UPDATE: As I predicted, the Ethics Board slithered their way out of doing their job by saying they didn’t define the word ‘common’ very well. You can’t make this crap up. I was waiting for Bill Clinton to pop out of the back and say, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” A video of the meeting will be posted soon.
The meeting on June 8 at 1:30 PM will review David’s complaint. Basically when the city council let Councilor Neitzert get away with taking a bribe (and also the Mayor) they said that these kind of gifts were common practice and the council needed to tighten up the rules. David is asking them to investigate these bribes if this so widespread. It will be interesting to hear how they worm their way out of this one.
On a separate note, the complaint filed against Neitzert was appealed by the Complainant and is still pending.
This is what happens when our local lawmakers have secret meetings to concoct ordinances without public input. Minnehaha’s ordinance is almost identical to the city’s being voted on Tuesday night.
David Zokaites is asking for an investigation into widespread bribes and Councilor Janet Brekke is looking to start ethics training for elected officials.
• Southeast Technical College General Updates by Bob Griggs, President, Southeast Technical College (I think this is a yearly update because I think the city does give funding to the school)
• YMCA Downtown Community Youth Center and Call to Freedom – Marissa’s Housing Project by Mike Murphy, YMCA Interim President and CEO; and Becky Rasmussen, Call to Freedom Executive Director (I’m not sure what this is about, but they may be getting affordable housing funding from the city, but I have no idea).
Item #14, 2nd Reading, Motorized Foot Scooters (This item is being withdrawn. I wonder if they will re-visit it after fixing it and meeting with the public, which they should have done to begin with).
Item #15, 1st Reading, An ordinance sponsored by the Mayor to ‘stall’ Med Mary in Sioux Falls until the state comes up with regulation. So the mayor and council have decided to do nothing until October. Cruise control government at its finest;
WHEREAS, medical cannabis state laws under SDCL 34-20G are effective July 1, 2021. The South Dakota Department of Health shall promulgate rules pursuant to Chapter 1-26 not later than October 29, 2021, as defined by SDCL 34-20G-72. During the time between July 1, 2021, and potentially as late as October 29, 2021, local units of government will not yet know standards for medical cannabis and will not be able to adequately assess the local zoning and licensing requirements necessary to approve local permits and to better ensure applicants have a more predictable permitting process and avoid stranded investments;
Item #16, 1st Reading, the council is reorganizing the committee structure and creating a regulatory committee, which is ironic, because this is already their duty according to the charter.
I was actually surprised this was not pulled and killed last Tuesday in the 1st Reading. While I support these devices in Sioux Falls, and really don’t care who rents them out, they belong on the street not on the sidewalk;
The program brought up several concerns for downtown Sioux Falls, including how they would be regulated, like restricting speed and where scooters would have access to ride in the downtown area.
“We haven’t even gathered all of our data from our members, which is exactly why we had this town hall today and we heard a little bit from them. You know, the fun factor of electric scooters downtown versus the need for them, the safety and the pedestrian traffic. We are a very walkable density populated downtown. We feel like people can walk from store A to store B,†said Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Griffin.
He is correct about the walkability, and exactly the reason they should not be on sidewalks. I think they should just restrict them to side streets and not allow them on thoroughfares like Minnesota and 41st street and arterials.
I think the reason this was pulled is because Downtown business owners got pretty irate about the fact they were not included in discussions before this made it to the council agenda. As I said earlier, this is what happens when you don’t include the public in these discussions and just ramrod laws thru you concocted in a dark room. OPEN government is essential to GOOD government. I wonder if the city council will ever learn this?
l3wis 
