is $40 million taken from property taxes over decades while residential in this town pay 80% of property taxes while these developers skirt their taxation duty. The developer has also received tax rebates from the city. Oh, and let’s not forget paying the mayor $1M over value for his DT building.

I will admit he did a lot to develop downtown, but we paid for a good chunk of it. I have never spoken with him, but I still remember the council meeting before the 2008 recession where they were promoting another tax scam on the residents of SF, and when we crashed, none of the promises were met by the developers. Shocker, I know. Or how the city sat on the Phillips Loft land for 10 years tax free then sold it to him after he received a TIF.

My condolences to the family, I’m sure his legacy will carry on, oh I know it will, some of these TIFs don’t expire until 2035.

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