South DaCola

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Sioux Falls

1st Amendment Mayor TenHaken SF City Council Sioux Falls

What really is a Special Interest?

l3wis 2Comments

Recently I mentioned what the business elite call pro-democracy, politically involved, regular middle class folks; special interests. It was startling because the mayor recently used the term to describe certain folks who were promoting the original sustainability program. There have been other regular folks who have individually advocated for changes to 14th street, public art, and even riding E2s on the bike trail. While I have no problem with being called a special interest (I have always thought I was special 🙂 I am only an individual looking out for my personal interest, so am I really a special interest?;

What are considered special interest groups?

A special interest group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to affect or to produce solutions within their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize conferences.

There are broader explanations of the specific groups, but nowhere does it say an individual who walks to the podium at a council meeting an airs their views about a city issue makes them a special interest.

A better term would be citizen advocate;

Citizen advocacy is when you work with a member of the community who volunteers their time to advocate for local people. Citizen advocates usually work with those who would otherwise find it challenging to speak up for their own rights, views and wishes. Your relationship with a citizen advocate can be long-term.

So why is this important? Many times elected leaders put labels on people who just want the city to be better. They don’t belong to some group that is trying to undermine the government of Sioux Falls, the politicians are already doing a fine job of that themselves. They are just practicing their 1st Amendment Rights of dissenting the government.

So do we have a special interest problem in Sioux Falls? We do. But it has nothing to do with Gladys complaining about loud music at the park, they have specific names like the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, Sanford Hospital, Development Foundation, Housing Association, Retailers Association, etc.

The mayor is calling Gladys a special interest because he is trying to deflect the REAL issue with REAL special interests in our community, like developers giving thousands of dollars to PACS which get funneled to the special candidates (rubber stampers).

So in conclusion, Gladys is a citizen advocate, banking executives and development company owners are special interests. Don’t believe what the Dutch Mafia tells you.

Art Downtown Sioux Falls Lincoln County Sanford Hospital SF City Council Sioux Falls Washington Pavilion

UPDATE: What goes around comes around

l3wis 2Comments

UPDATE II: PLANNING DEPARTMENT (MAYOR) PROPOSES CHANGES TO HALFWAY HOUSE DEFINITIONS

UPDATE II: I was told that this is just cleanup language and been planned to change for a few months before Kingdom Boundaries even submitted a rezone. I guess we will hear a longer explanation on Thursday night at the Planning Meeting. But it is still a bad way to form policy.

Item 1D.

The timing of these changes are interesting considering the kerfuffle over the Kingdom Boundaries rezone which the council says they will likely defer on Wednesday (Item 46-meeting is a day later this week due to National Night Out). As I understand it, the council may defer the rezone so they can update these changes. What amazes me is that I have been asking for over 2 years that the rec trail ordinance changes to allow E2s and not until the SFPD does a FB post councilor Neitzert took action. It looks like the applicant saw a problem with current statute and without any public informational on the ordinance change they are moving forward, on the consent agenda. This is a very backdoor way of creating public policy. I am not sure how the administration can justify making PUBLIC POLICY changes like this while keeping the very public it affects in the dark on the process.

SANFORD MERGER FAILS

While this may be the big news story going around this weekend;

Although both health systems saw “significant benefits” to the merger that led them to “exhaust all potential pathways,” the merger was ultimately scrapped because of challenges that could not be overcome with “certain Minnesota stakeholders.”

It was no surprise to me. When they first announced the merger negotiations I emailed a local well known journalist and told them it will never happen (even if it was a good thing) because of the last time around. The former AG of Minnesota, Lori Swanson, made a good case the first time and I can guarantee those case files were pulled to assist in killing it this time. As I understand it Fairview may have to be bailed out from the state, but apparently they prefer that over Sanford.

CITY OF SIOUX FALLS HIRES LINCOLN COUNTY’S DEPUTY STATE’S ATTORNEY BILL GOLDEN

This isn’t some big newsflash;

The Lincoln County Commission’s legal counsel has resigned and will continue his public service to the county’s north.

Deputy State’s Attorney Bill Golden has accepted a position with the City of Sioux Falls as an assistant city attorney. He will leave his post in Lincoln County on July 28.

Commissioner Tiffani Landeen added that Golden will be greatly missed, while Commissioner Michael Poppens joked that he hoped Golden would consider staying.

For full disclosure I worked for the Stewart family the same time Mr. Golden did. Bill is married to Kristi ‘Stewart’ Golden, Gordon Stewart’s daughter. Kristi is a former Pressler staffer and not to long ago I think I heard her on KELO AM doing the news.

I have not heard much about the legal talents of Mr. Golden over the years, including when we both worked for the family (sometimes that is good, and sometimes that is very, very, very bad).

We will see what kind of dirty work Mr. Faddle has for his new errand boy.

SIOUX FALLS CITY COUNCILOR ALEX JENSEN GETS APPOINTED TO SOUTH DAKOTA HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Executive Director Olson also reported that a new board member, Alex Jensen, was appointed on Friday and onboarding will ensue.

I find this appointment interesting considering Mr. Jensen only has a few months left in his 1st term on City Council and has not announced if he will run for re-election or run for the legislature (so he can incubate for 2 years and then run for mayor). With this appointment it seems Alex is very confused. The rumor mill says he has resisted announcing for a council re-bid because he is scared Stehly may challenge him, and he may be right.

ARTS COMMISSION PROPOSAL AN ABSOLUTE MESS!

I think the city council needs to kill this until the next mayor rolls in;

The new commission would be charged with, among other things, reviewing works of art acquired by the city and developing the criteria under which they will be placed.

The panel would also set criteria for awarding funding for public projects.

While I support certain aspects of the commission and a full-time director, I don’t trust it under this administration that has an authoritarian slant towards just about everything, including public art. I have suggested besides the commissioners be made up of a broad group of people, that instead of a full-time coordinator, you have a mid-manager from EACH city department serve on an internal arts commission that reports to the volunteer commission monthly. If we really want to promote the arts in Sioux Falls we have to have every city department involved in those actions and not some court jester from the mayor’s office who will likely quit when he is done in 2026.

The Pavilion turned down the ‘opportunity’ to manage the arts for the city, but it seems they have the budget for a NEW full-time position;

Margaret Carmody has been selected as the new Chief Strategy Officer of Washington Pavilion Management Inc.

Carmody previously served as an executive for Raven Industries, where she led organizational culture, marketing, brand, internal and external communications, community and public relations, administrative services and facilities at one time.

She will vacate her role as a member of the Board of Trustees prior to joining the organization as an employee.

The Pavilion is ran by a private management company so they can throw their money at whatever word-game position they want to create, but it reminds of when Doug Morrison ‘retired’ from his banking career while he was serving as School Board President and after leaving the board gets a job created for him by the district. He is in charge of saving the district money 🙂

I am not sure why Carmody is leaving Raven, maybe she saw a better opportunity at the Pavilion, but it seems a little odd that after serving on the board she is offered a new position with the Pavilion. I often tell young professionals in Sioux Falls who are trying to get ahead in their careers it’s ‘who you know, not what you know’ in this town. I have met 30 year olds that are brilliant in Sioux Falls but get passed up for promotions because they are not ass kissers and don’t get fit the ‘look’ and these are white males I am talking about.

Don’t even get me started how you are treated as a female or a minority.

When a friend of mine was starting her career in technical writing she moved BACK to Sioux Falls after receiving top honors and graduating from an Austin, TX university. She sent her resume everywhere and couldn’t even get a call for an interview until she started putting a photo of herself on the resume (she is white). We could never prove it, but we think she was denied interviews because of her name. If you read her first and last name on a resume you would make the stereotypical assumption she is black, as soon as her photo appeared on her resume she started getting interviews and offers.

RECYCLING ISSUES CAN BE RESOLVED AND MANDATED WITH A MUNICIPAL GARBAGE SERVICE

Whenever I read an article like this, I just shake my head and wonder why people are so opposed to municipal garbage service;

About a quarter of all waste going to the Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill could have been diverted or recycled, the results of a new study found, pointing to a problem that could prove costly.

I often laugh when people make comments like this;

The garbage hauling system in this city is private versus public which keeps costs down and competitive.

I had to adjust myself for a moment there while a monkey exited my butt.

I am for the free market system, which works well in many aspects of the private sector vs. the public sector, but I still don’t know how you think the private system is cheaper? They use more gas, they deteriorate more roads and they have to pay tipping fees. The math isn’t there. You could contract with 2-3 private haulers, give them each a sector of the city, eliminate tipping fees, bill people monthly in their water and sewer bill, and have the city provide the fuel for the trucks.

Heck, the little town of Canton knew this and were going to use the cost savings to build a pool, while I disagree my garbage fees should go towards a pool, it obvious that they saw a cost savings (albeit they were taking that savings away with a pool fee). While many cities have done the system wrong (like Canton was proposing), we have an opportunity to build it from scratch and can learn what NOT to do from other cities.

Sioux Falls

Turns out the City of Sioux Falls isn’t racist after all

l3wis 6Comments

The mansion has been saved! The mansion has been saved! FREE Borscht and Cabbage Rolls for all! Okay, that was kind of a stereotype, but if you have ever visited a Ukrainian’s home you will likely leave with a red stain on your shirt.

The settlement is exactly of what has been circling in the rumor mills, even this part;

“The allegations by the Strizheuses and their counsel that the city, mayor TenHaken, and all other named and unnamed city officials discriminated against them on the basis of their national origin were unfounded and such allegations did not have a good faith basis in fact or law,” read the statement. “The Strizheuses and their counsel retract any claims of discrimination against the city, Mayor TenHaken, and all other named and unnamed city officials. These claims were voluntarily dismissed by the Strizheuses and their counsel.”

The settlement also included a non-disparagement clause, which prohibits the city and the Strizheuses from making negative comments regarding one another or the dispute.

WOW! Not sure if it is ego, arrogance, cowardice or ignorance (a little combination of all factors I presume) but when I had first heard rumblings of this part of the settlement I thought it was some kind of a joke. The city, it’s elected leaders and city employees are named in lawsuits all the time. Any good attorney will direct you to throw everything at your defense and obviously Strizheuse felt that he was discriminated against. It was just another legal argument not to be taken personally. But apparently someone did.

If you are requesting a letter or some other form of documentation from someone confirming you are NOT a racist, well, you know . . .

Downtown Sioux Falls Homeless Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

UPDATE: We spend Millions on River Greenway but fail to clean up the ****!

l3wis 4Comments

IF PARIS CAN CLEAN UP THE SEINE WE CAN CLEAN UP THE BIG POO

I found this story amazing (imagine what you can do when you spend actual money on cleaning up the problem);

But now clean up efforts, which started in 2018 as part of what is known as the “Swimming Plan,” are coming to fruition, and local authorities say residents will be able to make use of the river once again as part of the legacy of the Olympics, which is returning to the French capital after 100 years.

They cleaned up the river in 4 years!

Two disinfection units at wastewater treatment plants run by the Paris region public sanitation service will be operational from this summer, and structures that will help to improve water quality, such as a rainwater storage basin, are under construction.

The basin will hold rainwater and gradually release it into the sewage network, preventing pollution when wastewater overflows during periods of rain.

These basins would obviously have to be upstream from Sioux Falls, but we could build a filtration damn in Sioux Falls that would actually help with water flow of the Big Sioux. I heard an estimate several years ago of $75 million (probably closer to $150 million now).

I know a lot of people make fun of the French, but if it wasn’t for them we all would be drinking tea and eating Spotted Dick.

THE LEVITT CAMPGROUND HAS OFFICIALLY OPENED FOR SUMMER!

I like to go for nightly bike rides around 8-10 PM Downtown. Last night as I was riding thru Levitt and I saw two separate couples sleeping within 50 feet of each other with blankies on the Levitt Lawn. But Monday night was a real laugher as I saw two private security officers with heaters in their hands (who are supposed to be stationed at Shriver Square) yelling at the homeless who were sitting on a tree bench in front of Oshima. As they were instructing them to leave, one of the fellas says, ‘This is public property we can be here.‘ I had to laugh that a homeless inebriated person knows their civil rights better than the rent-a-cop. We are NOT going to fix the homeless problem downtown overnight, but I am not sure we are approaching this the right way.

UPDATE: Yes, that is a guy passed out on 14th street. Not sure what is going on, but it was an interesting scene.

GET YOUR MANURE FITNESS ON!

The mayor is hosting this event tomorrow, and I am wondering who the poor schmuck will be that has to power wash all the goose crap off the sidewalk and around the fitness park before the event? I love this new park, but the only time you can get a real workout is before 7 AM because after that the kids seem to think it is a playground, even though they have a wonderful play set just to the south of the fitness pad. Great edition, the only other critique I would have is that a cover, even something linen like at the DTSF dog park, be put over the pad for shade. Just make sure you show up early so you are not tripping over toddlers to get to the stair stepper.

100 DAY CHALLENGE IS COMING TO A CLOSE

I believe the final day is July 31st. I put myself to the challenge this year and I am averaging 14 miles per day with 1,331 miles as of yesterday. About 10% was stair stepper, 25% regular bike and the rest E2 on low setting with NO throttle assist (I do not count throttle miles in the challenge). Since the E2 threats from the SFPD I have NOT ridden on the trail with my E2 which has given me a great opportunity to explore residential routes. A great one is if you take 4th Avenue and 26th from Mckennan Park going South to 33rd which takes you all the way to 41st street. Even at 4:30 PM I see very few cars. I know the city is trying to setup residential routes, but I would encourage commuters to avoid all primary and secondary arterials and ride on residential. I can count the number of cars I encounter on one hand and you can cruise along at a safe 15 MPH.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN SOUTH DAKOTA IS NOT AT 80%, ALL OF THE TIME

I had a chance encounter last week with an engineer operator from a major energy company in South Dakota, he told me he works at the plant near Sioux Falls and the generators run on Natural Gas. I asked him about the 80% claim. He said that it is NOT wrong, but out of context. He told me that when Hydro, Solar and Wind are at max capacity they supply 80% of the power, the problem is the wind isn’t always blowing, the water isn’t always flowing and well solar doesn’t work real well at night. He said that the yearly average is closer to 45%. He said the advantage of Natural Gas generation is that you can switch it on and have it operational within hours.

Open Government Open Meetings SF City Council Sioux Falls

Is the Sioux Falls City Council having policy discussions in Executive Session?

l3wis 1Comments

I would really like to know.

Why is this important? City Councilors have executive sessions with legal counsel almost weekly, by state law only certain legal matters are discussed, like pending litigation, current litigation or personnel issues (like potentially demolishing an immigrant’s unfinished mansion or disciplinary action towards a council employee).

Things they cannot discuss is potential policy changes (like creating new ordinances, advocating for consulting or outside assistance, or giving employees bonuses). Basically anything that is an ‘idea’ cannot be discussed because of the quorum.

Now councilors can have offline conversations with each other, and that is perfectly legit, but NOT as a group, those meetings and conversations must be public.

So why am I suspicious this is going on?

A few years back when that rascal Tex Golfing (Rex Rolfing) was on the council (you know the guy that beats the gavel puck like a rented mule) he was having policy discussions about having a car rental fee go towards some capital improvements. When opposition to his idea became aware of his backdoor policy discussions his plan crumbled.

This is an example of why you need to have public policy discussions, while his idea was horrible, what was even worse was he was trying to do it under the guise of pending litigation discussions.

Last week the council had a scheduled executive session, before the session they have to vote in public to go into that session. Forum News Reporter Patrick Lalley witnessed a councilor walk out before the session started telling Lalley that they left because they were not following procedure and they had no idea what the session was about.

But way before this incident several past and current councilors have told me about different policy discussions they have been having or had and I have been puzzled by how I have not heard of any of these proposals in a committee meeting or informational meeting (this is where policy is supposed to be discussed). I just assumed councilors were having offline convos with individuals but it seemed odd to me that after hearing about the proposals first hand all of a sudden they are on the agenda. These kind of discussions about in depth ordinances HAVE to be done with a quorum to be successful, playing phone tag won’t cut it, so obviously they are having these discussions somewhere, just not in the public eye.

Like I said, I would really like to know if the council is having policy discussions in executive session, because if they are, that’s a BIG NO NO and at least four of them should know better and the other four should have the common sense to distinguish between actual litigation and policy discussion.

The next time an executive session is called and policy is brought up I encourage the entire council to adjourn and walk out.

“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” Robert Louis Stevenson

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