I was unable to attend last Monday’s meeting and I have noticed that after 8 days it has yet to be posted on YouTube. I still don’t understand why the meetings cannot be live streamed as they are recorded at Carnegie, but to take 8 days to post a video that can easily be converted and uploaded to YT within a couple of hours is troubling. So unless you could have left work early last Monday and attended in person you have NO idea what was discussed. Transparent government at its best!
Patrick Lalley, the Sioux Falls reporter for Forum news took a stab at it;
And maybe that’s true for some. But what people working in social services will tell you is that the panhandlers aren’t the people showing up at the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House, the primary shelter for the homeless in downtown Sioux Falls.
There have been some misconceptions out there as to WHO is panhandling and why.
Most assume that panhandling, at some level, must be illegal. But it’s not, as long as the person is on the sidewalk, not standing in the street obstructing traffic and not harassing the public.
But you can shut off the tap;
But, he (Mayor TenHaken) has said many times, the only way to stop panhandling is to cut off the cash. Give your money to the many agencies whose mission is to help people. The city has signs around downtown that say just that.
South Dakota blogger Scott Ehrisman takes it a step further and suggests that when drivers hand money out of the car window, they should be ticketed for obstructing traffic, not the panhandler.
It’s an intriguing idea because it spreads the social burden.
Maybe the threat of paying even a $10 ticket — same as a parking violation — changes the mental equation.
It’s one thing to give money to a person in a bad way. It’s quite another to have to give it to the government.
I have also suggested this to a Homeless Task Force member as something to consider. It would probably get pushback from the public, but maybe that is a good reason to try it.
I have been hearing rumors for years from Minnehaha County officials (elected and non-elected) that other towns and cities were buying bus tickets and sending their homeless to Sioux Falls. During the meeting on Monday, this was confirmed by Kari Benz from the MC. She said while many other towns in SOUTH DAKOTA were sending them here to take care of them, they also come from Florida, Texas and California.
While it is disappointing we are getting people from other states, what is more disheartening is our fellow SD communities have decided to use Sioux Falls as a dumping ground for what they might consider undesirables. I would encourage MC to start sending these towns and counties a bill for providing the services. Other counties can’t use MC’s jail without paying a fee so why do they think they can just use our homeless services for free? The homeless doesn’t pay for these services, WE DO, the taxpayers of this community and county.
I have said to solve some of these issues, we are going to have to work with all parties and taxpayers. We spend millions each year in operating, bond payments and maintenance of our entertainment facilities (some of which sat completely empty for a year during Covid) but we don’t have any money to build another overnight shelter? Give me a break!
This is what happens when you have growth for growth sakes and throw gasoline on the fire of development with 20 year tax rebates (TIFs) and other incentives. The incentive needs to be in job training, affordable housing and wage increases. The developers, banksters and bondsters are fat enough, let them sleep under a bridge every once in awhile.
Here are some takeaways from last night’s meeting (it only took 12 hours this time to get the video up, still don’t know why they don’t live stream);
• Several complaints about the mismanagement of Dudley House, the way they are treating clients, not taking care of situations, working with clients, interviewing them, etc.
• The public (city, county) is not properly funding the management of homelessness and there needs to be more police foot patrols.
• Panhandlers have taken over the neighborhood (Before the signs went up about not giving to panhandlers, my SIGN idea was to make it clear that GIVING to panhandlers out of the window of your vehicle while in traffic is ILLEGAL. There is NO purpose in giving violations or shaming panhandlers, it won’t stop them from asking, not to mention they have a 1st Amendment right to ask for money. The solution is making it clear to motorists that you can be fined for obstructing traffic. The only way we can get panhandling under control is shutting off the tap, that means cracking down on the contributors).
• The Dudley house is in a bad location. I suggested when they picked this location that there is plenty of space just north of the jail. Not only would it be close to law enforcement it would be within a few blocks of Falls Community Health and The Link. The Dudley house needs to close its current location and move.
• The 9th Street Alley that runs along the south side of the Dudley needs to be closed and fenced off.
• The clients need to participate in their recovery.
While nobody brought this up during the meeting, I know that there is a lack of transitional housing in Sioux Falls. The legislative/policy body of the city, the council, could write ordinances that require developers to provide so many efficiency, felon friendly, transitional units for every regular unit they build. They could also require rent control in these units that only have their rent increased with inflation.
I have a few takeaways from the meeting;
• There needs to be more felon friendly efficiency options for transitional housing. Regular market rate apartments are just too expensive right now for people looking for transitional housing.
• There needs to be officers dedicated to helping the homeless community.
• Religious discrimination needs to end (I wasn’t quite certain how often this actually happens, but needs to be looked at.)
• The most surprising thing I heard was that the different organizations, while somewhat working together, don’t have the infrastructure set up to work together on a more regular basis because their missions are all different. I think they work really hard to work together, but it seems it is all on a volunteer basis and they are NOT mandating they work together.
At the end of the meeting I heard member Michelle Erpenbach ask Chair Merkouris,
“So the work sessions will not be recorded?”
It cut off before he answered her. I have reached out to Rich and told him that the meetings need to live stream, because waiting 2 1/2 days for a meeting to post to YouTube just doesn’t cut it for transparency. I am not sure why this committee or board meeting is any different, in fact, I think this is a very important board, and they really need to approach this with transparency. Nothing gets solved in the dark.
The next meeting is Monday at 7 PM.