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Sioux Falls

Downtown Sioux Falls Elections Kristi Noem Sioux Falls

Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary says Noem was naughty, AFTER the election

l3wis 9Comments

I was wondering if the club was going to say anything about Kristi lifting footage from Jamie Smith’s appearance, oh, but they are concerned;

Some members of the Downtown Rotary Club in Sioux Falls were not happy that Gov. Kristi Noem’s campaign pilfered video of a meeting the club had with Democratic governor candidate Jamie Smith.

In a note to club members, President Cindy Peterson acknowledged the discontent.

“Please know there has been extensive discussion on if, when, and how to respond,” Peterson wrote. “Downtown Rotary is a nonpartisan organization and prides itself on being a place where important conversations happen. Our club’s neutrality cannot be compromised by implying a side in what is a political debate.”

The ‘time’ to respond would have been immediately after the ad was posted. It does no good to slap people’s hands after they clobber their opponent in a statewide election. Kristi doesn’t give a sh!t!

“As we look forward, the board will discuss our current process and policy regarding meeting content and determine how our club regulates the rights to the footage and how it is used in the future,” Peterson wrote.

I certainly am NO expert, but they could have posted a disclaimer on the bottom of the video that says the Rotary requests permission to use their videos in political and non-political ads. They also can put a copyright on the videos. They can do very little about people who may share their videos on social media or blogs, but those are NOT campaign ads.

I think the Rotary knew what she did was ethically wrong, but since a large majority of members are Republicans and small business owners, there was no way in Hell they were going to slap her around before the election. What members of Rotary were upset? The two democrats and one independent that belong to the club?

Downtown Sioux Falls Homeless Rich Merkouris SF City Council Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Sioux Falls Homeless Task Force meeting videos are getting more and more delayed

l3wis 4Comments

UPDATE: I was informed this morning that the meeting video will not be available due to the audio missing. Not even sure how that happened?

This is the 3rd time I have requested from Chair Merkouris that the video from the latest task force meeting be posted to YouTube. Considering it is Saturday now, it is highly unlikely we will see the video until Monday. I find it interesting the closer they get to making recommendations the meetings being posted are an afterthought.

Most people can’t make the 4 PM Monday meeting time, and why I have asked for it to be live streamed. I have not won that battle. For reference and someone who is familiar to how videos are posted to YT, it literally only takes a couple of hours to post a video, if that, and usually the computer does all the work with very little interaction from the person uploading the video.

A couple of things so far that has come from the meetings is funding a pilot program for a street teams, funding a Helpline software program (to connect the different services and clients) and possibly upping the funding to the different homeless services.

SF City Council Sioux Falls

City of Sioux Falls hires headhunter to find Dentist

l3wis 2Comments

It is NOT rare for a government entity to hire a consultant to find high profile employees (Item #6, Sub Item 4);

Health, Agreement to conduct a dental practitioner search for Falls Community Health, Jackson Physician Search

But what I find astounding is that the city will put the money down to find a dentist, but NOT a police chief, fire chief, health director, audit manager, cultural officer or IT manager. Papa Poops knows best.

Teeth are important!

It also may be (and I am ONLY speculating) that since the health department gets gobs of Federal funding there are hiring requirements and the expense may be a pass thru. Not sure.

Elections Minnehaha County Sioux Falls Voter Registration

Voter turnout continues to decline in Minnehaha County

l3wis 7Comments

I first saw this in the past city election and now with the failure of IM 27 that for some reason, Minnehaha County residents, mostly Sioux Falls, are not showing up to vote;

What the data does show, though, is a trend.

  • For whatever reason – likely, a complex variety of factors – the number of ballots cast in local midterm elections is increasing at a much slower rate than both the number of people registered to vote and the number of people coming to Sioux Falls in general.
  • Looking at turnout percentages, it also shows Lincoln County voters turnout at a higher rate than Minnehaha County voters and overall voters statewide.
  • Minnehaha County voters saw the steepest decline in turnout, dropping below the overall statewide turnout in the last decade.

I am not sure why more people are choosing to not vote in Sioux Falls, MC. I think the rhetoric over the past few years about your vote not counting is discouraging voters, we saw this with IM 27. I have no doubt in my mind that if it would have passed, the legislature would have gutted it to nothing, I think voters assumed that.

I have told people that if the county promoted more ways to absentee vote, the numbers would rise.

Cynthia Mickelson SF School Board Member SF School District Sioux Falls

Former Sioux Falls School Board President, Mickelson starts newsletter

l3wis 5Comments

I will have to give Cynthia Mickelson props, she is one of the rare local public servants who actually wants the public to understand what she does and why. I don’t always agree with Mickelson, but she is willing to have that conversation and provide answers when asked. She has always either returned my calls, my texts or emails and doesn’t shy away from having difficult policy discussions. You can fault elected officials for NOT being transparent or just blatant laziness but it is difficult to become frustrated with an official who wants to work with you.

Cynthia’s N/L was informative, but the chart below really astonished me with how we fund public education now, opposed to 70 years ago;

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