New City Center Administration building has $118K in change orders
l3wis It looks like it was requests by the city, Item #2. Not sure why a lot of this stuff wasn’t included in the cost, especially the $37K in patio furniture (good grief).
SF City Council
How is Mayor Paul TenHaken doing?
I get this question at least a couple times a day, usually in person or on the phone.
Since he hasn’t been on the job very long, it’s hard to make a definite assessment so far, but there have been some defining moments;
• Changing the name of the 4th of July parade. I’m not sure how big Paul’s ego is, he does like to take selfies. But he did say the parade is about all of us celebrating independence day. Well duh. Good move.
• Paul likes family and personal time. I’m good with that, I think our elected officials gain a little sanity by doing ‘normal’ things. Is the job of the mayor a 24/7 job? YES! But in the age of technology, there is NO reason why Paul cannot have personal time and not still be connected.
• There seems to be some speculation about why he would not read a proclamation at the Pride festival. He did have a good excuse (family time on Father’s day weekend) but you also wonder what he really thinks about gay rights? I guess we will have to wait and see how this plays out with future council legislation.
• He supports the Sioux Falls flag. I think Paul thinks like many city councilors, let’s move on already. It was selected through a solid process, it meets standards, let’s go with it.
• No major press conferences or CityLink shows. I am not sure if he will do this in the future, but it has been refreshing. His staff has been diligent about sending out press releases, and that is all we ask of them. Grandstanding not required. He will however have his Budget Address on July 31st at the Orpheum Theatre. Hmm?
• Bruce and I are considered ‘media’ by the TenHaken administration. Last week we were added to the media list and receive ALL press releases from City Hall, Departments and City Council. Amen.
• While councilors Selberg and Kiley’s attempt to kill public input has been killed, I think Paul saw the writing on the wall, it would not be a good way to start his administration. He worked with council (and the public) to shape the legislation, and he has been incredibly respectful to the public at council meetings.
• While I am skeptical of his choices for Deputy COS and COS, I do know they are capable folks. All I can say at this point is that they will have to be watched closely. I do know that Beck has a passion for public service, and that will serve us well, we will just have to wait and see who else it serves.
• Director replacement hasn’t happened in the way I would have liked to see, but you never know, we may get some surprises along the way.
• Daren Ketchum’s obvious conflict of interest really needs to be addressed. And maybe Paul is handling it behind the scenes, but the whole thing is sketchy, to say the least.
• We will have to see if the drug task unit will work. I have argued many times that we need to seek National/Federal assistance. The Barney Fife approach just doesn’t cut it anymore.
• TenHaken wants to focus on roads. This has been a talking point for mayors for decades. I think our streets are pretty good considering our weather conditions, but I also think our core needs major upgrades.
So far Paul is doing pretty good considering he is still learning the ropes. To tell you the truth, he has been pretty boring, but that is NOT a bad thing. Running a city isn’t rocket science and it isn’t an episode of the ‘Apprentice’. It just takes openness and common sense. I’m hoping in 12 months I feel the same way . . .
Should there be a city ordinance for locking up guns?
While our City Council is concerned about potty mouth people at the council meetings, maybe they should look at REAL threats to our community. What should we do with LEGAL gun owners who don’t either secure their guns in their homes (the best idea) or secure them in vehicles by keeping the doors locked and out of view. The Sheriff and Police Chief take issue with it;
With a growing problem like this, we asked what is being done for prevention? Both Police Chief Matt Burns and Milstead say there’s not much that can be done, besides remind gun owners to use common sense.
Both men agree creating laws to punish a gun owner who leaves the weapon in an unlocked car is not the answer.
“South Dakota law is very clear and prohibits municipalities from having any sort of regulation on firearms and things like that. So that’s a bit of a stretch there to believe that some sort of law or sanction would be in place that a victim, who’s the victim of a crime themselves, would face some sort of penalty,” said Burns.
“You know, because you would be taking legit, lawful gun owners and making them criminals because we’re trying to prevent other criminals from stealing their guns. I hate to make lawful gun owners into criminals,” said Milstead.
Milstead says he would much prefer gun owners just do what they’re supposed to; which is lock up the dangerous weapon they don’t want being used to hurt others.
“You’d feel horrible if your gun was stolen out of your car, where you’d left it unlocked. And ultimately it ends up being used by somebody to kill somebody, to rob somebody, to commit a violent crime,” said Milstead.
Sioux Falls City Councilor Pat Starr has suggested a city ordinance that would fine a citizen who didn’t secure a gun in their car by locking the doors and concealing it. It seems there is an issue with State Law, and we know our State Legislature, they would NEVER pass a law like this, in fact, their solution to gun control is MORE guns.
Yeah, they are idiots.
But I wonder if you could get savvy with the ordinance. First off, I would never make it a felony, I would just have a simple fine like a speeding ticket. But instead of naming ‘guns’ specifically, maybe you could phrase the ordinance like this;
If stolen property taken from an unsecured vehicle is used in a crime you will receive a $250 fine and the property will be kept for evidence.
So this could be anything. A knife, gun, tire iron, wrench, etc. This way the gun nuts can’t say we are going after their guns, we are simply telling them, if you own something that can be used as a weapon and you are storing it in your vehicle without securing it, and it is ACTUALLY USED IN A CRIME, you will be accountable. This game of ‘reminding’ people to lock their cars is NOT working. This would be a pleasant reminder.
Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, July 10, 2018
City Council Informational Meeting – 4 PM
Presentation on rate increases for ambulance service
City Council Regular Meeting – 7 PM
Item #7, 1st Reading, rate increase for ambulance. I encourage people to come speak to this item. You can now speak at 1st readings during city council meetings (I think it will be in affect). We need to push the city council to pursue a public ambulance service.
Item#11, Resolution, Implement a City Flag. I think this will pass the council 8-0, but I do expect some testimony from the flag supporters. Initially I wanted to see the process of selecting the flag to start over. But I have been reassured the process used was a good one. Besides, as pointed out during the informational presentation, if we did the process again, who is to say it won’t have the same results? I think our city council has a lot of important business to take on these days, and we should just approve the flag and move on already.