South DaCola

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Sioux Falls

Alex Jensen Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Sioux Falls Businesses say they feel like ‘the enemy’ at Jensen fundraiser?

l3wis 7Comments

So Pitty Pat decided to chime in on Alex Jensen’s fundraiser last night. Like I have said before, I don’t really have an opinion on Alex, because he really has NO political resume. His time in the legislature was minimal and he usually voted with the GOP majority. That aside, I did enjoy a couple of tidbits from the event;

You might have even caught a glimpse of a city councilor or two.

I heard that Marshall Selberg and Greg Neitzert showed up, (correction, Erica Beck WAS NOT in attendance). This of course is 2nd hand information since I wasn’t there. But this part of Pitty’s assessment had me rolling in the aisles

You did hear business people note they were weary of being considered an enemy as opposed to a valued parter in the future of the city.

UPDATE: So it’s funny how this was being ‘spinned’. I was told by a person in attendance that the REAL frustration business owners were having is the problems in the 8th Street & Fairfax area with homeless. And apparently that frustration (I’m guessing) is the city partnering with the business owners for a solution. For the record, this really is an administration and police issue, BUT, Stehly did hold a meeting to hear their concerns. So if the business owners are frustrated, it certainly has nothing to do with the Stehly OR Jensen.

So business owners feel like the city is making them the enemy and not partnering with them? That’s hilarious. Well, the biggest partnership in the history of the city went down the tubes, the Bunker Ramp and the RR Redevelopment isn’t looking much better. Other then that the city has consistently given handouts to some of the biggest developers in this city. For almost two decades they have gotten millions in TIF’s, Tax reductions, infrastructure upgrades, worker training programs, etc. and in return citizens have gotten pallet humper jobs and low wages. We also have gotten higher property taxes to pay for these ‘partnerships’ and in return we must beg the city for a low interest loan to fix our furnaces (Community Development Loans). The working class has gotten the shaft due to these ‘Partnerships’. Any business that complains that the city is treating them like ‘the enemy’ is either blind, ignorant, naïve, stupid or just flat out lying. The greed is insurmountable.

The business community is upset because Stehly can’t be bought with a tiny $250 donation. For the first time since Kermit Staggers, the people have a voice with Stehly, she fights for them, because as taxpayers we are the REAL partners driving the economy in this town and we are tired of feeling like the ENEMY. We saw this with the Tornado cleanup last week where citizens helped each other while the city fiddle-F’ckd around with their FB messaging.

Ethics Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls Board of Ethics gets warned they may get very busy (Meeting 9/19/19)

l3wis 5Comments
Notice the ‘Note’ handoff to one of the members who showed up late. Kind of looks like the decision was made before the meeting even started.

You hope you can ask a question of Sioux Falls city government and get a straight answer but all you found was a false hope. Just like so many citizens of Sioux Falls, City Councilor Janet Brekke had basic questions of what can I do and what can’t I do in a petition drive.

Triple Check the Charter petition drive is being fought by every resource the city of Sioux Falls has available. Government officials with no political or election experience are cooking the petition process to disenfranchise voters. These individuals with the blessing of the administration are creating new rules no one has ever heard of before to protect their power grabs.

After the confusing August 16, 2019 Board of Ethics hearing, Janet Brekke wanted more information and the members refused to clear up the any of the mess being created by it and the actions of the administration.

The Triple Check the Charter movement is a citizen led effort with a simple goal, redefining the responsibilities of the city council. The administration’s leadership team is scared they might have to be actual leaders and lead. The RS5 coalition on the Council might actually have to work together with all the members to succeed. All of the Sioux Falls city government might actually have to work for the betterment all citizens of Sioux Falls.

A scary thought right?

Like Councilor Stehly asked in August, Brekke wanted simple guidance but the September 19, 2019 meeting of the Board of Ethics once again shows, trying to do the right thing is the last thing our city government wants to see someone do. They might be caught doing something? It’s why we ask.

Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls should model it’s municipal website after Omaha

l3wis 8Comments

I have always thought regionally, the City of Omaha has a good functioning website. Could it look better? Well, anything can look better. But does it function well. I think so.

We spend thousands of dollars a year to host a city website, it should function and it should be the FIRST place people go for information. In the wake of the latest communication breakdown with city hall, there was mass confusion on messaging that I attributed to the city relying to much on Facebook games and not what we already have, a city website.

Is there anything wrong with having a city Twitter page or Facebook page? Not at all, but it should NOT be the place to get OFFICIAL information especially in the wake of a natural disaster.

As you can see below, Omaha’s site is easy to navigate. One of the features I found intriguing, besides the fact that there is tons of news and information scrolling across the page constantly, is you have a language translation option. I’m not sure how many languages are spoken in Sioux Falls, but I do recall a SFSD official saying something that it is well over 50. The other great feature about the search engine is it actually works! When you type in a topic, it will provide links and those links will send you to the place you need to go ON THE CITY WEBSITE, not some other site that doesn’t work in some browsers (like the SF city website does).

When it comes to messaging and communicating with the public, I always tell people that the KISS theory works the best. It’s simple, let’s just use the city website to get out this official information, and when someone asks ‘Where do I go?’ You answer, ‘Siouxfalls.org will provide you with all the information you need.

I love technology, but like everything else, if something isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The city’s website could work just fine in disseminating information, now if we can just get the mayor and city employees off of Facebook long enough to make it operational and functional.

Global Warming Sioux Falls

Augie students to have ‘Climate Strike’ on Friday

l3wis 0Comments

The Augustana students are leading a “Climate Strike” tomorrow (Fri. Sept.20) on campus at 10:30am. It is part of a nation-wide and worldwide effort to ask for action referred to as “climate justice”, because so much is at risk, including the livelihoods and even lives of the poorest people. Some references:

Action Network

“Our house is on fire — let’s act like it. We demand climate justice for everyone.”

Global Climate Strike

The Nation

By coming, we can support the cause and these students.

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