UPDATE: I guess there were 192 visitors on Monday with 19 of them with memberships. I believe 2 years ago when they offered a FREE day there was around 14,000 visitors. They need to do a FREE day once a month on a Saturday or Sunday.
While Councilor Pat Starr has been after the ZOO to offer FREE admission at least a couple of days of the year, like they did 2 years ago (you know since we subsidize them with our tax dollars and they will soon be asking to merge with another private non-profit) they decided to do it with very little notice or media coverage on a Monday after Christmas. They made the announcement only 24 hours in advance on Sunday, December 26 on their FB Page the FREE admission lasted all day on Monday from 10 AM-4:30 PM. Not sure who all got the press release, but the Argus made the announcement at 11 AM on Monday and KELO AM made the announcement at 12:30 PM on Monday.
While I will agree that even if it was cold, many of the animals are used to the cold weather and would have been out and active. Would not have Sunday been a better day with family in town and people off of work? And what about announcing it at least 5-10 days in advance? I guess I will have to give the Zoo credit for one thing, they at least keep their doors open all year unlike Great Bear that will close at the drop of the hat and not open until winter is half way over (what is up with this place? Who closes a winter sports facility because of the cold? Dumb.) I wonder if our new $4 million dollar ice ribbon will be closed for cold weather? 🙁
Hopefully Councilor Starr will inquire what the FREE attendance numbers were on Monday. My guess is about 17-23.
Over the past couple of days I have been told that the Pavilion has been actively trying to hide the 2020 report because of the buckets of money they brought in (a year that they were pretty much closed) and they fear if city leadership saw this or the public, their massive subsidies in operational and maintenance costs would go bye bye.
As I have stated for awhile, the Pavilion pretty much eats up the entertainment tax every year for maintenance. The bonds for the place have been paid off for a long time and the 3rd penny never went away, so it is slush fund for the Pavilion to add capital to the building without dipping into operational subsidies. The place is a complete f’ing money pit and the only thing that is FREE in the building is the bathrooms.
During COVID the Pavilion pretty much closed their doors, cancelled that season, laid off most part-time employees and a handful of full time. Most would assume that would mean financial ruin, but it is quite possible it is the exact opposite. Without any rent to pay, a significant reduction in labor costs, Federal Covid money and around 40%(?) of patrons never asking for a refund on their season tickets (they were allowed to make it a charitable donation toward the Pavilion) the place likely cashed in, BIG TIME while crickets roamed the halls.
I urge the city council to DEMAND the 2020 financial report be handed over and released to the public. It would also be nice to see what the 6-figure salary of the director has risen to (rumors are it hovers at $200K).
I have been advocating for a long time that living wage in South Dakota, especially Sioux Falls should probably be nipping the heels of $20.00 per hour, imagine my surprise when this report came out;
This means that of the 50 states, (Puerto Rico and D.C. are not included) South Dakota is one which costs the least to survive in. But how does a $9.95 minimum wage match up to a $45,000 living wage?
Assuming a 40-hour work week, and 50 working weeks per year, a $9.95 wage comes to $19,900 per year. To match the living wage for South Dakota, the minimum wage would need to rise to $22.50/hour.
Our cost of living adjustments are also very high (notice housing);
While we have a governor who blabs about liberty and freedom and a mayor who decries ‘wage inflation’ you can tell the reality is that we lag very far behind and don’t look to their supposed leadership to help the situation. It’s time to start electing representation that wants to make changes instead of coddle the business elites, hospital industrial complex, and welfare developers.
You will see a continuing trend in the current administration, a HATRED towards transparency and dozens of potential coverups;
• City leadership flexes their muscles when it comes to homelessness . . . uh, I mean . . . violent crime . . . uh, I mean . . . open government, uh, sorry, wrong again . . . ugly green cable boxes above the ground (even though the city approved these in advance).
• The SF Shopping News closes permanently and the Argus Leader closes printing operations in Sioux Falls and South Dakota and moves it out of state.
• Two lawyers, a pastor, a doctor, and a medical professional all announce they are running for city offices in 2022. But no plumbers.
• Denny Sanford is named in a child pornography investigation after media groups sued to get the information.
• Business owners in Sioux Falls somehow convince Mayor Poops to latch onto the new right-winger cheap ass Republican business owners talking point ‘wage inflation’ claiming if Sioux Falls businesses have to compete by paying more it will somehow destroy our business climate (you know, low wages and taxes for businesses willing to move here).
• TenHaken forms a Youth Council (an idea he stole from one of his opponents) and packs it with kids of his friends and city directors.
• A citizen advocate files two open meetings violations against the Mayor and City, it is still being investigated by the MC State’s Attorney office (I think he will throw it out).
• National media inquires about Mayor TenHaken’s ties to communist businessmen, he has not surprisingly remained silent.
• After a SouthDaCola foot soldier makes me aware of a Q-Anon bench in Yankton Trail Park, the placard mysteriously disappears (just like the panhandler electronic traffic sign).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmQEBFYrEx0
• The area around the Bishop Dudley House continues to get worse with little to no attention from the media or city leadership.
• CountCilor Alex Jensen suggests the solution to our housing problems in Sioux Falls is to ask workers to live in surrounding towns instead of here.
• The Jesus Plows continue to reappear in Sioux Falls.
• City Council passes a valet service garbage ordinance to give garbage haulers the excuse to raise rates and they do it while violating their own 24 hour amendment presentation rule (Kiley).
• Sioux Falls residents lose their minds and wait hours in a drive thru for a chicken sandwich.
• Washington Pavilion has yet to release their 2020 annual report or what the CEO, Darrin Smith is getting paid.
• The Chief Cultural Officer for the city quits and the housing director mysteriously leaves the city.
• Murder at Gilberto’s still remains unsolved (even though the rumor is a suspect is being held). I am still puzzled why the SFPD has said very little about this incident.
• A private Sioux Falls Parks Foundation is created to find ways to funnel wealthy people’s money into the public parks system for projects they desire.
• The SF Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau part ways with little to NO media coverage. I guess the negotiations behind closed doors were quite bitter.
• The city announces they are working on a plan to rebuild core neighborhoods (suspiciously only a couple of months from a city election).
• Appeal of Neitzert’s Ethics Hearing in Circuit Court gets thrown out.
• The city hits a record billion dollars in building permits with about 20-30% supported by taxpayers.
• The facade easement program gets brought back from the dead even though it shouldn’t have died with the Copper Lounge collapse.
You will see a continuing trend in the current administration, a HATRED towards transparency and dozens of potential coverups;
• Mayor TenHaken said his goal for 2021 was to be the most inclusive mayor of all time in the city. I guess he has moved on in 2022 . . .
• The City of Sioux Falls got an ethics (violations) insurance policy.
• City Council gives out 3 TIFs in 2021 totaling around $144 million for condos, parking ramps and egg roll factories.
• The Sioux Falls Planning commission has serious attendance issues and conflicts of interest.
• Ghost Ambulance REMSA coverup artist, SF Health Director Jill Franken retires.
• City Attorney’s office covers up over a dozen ethics complaints and throws them out without public view.
• Accused and wanted child molester is found working at the MIDCO.
• Even with an entire department dedicated to technology the city continues to have issues with the online streaming of videos.
• Legal settlement with the DT Bunker Ramp still has not been accomplished (or maybe it has?)
• During a mask mandate discussion at a city council meeting TenHaken looses his marbles after being called out on how he tries to stop public input.
• After several years of panhandling issues in Sioux Falls the city puts up signs to tell people to stop doing it while panhandlers just stand under the signs and continue to do it.
• City blows COVID money on play things like butterflies, ice rinks and tennis courts.
• City opens TRIAGE center in which it continues to be underfunded and hardly makes a dent on the problems it was meant to solve.
• City approves a tiny house community for veterans.
• Multi-cultural Center Director is dismissed(?).
• City of Sioux Falls concocts Medical MJ dispensary rules behind closed doors making a mockery of the public process.
• Sioux Falls police chief retires(?)
• TenHaken decides to run for a 2nd Term but has yet to campaign or have an official FB page for the campaign.
• TenHaken continues to push behind closed doors to buy up property along the loop so it can be bulldozed for preferred developers.
• 2021 School Board Election has a 5.13% voter turnout.
• Councilors Jensen and Erickson hold a housing summit coffee, nothing came of it.
• Councilor Jensen’s sidewalk scooter ordinance is withdrawn because he fails to engage the public.
• Levitt has successful season even if the adult beverage vendor stretched the truth about being the major contributor to their annual budget. Still waiting for the 2021 budget numbers . . .
• Wholestone Farms, an entity owned by regional pork producers, plans to build a more than $500 million pork processing facility in Sioux Falls without ANY government handouts (TIFs). They are even considering building housing (apartments) for the employees.
• Sioux Falls Districting Commission changes Central District to include Whittier and Cathedral neighborhoods.
• The Charter Revision Commission throws out ALL citizen proposals for the April ballot, but the city council manages to put a salary increase on the ballot.
• The city sprays for mosquitos in broad daylight and claims it is safe to spray on humans and pets. When asked why they are spraying in daylight they claim they can’t get employees to work at night (a couple hours later).
• It takes private donors to SAVE the Tuthill hospitality home and they do it for half the price the city would have spent.
• City Attorney’s office makes a secret deal for a land swap with the developers of the Sioux Steel project and councilors are told they can’t talk about it publicly.
• Sioux Falls ONLY daily newspaper finally admits the failure of the EC entertainment district, and does it anonymously. Now that is integrity in journalism!
• City leadership does very little to encourage Covid vaccination leaving it up to the private sector to inform us.
• The city parks department takes my advice and posts safety signs along bike trail even though they read more like a Bible verse than a warning.
• There is a push by city council and the planning department to have the State Legislature change laws in 2022 to allow rebates on excise taxes, 0% TIFs and skipping the zoning process when it comes to building apartments next to residential. While dome deregulation and tax breaks would be great, they really need to start at the bottom.
• A (non) settlement is made with the defective windows on the Midco while no one is really held accountable and the SF MSM did NO stories about it. It’s like it never happened.
• The mayor’s youngest daughter gives us a new nickname for him, Mayor Poops. (I was surprised there wasn’t more media coverage on this 🙂
l3wis 
