SF City Council

Did Tre Ministries LIE to the City Council?

Pretty much.

10 command . . .?

When the development plan was first presented to the planning commission it was under the pretense that the developer at the time who owned the property, Justin Johnson, would develop it as presented. After that, JJ sold the property to Tre who got private investors. When the SF City Council approved the open ended, interest free loan of $500K for demolition, Tre, once again, seemed to lie about the development plan. The shcity council approved the expense to taxpayers and now Tre are saying there is no plan, because they have no money. May I suggest a SF Heroes garden for the space?! Just like the Arc of Dreams, it would be a game changer for 18th and Minnesota.

Like the Dems in Congress, I ask the CC, what the Hell are you doing?!

Now is the time to speak up

Not sure what Lalley was getting at, but if I understand it just a little bit he may be asking advocates to sit down and shut up;

But there are rules, written and implied, that guide us in the public redress of grievances.

Civility, decorum, manners – call it what you wish – but we do ourselves no favors in support of our values by casting it aside.

Passion is human, it is admirable.

For me at least, roiling anger is destructive.

What’s become clear over the past several weeks, as the proposal for the city to lease the parking lot at Eighth Street and Indiana Avenue came to light, is that we need to take a breath.

Doesn’t matter who is president, governor or mayor of our fine city, I have always supported free speech rights, and I don’t care how those words come out. In a time where DC is trying to chill free speech rights, and we have a local governing body of total secrecy this is the most important time to be heard. Sure, I would agree, screaming at these people or dropping dirty words at the podium may not be the best approach to being heard, but difficult things must be brought up in these meetings in order to come up with the best solutions. Problems get solved with differing views and objectives. When 9 people on a body agree on something, it makes me a bit suspicious and a little concerned issues are not being fully vetted (well I know they are not being fully vetted).

As Lalley suggests, try to keep decorum when attending these meetings, but don’t hold back, speaking truth to power is the only way we take back our country and city and if enough of us are loud enough they will have no choice but to listen. Sorry Pat, the Kumbyah approach doesn’t work with these folks.

City of Sioux Falls Tidbits

DELBRIDGE ANIMAL COLLECTION REFERENDUM FAILS

I was told they got between 500-1000 sigs, which surprised me, because I didn’t think they would get that many. I truly believe if Sioux Falls voters were polled about keeping the collection 80%+ would say they don’t care if it gets given away. Which is unfortunate because science and art are important, not to mention we are giving away a priceless collection of mounts. But people care more about the price of eggs and who wins an Oscar then they do about history.

NOEM GETS SERIOUS ABOUT HER CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS

It seems Noem now is calling Dakota Skab ‘Fake News’;

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem‘s legal team hit a South Dakota media outlet with a cease-and-desist letter demanding that it correct and end its knowingly “false and misleading” reporting that Noem allegedly racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars on a government-issued credit card when she served as governor, Fox News Digital has learned. 

“On behalf of former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in her personal capacity, I write out of concern that your website continues to publish false and misleading information about my client that you have known to be false since at least July 2024,” an attorney representing Noem in her personal capacity said in a letter to the co-founders of a South Dakota outlet called The Dakota Scout. The letter was obtained by Fox News Digital on Thursday. 

“Specifically, your website repeatedly, and inaccurately, refers to all charges on credit cards used by the Office of the Governor of South Dakota as charges of my client—allowing a conclusion by multiple commenters on the site and other news outlets that my client violated the laws of South Dakota or stole taxpayer funds for her personal use,” it continued.  “We demand that The Dakota Scout immediately cease spreading these false, misleading, and inaccurate statements and take immediate and significant steps to correct past inaccuracies.

Reading a FOX news story is like reading a 7th grader’s book report, either way, when I have read all the stories about her hair and nail receipts it seemed clear to me she was spending the money on her staff. But that is NOT what is in question, the question is why were you racking up these CC bills so your staff could travel with you? The taxpayers of SD shouldn’t have to foot the bill so your Trump ass-kissing entourage can parade all over the US. I’m sure the DS will fight this, but Noem’s law firm is pretty tough at this stuff. I think it would be ironic if the suit bankrupts the fledgling paper and the county commission, city council and school district have to grovel back to the Argus to print their legals. I’m sure the Argus would be happy to oblige, but I am guessing under a whole new rate.

SIOUX FALLS CITY COUNCIL GETS ROLLED BY THE MAYOR ON DUD FENCE

At the council meeting Tuesday night I spoke during public input (2:20:00) after Jordan Deffenbaugh spoke about the lack of policy leadership and transparency of the current council (47:30). I also told the council they need their own outside counsel (law firm) to write policy and they should put a line in next year’s budget for the expenditure. I knew it was going to be 8 yes votes. First off, because the council is extremely predictable and when I texted councilors to please vote no, I got no response, so I knew how this was going down. They act like they need unity on all votes, you don’t. I told them solving the problems of the city doesn’t take unity between councilors and the mayor it is about solving problems and sometimes you have to vote NO and start over. Many constituents including myself know this was cooked up by the mayor’s office and not dropped in councilor’s laps until the Thursday before the meeting, and let’s just say they weren’t happy about it. If I was them, I would have all voted NO and told the mayor that they will come up with a better solution within 30 days. Grow a sack already council.

WHY IS A NON-PROFIT PROVIDING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LOANS?

I received a postcard in the mail recently from Habitat for Humanity asking me to apply for this program. Someone asked me how I would have received this. I said, I worked in direct mail for 30 years and you can buy a list for anything. So I am sure they purchased a mailing list that had homeowners in a certain income bracket, and that would certainly be me, LOL. While I appreciate this program, it had me thinking, why isn’t the city mailing out postcards for their similar program thru the Feds of community development loans? The premise is the same, help with needed home repairs. There is a reason we had to but a fence around the Dud, there is NO affordable housing in Sioux Falls and the places that are affordable are falling apart.

City Council Bingo is back!

In an attempt to offer a “low-key way to meet your neighbors, stay informed and turn city government into something we enjoy engaging with,” Gist Wine Shop is starting City Council Bingo. The first event starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the downtown business. Enjoy a glass — or share a bottle — of wine while watching the televised council meeting. Bingo cards will be filled with squares like “someone calls for transparency” or “we don’t want to be like Sioux City.” Players will mark their cards as they hear those items. The first person to get bingo “gets bragging rights and wines (yes, wines) a prize!”

City of Sioux Falls left holding the bag on another project

Once again either the developer wasn’t being honest with the council and administration or the administration hasn’t been honest with the council, either way, this stinks;

The development concept still is being finalized. When it was presented to City Hall a year ago, it included a mixed-use concept with residential above and Tre Ministries among the lower-level occupants, along with opportunity for other commercial tenants.

A final determination for the overall site design hasn’t been made and will depend in part on financing.

The site demolition was funded with support from the city of Sioux Falls. The city has a $500,000 deferred loan at zero interest available to Tre Ministries that allowed the site to be prepped for construction.

The remaining development will depend largely on donations.

As I understand it Tre got a gift or loan from some ‘corn’ folks to buy the property, then the city gifted $500K to tear down the property (0% interest deferred loan) in order to move forward with the project, now they are saying they don’t have enough money to proceed? WTF?

So did the council and administration KNOW in advance that they didn’t have a plan BEFORE they gifted this money? If they don’t even have money to build the place how the heck do you suppose they will pay us the $500K back!?

I TOLD SEVERAL COUNCILORS TO VOTE AGAINST THIS LOAN. I felt the organization was a little shady in what they planned to do, and I was right.

Suckered again by prosperity gospel folks, but no surprise when Pastor Poops is their main advocate, and I bet he knew they didn’t have a plan and hid it from the council. If I was the city council I would declare breech of contract and make them pay the $500K back immediately. Then they can sit on the empty lot as long as they want. We have to stop subsidizing religious organizations like The Dud House who is connected to a church worth BILLIONS and a SD Diocese that spent $16 million to restore the Cathedral. They have the money, and even if they didn’t, taxpayers shouldn’t be funding religious organizations they should be funding a mission. If we need more affordable housing for young folks, build it! If we need more job training opportunities in Sioux Falls, let’s fund it, but we have to realize anyone can accomplish anything with determination and hard work, the Bible is just a nice book to read once in awhile.