UPDATE: New Sioux Falls City Council out to lunch

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UPDATE: A new city councilor reached out and told me they have a policy of not using specific names that are revealed in public input. While I understand if it is a baseless accusation, this is factual.

It did not take long for the new city council to start ignoring me. LOL. I was aware that the city council must amend minutes, but I thought I would send the question to the city clerk first (you will enjoy his response). Then I forwarded the entire message to the city council. As I pointed out, they are using my real name in the minutes and not a general term like ‘Constituent’ so they should use the real name of the councilor I mentioned, Marshall Selberg.

Not one single councilor responded, meaning they have no intention of amending. You do realize by ignoring my request and not changing the minutes means you are just a part of the cover up. Just sayin’.

I sometimes wonder who is giving councilors legal advice . . .

ORIGINAL EMAIL;

Hello Jermery,

I noticed in the minutes for the meeting last week it said this under public input;

‘Scott Ehrisman spoke on TIFs, development & project costs, and a previous Councilor not living in the district he represented.’

I would like the minutes AMENDED at the next meeting so it says;

‘Scott Ehrisman spoke on TIFs, development & project costs, and a previous Councilor, Marshall Selberg, not living in the district he represented.’

I clearly stated Mr. Selberg’s name, and would like that added to the minutes.

Thank You,

Scott L. Ehrisman

CITY CLERK’S INITIAL RESPONSE;

Good afternoon,

The minutes will remain accurate and as drafted.  Only City Council can amend them at this point.

Jermery J. Washington, City Clerk // City of Sioux Falls

MY FORWARDED EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL;

Hello Councilors,

I requested from the city clerk an amendment to the meeting minutes of last week’s regular meeting (see my original email at bottom).

He has informed me that the council has to amend (see below). So I am requesting an amendment.

I clearly stated Marshall Selberg’s name and it should be reflected in the record as I said it. For example it doesn’t say ‘A constituent spoke . . .’ It states my written name. I stated the previous councilor’s name, and it needs to be reflected in the record AS my name is clearly reflected in the record.

Thank You,

Scott L. Ehrisman

Sioux Falls City Council Tidbits

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At the informational on Wednesday council got some updates on our new transit provider (FF 19:00). The Planning Director told council that last year the legislature permitted agencies like Dakotabilities and Lifescape to take a 100% reimbursement on Medicade for transit services. Jeff asked if the city would be repaid that money and the agencies said they are using the money and they are only getting 80% from the state right now. Hopefully in the future the Feds will reimburse us for Paratransit rides.

SANDFORD WELLNESS CENTER

At the regular council meeting Wednesday night the council pulled the item that will fund the fitness center we are buying from Sanford for $9 million. (FF: 8:30);

A motion was made by Council Member Merkouris and seconded by Council Member Soehl to approve Sub-Item 5, Parks/Recreation: Offer to Purchase Commercial Real Estate and Asset Agreement, 24-0070, Sanford Wellness Center; Sanford Medical Center; $9,000,000.
Roll call vote to approve. 7 Yes: Basye, Cole, Merkouris, Sigette, Soehl, Spellerberg, Barranco; 1 No: Thomason. Motion Passed.

During the discussion, Jeff mentions that Sanford will have to lease back the property until January 1st until the city takes it over. Sanford sent club members an email;

Valued member,  

We have some brief updates to share regarding the timeline for the proposed purchase of Sanford Wellness Center Tea-Ellis by the City of Sioux Falls. Following final approval from the City Council at this week’s meeting, Mayor TenHaken signed the purchase agreement with a tentative closing date later this fall.

We acknowledge and appreciate that this approval represents a major change for our members along with some temporary uncertainty as details are worked out. With that in mind, we continue to reiterate and reassure you that nothing will change with your Sanford Wellness Center membership at this time.

Here are a some additional details:

  • The purchase process will move forward with an expected closing date within the next three months.
  • On the closing date, the City will officially own the building; however, we will continue to operate Tea-Ellis as a Sanford Health facility until the City is prepared to take over operations.
    • Tentatively, the City will take over in late 2024 and no later than Jan. 1, 2025.
    • This purchase does not include our Oxbow location, which will remain a Sanford Health facility.
  • The City’s next steps include developing plans for operations as well as membership and programming options.

Throughout the purchase and transition period, we continue to welcome questions and conversations. To help address some of your most frequently asked questions so far, we have the following resources available:

  • An FAQs page has been added to the Wellness Center website.
  • Members can also email SHWC_SiouxFalls@sanfordhealth.org with questions.
  • Posters with our question submission QR code have been placed at Oxbow and Tea-Ellis and are available for anyone to ask a question.
    • Answers to these questions are primarily available on the FAQs page referenced above.

We look forward to sharing more details with our members in the coming months.

Thank you for your patience, and importantly, for choosing Sanford Wellness Center to be part of your health journey.

Be Well, 

Mike Davidson, General Manger, Sanford Wellness Center
Scott Hettenbach, Director, Sports Performance and Wellness Centers

I also found it interesting that Thomason voted against the measure after asking about membership fees. I have a question into Richard asking him why he voted NO and wait to hear back from him.

You can also listen to my public input about the Dakota Scout becoming the legal paper for the city and during public input I said this;

Scott Ehrisman spoke on TIFs, development & project costs, and a previous Councilor not living in the district he represented.

This was in the notes, notice they didn’t put the name of the councilor in the minutes, I said the name, Marshall Selberg. Sneaky. I should ask the clerk’s office to amend the minutes.

City Pools to open next week

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Due to the Great Bear season being like 3 or 4 days this year, the city feels guilty so they decided to open all the outdoor pools next week.

Some may think it is to cold, but Secondary Shift Eastside Assistant Parks and Culture director, (SSEAPC) Taylor Tuna, with the parks department says this;

“Cold water therapy is really trending right now, so like pickleball, refrigerated ice rinks and E-Bikes, we like to do the latest trending baloney people are into.”

But not all of the water will be cold, they also plan to heat the lazy river at Drake Springs with E-Bike battery fires.

Director Tuna says, “Instead of wasting fire department resources to put out these fires, we are just transferring those fires to the pool’s heating unit. Even a stable genius can figure that out.”

The Parks Department is considering closing Great Bear as a ski resort and making it a natural space. We asked what they would do with the chair lift?

“We are considering installing it above Falls Park, and when it is really humid after an August rain, we are going to implement a goose manure slide from the Steel District all the way to the overlook tower. Tuna replies, “That stuff is slicker then cooking oil after a good rain.”

So get out the swim trunks and puffy coats! Summer begins in Sioux Falls next week!

This was satire. I think.

Walking ‘DEAD’ Tacos latest Sioux Falls Fast Food Trend

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A couple that recently moved here from Transylvania via California (long story) has come up with an interesting Fast Mexican concept; Zombies and Tacos.

“My wife and I just decided that getting served at most fast casual restaurants in town is like being waited on by Zombies, so we just decided, why not just make it the theme of the restaurant,” says co-owner Victor Count.

Victor does warn you, most orders take between 2 hours to 2 days. “We have one customer that orders his Wednesday lunch on Monday afternoons. He is pretty happy, usually gets it by Friday!”

We wondered how hard it may be to find good zombie (actors) these days to work in the Count’s establishment.

“You know. Not as hard as you may think. Sylvia and I drove around to the different fast food places a day before training started and we were able to round up a full staff within a couple of hours. The trick was catching new recruits by the dumpsters smoking weed . . . those are the real foot draggers!”

Victor did inform me that they also have a pretty good supply of Narcan on hand for employees and customers. “Some places carry Dental and Vision, we carry fricking life support!”

The Counts also plan to be open 24 hours like that ‘other’ Mexican(?) food joint and unlike them, you don’t have to worry about being shot in the drive thru or parking lot.

“Not only is our location well lit we don’t have a lot of people trying to rob us at gun point when our employees are already dead. During the last robbery attempt the perp served half his prison sentence before the manager could even open the safe.”

SCOTUS thinks ‘entities’ make decisions all by themselves

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“Captain, we have encountered the Sioux Falls School District.”

The Title IX case concerning gymnastics has been interesting to watch. While I don’t have a dog in the fight, I do think that gymnastics is a legitimate high school sport, AND they had a very good case against the Sioux Falls School District. In fact, I was surprised the District didn’t concede before the hearing.

But what I found interesting in the judge’s injunction is how he dropped the athletic director and superintendent from the suit citing SCOTUS has concluded that individuals are normally dropped from these suits and only the ‘entity’ itself can be sued.

This happened recently in the Bunker House case against the city. The defendant claimed he was racially discriminated against and the city (the mayor) requested that these claims of racial bias be removed from the case. I don’t know what was said, or even if the mayor said it, but if he did, that racial bias is ON him and should not have been dropped from the case UNLESS the mayor can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he never said or did anything to discriminate.

While our local Federal Judge has no control over SCOTUS rulings and essentially wants to follow their case law I find it interesting that SCOTUS thinks individuals can’t be held liable for making bad decisions on behalf of the entity. I would have sued not only the Super and Athletic Director, but the entire school board and any staff associated with this decision.

People are NOT naive, we know since the Pam Homan days that decisions come directly from the administration and they hog house the board into going along with their poor planning.

Sorry SCOTUS but entities like school districts don’t make decisions on their own, PEOPLE do, and when those people make decisions that clearly violate Federal statutes they deserve to be sued in their official capacities AND should be permanently removed from their positions (fired).

I’m not sure how you can keep someone around who clearly advised the school board to make this decision and violate Federal law. If these are the kind of decisions she is making, do we want her running the District?

I also take issue with the fact the school district felt it necessary to spend district money fighting this. They could have probably funded the program for the next 3 years for what it cost in lawyering. I certainly am NO expert on Title IX law, but this seemed like a pretty good case that the district was going to lose. Who is giving them legal advice? Oh that’s right, no one, just the ‘ENTITY’.