The operations committee has never met in the 7 years they have existed in public until a couple of months away from a city election in which the chair, Neitzert is up for re-election. Shocker. Towards the end, Councilor Brekke schooled them on the legal repercussions of using cell phones during public meetings (FF: 52:30)
To tell you the truth, I really don’t care. I think all mayors have a right to take a night off, whether that is for a ‘date night’ with the wife, or to look in the mirror and take selfies with his latest trucker hat. I really don’t think the mayor should be running the council meetings anyway, so good riddance.
Before I get to his absence, I have to tell you watching the discussion about a city ordinance about political signs in your yard with the city council meeting tonight is extremely laughable and a waste of time. The 1st Amendment protects political speech, and if you want a political sign in your yard for 100 years, the city can’t do a damn thing about it. Get over yourselves.
As for PTH, I really didn’t pay much mind, but the ‘rumors’ have been flowing in, here they are and take them with a grain of DaCola;
• He is on his yearly trip to Haiti for missionary work. Good for him. I also hear a local bank is funding the trip. Also, good for them (if true).
• He is at home avoiding an uncomfortable conversation about refugees and discrimination. Can’t blame him. Having public conversations about these things takes courage . . . that’s why my chickensh*t ass is at home watching this online. But I was very proud of this city tonight, and the testimony given. Embracing others is something we should all strive for.
Both resolutions passed as I suspected. And some people understood what I meant about having more ‘teeth’. It means budgeting for education programs that combat hate and discrimination. Councilor Brekke brought this up, and I am glad she did. I actually was very impressed by the conversation, but what most should understand is the freedom you were allowed tonight to speak on this issue is truly what it means to be American, freedom of speech. It gives you the right to denounce these things, it also gives those who hate us to do the same, unfortunately. I stand by what I have been saying about this over the last week. Use your rights to change minds and to educate others, but don’t limit your dissenters. Because the louder you are, they will soon be drowned out, and they will realize they have only abused their rights to send a message of self destruction. I know it is corny, but only Love conquers Hate, not speeches or resolutions.
City Council Operations Committee • 2 PM
I was surprised on Friday to see that these meetings will now be opened to the public. The chair had this to say;
That’s why Council vice-chair Greg Neitzert, who presides over the operations committee, decided to start letting sunshine into the meetings beginning this month.
“I’ve thought they should be open for a long time,” he told the Argus Leader. “It just created this aura that there was this big thing going on behind the scenes and there’s not. So why not just open it up.
“It’ll be just like any other committee,” he added.
While this is a good move, it should have happened 4 years ago when Neitzert got elected. The timing of this just a couple of months away from the city election is an ‘interesting’ move since Greg is up for re-election. The 2 PM time on a Tuesday afternoon is also ‘interesting’. Much like the CRC meetings, at a time that is NOT convenient for people to watch live or attend in person. But, I will say it is a good move, better late than never.
They will do a Review of the City Council Policies and Procedures Manual and the City Council Reference Manual
Informational Meeting • 4 PM
They will have presentations on (no supporting PDF docs yet);
• Sioux Falls Skate Park (this is exciting and hope they are getting closer to their fundraising goals to start the project).
• Parks & Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan – Preliminary Recommendations
• National League of Cities Trip Update
Item #14, 1st Reading, Yard Sign regulations;
Noncommercial yard signs. Noncommercial signs shall not exceed 9 square feet per sign in any residential parcel
They are looking to delete the line ‘with two signs allowed’. While I don’t take issue with the proposed change, I don’t think it should be implemented BEFORE the April city election. This seems like a sneaky attempt to put up as many large political yard signs as possible before that election. I would encourage the council to defer this until after the election. In its current trajectory it would become in effect in February.
PURPOSE AND HISTORY
Staff is looking to remove the limit of two non-commercial yard signs allowed on a single residential parcel. Property owners would be able to display as many as they would like. Finally, we are looking to increase the amount of time each sign can be placed on a property from 60 days to 90 days.
Item #15, Resolution, agreeing to allowing refugee resettlement. I totally agree with this resolution. America was built on immigrants, and I don’t think our values should change.
Item #16, Anti-Hate resolution. I also agree with this, but think it should be amended to include ALL groups that are discriminated against, including sexual preference. I also think it should include city funding of public service announcements and education seminars about why we should accept those that are different to us. The issue I have with this resolution is that it would be hard to prosecute people for practicing their 1st Amendment rights. You may not like it that people HATE others for whatever reason, but you can’t criminalize ignorance. It is what it is. But you CAN hold out a hand, give them a hug, and explain to them why what they are doing is wrong. Prosecuting ‘Haters’ will only inflame them and make them more bitter. Working with their ‘attitudes’ and changing their opinions should be the ultimate goal. You only eliminate hate thru love, understanding and education.
I can’t count the number of times I fell over laughing while listening to this conversation between councilor Erickson and Belfrage on his show this morning. They have a very jaded viewed of what is right and what is wrong. One of the better moments is when Erickson continues to talk about the ‘Freedom of the Press’. She knows that SF Biz is a for profit website that charges businesses and organizations to post articles. Hardly the ‘Free Press’. It’s no different than a paid advertisement from a political candidate. Which brings us to the number two problem, tax money was being used to promote a candidate. Sure, his name was only mentioned once, but it was mentioned, and it doesn’t matter if the article had 1,023 words (Erickson admits in the interview she counted them) or if it is a novel. A taxpayer funded entity PAID for an article that promotes a political candidate. All the fluff and puff in between is laughable.
I may load this interview on my I-Pod so when I am having a bad day I can have a good laugh about how ignorant these two are about freedom of speech.
I first want to say that I think this resolution is a good idea;
Mayor Paul TenHaken next week will introduce a resolution to the city council condemning hate, a move endorsed by the city’s Human Relations Commission.
“Hate has no place in Sioux Falls,†TenHaken said in a news release Thursday afternoon. “I’m proud to stand with the Human Relations Commission and condemn bias, discrimination and hate in Sioux Falls.
“With this resolution we reaffirm our belief that hate has no place in Sioux Falls and remind the public of ways to report discrimination to the City,†he added.
We should all disavow hate. I am actually embarrassed that in 2020 we have to pass resolutions to tell people to stop being racist jerks.
But this resolution has many procedural and intent problems. It’s nothing but some feel good reach around more than anything else. I also find it ironic that this resolution is being proposed right after the human relations attorney with the city announced he is running for State’s Attorney.
Kawinky-Dink? I think not.
So what are the issues;
1) It has no teeth. It just basically says that the city doesn’t like people being racist. Well Lah-De-Dah. I guess I am unaware of ANY city official, whether elected or employed who thinks it is a good idea to be racist. And in my personal life I ‘try’ to stay away from these people. So basically this is just a ‘memo’ or ‘sticky note’ from the mayor’s office.
2) The mayor should not be legislating. As I have told you fine folks in the past, according to charter, the city council is responsible for legislating and the mayor should run the city. As I mentioned above, this is just a campaign hat trick for the city’s human relations attorney, Daniel Haggar.
3) The mayor avoids gay pride events. I can’t tell you if PTH thinks gay peeps are ‘Icky’. Many have suspected that he does, but I have never seen him say anything publicly about it except at Dem Forum when he was running for office in which he stated that he was not ‘homophobic’. But what I find interesting about this resolution is that it did not include the LGBTQ community, or many other minority groups, like people of Muslim or Jewish faith that are discriminated against consistently. If we are going to pass a resolution disavowing hate, shouldn’t it cover all the bases?
This isn’t a Paul TenHaken issue, it is a bigger issue with politics in general starting with the top down, it’s all about ‘image’ instead of ‘substance’. If we really want to take a stand we need to pass ordinances that has teeth, otherwise this isn’t worth the paper it is written on. On top of that, hate speech is protected by the 1st Amendment, so is this a violation of our constitution?
We make change through education, and teaching people how not to hate. A more fitting resolution would be for the city to set up a grant program that funds seminars on teaching people about different cultures, creeds and sexual preferences. I have often told people that moving to a suburb of Seattle from a farm in South Dakota when I was 16 to live with my dad was the best cultural education of my life. I will sum it up really quickly, everybody has the same hopes and dreams as you do, no matter their color or creed. The city needs to educate people about cultures instead of handing out back rubs, sticky notes, lapel pins and pens.
l3wis