Did the SF School Board & Dictator Homan create the ‘Perfect Storm’?

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One of the few shots of SF School board president, Doug Morrison where he is not rubbing his neck during tonight’s meeting (notice who he is looking at – the Fuhrer).

I guess none of us should be surprised by this;

The Sioux Falls School Board has given a school consolidation and closure plan for three central schools the green light. Longfellow, Mark Twain, and Jefferson will be closed. The district will also build a new multi-million dollar elementary school on the Mark Twain site. It will be bigger, and physically better than the aging historic neighborhood facilities.

What angered me the most about tonight’s meeting was the lack of public testimony and that NONE of the important questions were asked about who is buying the land and the bonding. The blatant lack of 1st Amendment rights that were respected was obvious when parents were yelling from the crowd for more testimony and denied because of ‘policy’. Sorry President Morrison, the US Constitution trumps silly school board policies.

But that argument is for another day.

More importantly, the school board fueled an amazing storm tonight. They have probably encouraged many parents to run for the school board this Spring. But this won’t be your average hunky-dory election where about 3% of the voters show up and vote for rubber stampers. The snowgate supporters will be there to, people who believe that the ones that dole out their tax dollars should be spending it on ‘prudent’ things and services. Like proper snow removal and educating our youth. This spring, you may see a storm on election day like no other, and it won’t be coming from the sky, it will be coming from the ballot box.

SNOWGATES; On to Phase II

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Merry Christmas driveway scoopers of all!

The snowgate petitions will be turned in during a press conference on Tuesday (Nov 27) at Carnegie Hall at 1 PM.

This brings us to the next step in the process, the SF city council calling the election. I will keep you updated about the council times, etc.

All petitions are serial numbered, scanned and in electronic form ready to be utilized to encourage the citizens to participate in future work. These signatures were gathered in less than 10 weeks, by over 50 volunteer petition circulators.

This is the gift-wrapped box that over 8,000 signatures will be delivered tomorrow in.

Snowgates: Can SF city councilors be recalled?

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ANOTHER MARGARITA PLEASE!

After reading Ellis’ column yesterday, I’m pretty sure he was referring to councilor Jim Entenman (who is known to vacation in Mexico over the winter);

Political backlash? Indeed. But keep this in mind: Two, maybe three of the four councilors eligible to stand for re-election in 2014 might not run again, so they wouldn’t be afraid of angering voters over snowgates. While you’re shoveling out the end of your driveway, they might be sipping margaritas on a beach in Mexico.

Whether Entenman or any other councilor plans to vote against a special election with the school district on the matter of the possible snowgate election this spring is beyond me. I have to believe that the city council would be hard-pressed to vote against having the special election when petition gatherers will have submitted almost 9,000 signatures. But hey, stranger things have happened – look where they are building the Events Center. If 4-5 of the councilors vote against the special election, what kind of repercussions could there be for them from the public? One citizen said to me,

“Hey, if they vote this election down, maybe we could recall the councilors that thumb there nose at our petitions.”

Another thing they pointed out was that 9,000 signatures is a heckuva a lot more votes then some of these councilors received to get into office.

My suggestion to the council is that all 8 of them vote to call this election for the Spring of 2013. Voting against the will of 9,000 citizens could put you in a very bad, bad PR position. But who cares, right? As long as you have a margarita in your hand.

Snowgates Election: It’s in the city council’s court now

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I’m good at making decisions, especially when it comes to terminating city clerks and water bill inserts, not so much on elections.

It is very evident that if the city decides to have a joint election with the school district this spring, it will be the SF city council’s decision to do so, not the mayor. The contract that the school district has signed already has been deferred, again, to the December 4, city council meeting (after the meeting was down for 20 hours, a continuing problem*). Which seems a bit odd, since council chair doesn’t seem to have a problem with making decisions without consulting the council first (Watch this exchange between Staggers and Erpenbach about the authorization of a water bill insert. FF to about 5 minutes before the end of the meeting). Everyone from the past city clerk to former mayors and city councilors have said the council must call this election and appropriate the funds, including former councilor, Vernon Brown – who has also signed the petition. They would be crazy to flout the public’s wishes on this petition.

Is the city council waiting to make a decision until the petitions are turned in? I do know that collection of signatures will end in November and they are expected to be turned in before the end of Decemeber.

I think this delay in signing the contract has more to do with the icy relationship between the city clerk, Lorie Hogstad, and Bev Chase, SF School District election official. Remember, Lorie and the city council leadership had no problem throwing Bev under the mini-van in the past joint election, and now, they may have to work together.

Karma is a bitch, huh?

*(The delay in videos of city meetings being posted on the city website has been going on for several months. First off, as a taxpayer, I pay for this service, it SHOULD work. Secondly, I shouldn’t have to load some special software to view the meetings. And thirdly, delaying a public meeting is a FORM of censorship by holding back critical information to the public. If this continues, as it has for several months. I am considering filing an ethics complaint against the city clerk. Maybe this will get her to FIX the issue once and for all.)

Snowgates: Public Notice

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The petition drive is winding down, and Stehly has asked me to put up a public notice. If you have any petitions in your possession, please get them notarized ASAP and to her by NOVEMBER 20. It will be important to get a true count before turning them in. You can either mail them to her or drop them off at her home.

Thank you!

*(We hope to be at the 9,000 mark when we turn them in)