More on the Sam Kooiker censure (H/T – Fleming)

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Seems some people are trying to cover their asses;

What does all this mean? Well, it means that after receiving the May 6 email, Alderman Kooiker and Alderman Weifenbach went to the mayor and insisted on a real investigation, which we now know has resulted in Fish Garbage Service facing a civil lawsuit, significant security changes at the landfill, an employee who has been dismissed, and an on-going criminial investigation of the entire matter with the investigation going back seven years (statute of limitations), indicating that the situation at the landfill had been going on for many years and costing the citizens of Rapid City many dollars.

When Alderman Weifenbach asked about the problem years prior, he did not have an email evidence trail. And, so when he was told there was nothing going on at the landfill, he had no evidence other than his word that he brought it up. Enter Alderman Sam Kooiker who hears from a different source and makes the email inquiry.

This, of course, makes the public works director and the mayor look very bad, since this has been going on under their noses for years. And, they chose to do a half fast investigation by asking the (now fired) employee if he was a crook, and took his word for it when he said “nope.”

A city councilor in RC censured for questioning wasteful spending?

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Obviously I have not seen the emails, but my first response would be that Mr. Kooiker was wrongly censored;

Kooiker and Wieczorek went on the offensive for more than an hour, arguing the details of the Rapid Transit incident, the resolution of censure and the actual content of the more than 1,000 pages of e-mails released by the city.

Wieczorek said by definition, harassment means conduct that causes emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. The e-mails Kooiker sent to both Sagen and Ellis, he said, were primarily seeking answers for constituent questions and concerns.

“Is this harassment of Mr. Sagen?” Wieczorek said. “Was there an attempt at a legitimate purpose?”

Included in the e-mails are one-sentence messages, thank you e-mails, messages repeated multiple times and messages forwarded directly from constituents, Wieczorek said.

“He asks questions in a way that you might not ask questions. But that doesn’t make his questions wrong. He approaches his advocacy for constituents with zeal, with gusto. That doesn’t make that approach wrong. He does not back down, he follows up. That does not make his approach wrong,” Wieczorek said.

The sad part about it was, that Kooiker was looking for answers on throwing away $30,000 in unused transit fliers, then the city spends another $17,000 investigating whether or not he ‘harrassed’ city employees. Talk about a monkey fucking a football. Not only should our elected officials have the right to question department heads, they should be doing it on a regular basis and secondly, these department heads better be giving, honest, timely answers. Who do these people think pays them? A money tree? Taxpayers pay you, and you should have to answer to them. See, in the private sector, when your boss asks you a question, you answer him, you don’t go crying and filing harassment suits because you didn’t like the answer he asked you. Last I checked we are a right-to-work state. Your boss can fire you for any reason, and in the same respect you can quit for any reason. If you don’t like how your employer (the taxpayer) is treating you, then quit, otherwise STFU.

I liked this interview Kooiker did with Stormland TV News. This quote stood out;

“It is part of my responsibility to question how tax dollars are being spent when we have a $140 million budget. It is a responsibility that I take very seriously. This resolution, if it passes, essentially turns council members into rubber stamps,” Kooiker said.

That’s how it works in Sioux Falls. Don’t ask any questions and get out the rubber stamp. That approach has put our city over $330 million dollars in debt and the only thing we have to show for it is monkey crappers and potholes.

Cabela’s in Rapid City pulls a ‘Uptown at the Falls’

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Cabela’s might as well start making vehicles for the working man

It seems another big wheel in South Dakota is looking for a FREE, socialistic handout;

All but one of four $500,000 cash payments to Cabela’s have been made by the city, but transfer of the land didn’t happen as quickly.

Sure, we will take the $1.5 million, but paying property taxes? No way dude.

Opponents of Cabela’s incentive package formed the No Free Lunch Committee that brought the issue to the ballot box. Spokesman Fred Weishaupl said he hasn’t changed his mind about the incentives package and questions why Cabela’s has waited to assume ownership of the land.

“Why should the city keep owning it? Why wait?,” he said. “Cabela’s doesn’t want it in their name to avoid paying property tax on it.”

Imagine that, kinda sounds like a couple of developers we have in Sioux Falls. I was surprised that Rapid City voters approved the subsidy. It has been well documented that Cabela’s asks for taxpayer handouts wherever they go. And it is not like they sell essential goods and services to citizens, they sell high-end hunting supplies and employee very few people at their stores. Cabela’s is a socialist company – wonder when they are going to start making ‘the people’s car’?

A Transexual from Transylvania? Nope. Rapid City.

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Good luck getting a job in Rapid City in that get-up

How week kneed is the Rapid City council  if they can’t even approve a resolution that has no effect on official policy?

The Rapid City Council rejected on Monday a watered-down version of a resolution opposing workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The council voted 8-2 against the resolution by Alderwoman Karen Gunderson Olson, which would have stated the city’s support for adding sexual orientation and gender identity — or transgender — to protected classes under federal law.

I can’t image if this resolution was presented by a Sioux Falls city councilor. Quen Be De would go into such a fit she would faint. While councilor Jamison would put on a one actor version of RENT.

It was a statement without effect in policy, but it was too much for the overwhelming majority of council members to accept.

I suggest you spend a night on the dancefloor of the Saloon in Minneapolis – you’ll leart to ‘accept’ a lot of things.

Dale Bartscher, pastoral ministries director for the South Dakota Family Policy Council, said the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution already protects people with different sexual orientations from discrimination. Adding additional protections to gays, lesbians, and bisexual and transgender people isn’t needed and could be harmful, he said.

“I believe it’s a slippery slope once you allow one group special privileges based on behavior. It’s a Pandora’s box,” Bartscher said.

Special privileges?! You mean like equality, something all the rest of us share? Sorry, Dale, but any representative from the SD Family Policy Council isn’t qualified to give advice on gay and lesbian rights. Now go back to protesting abortion.

Martinson said sexual orientation and gender identity aren’t simple behavior, but rather are inherent characteristics that people are born with.

Just like Republicans missing the chromosome that helps the rest of us recognize common sense?

Because lying is OKAY, as long as you are being positive

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Don’t be fooled by the beard, that’s Northside Davey in disguise

Apparently RC’s Mayor Hanks and Munson share a playbook;

“We have our challenges here, there’s no question. The national economy has started to affect our local economy. But when we’re sitting at 4 percent unemployment when the national average is at 8 percent, when our sales tax is still strong, I’d rather be sitting in Rapid City, South Dakota, than anywhere else in the country right now,” Hanks said.

Personally, I’d rather be sitting on a beach in Belize smoking a Cuban and drinking margaritas.