STOP bringing your dogs to Levitt

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Before we get to the recommendations of animal health experts on the topic, I want to clarify, I love dogs. I had one for several years. I would take him on walks regularly and had a fenced in backyard for his outdoor enjoyment. Dogs make great companions and we love to show them off. Unfortunately I think that is the main reason why people bring them to outdoor concerts.

I wasn’t going to say anything about it until I came to a boiling point on Saturday. Two teenage girls decided to bring their very large, black, pit bull mix dog to the Levitt and sit directly in the sun. He was NOT a happy camper. He was visibly uncomfortable and panting at a very high rate. I politely asked them to first get him some water and take him home. I informed them that his high rate of panting was a sign of dehydration and heat exhaustion. They did move to the shade, and then I think they eventually left.

Besides this example, animal health experts have warned about bringing your dog to outdoor concerts for several ‘common sense’ reasons;

It’s Extremely Loud

Worst Place for Socialization

Your Dog Will Get Hurt

Food on the Ground

And as I mentioned above, depending on the weather, it can be extremely uncomfortable for them. While you may be very proud of your St. Charles you had to take a 2nd mortgage out to afford to buy him, in the future if you want to show them off to me, keep some cute pictures on your phone to show me, and let your dog relax at home while you enjoy the concert.

Posted in: Levitt Pavilion, Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

Municipal Garbage Service would solve tons of problems

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A few years ago Argus reporter Ellis wrote an extensive article about having a municipal garbage service. And before everyone cries ‘Socialism’ I want to say it wouldn’t work like a municipal ambulance service (which would be maintained by the SFFD). More then likely the city would contract with probably 3-4 haulers. The benefits would be;

Likely be cheaper because the contractor would NOT be paying tipping fees

NO MORE fly by night operations

Recycling would be monitored more closely and be more accurate

No delays in service (if one provider was down, another could come in)

It would likely be quicker because the city would be put in sections and depending on what section you are in there would be a specific day they would pickup. In other words a truck could park and pickup several houses at one time instead of bouncing around from client to client, which would also save fuel costs, labor, time, etc.

Service fees could be tied into your water bill saving billing hassles.

I think the system now is complicated and the haulers all have different rules and fees which is not good. It would also help the landfill manage the system better because they would know exactly when trucks would be delivering and when.

Like I said, this wouldn’t create some new socialist system, it would simply streamline what we have now and eliminate the confusion. It would probably help the major providers because they would pickup more clients and be able to provide more jobs. It would also benefit the recyclers in town with mandated recycling amounts.

It’s time the city council explores this.

Posted in: Sioux Falls

2019 Petition ‘Wish List’

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As I mentioned in my 2019 predictions, I would like to see several petitions taken out this year. I feel if a citizen ran committee is put together we can write several petitions at once, and circulate them all at the same time to cut down on the circulation work. This of course is my ‘Dream List’. Not sure if the right amount of sigs could be gathered and if so, people would vote for them;

  1. Major Changes to the Home Rule Charter. I’m still on the fence about how much I would like to change Home Rule, but I do know that the city council needs to have more power. They need to be the one vetting all legislation and ordinance changes, and they need to be setting the budget, not the mayor.
  2. Basing water and sewer rates on inflation, not on whims.
  3. Ending the TIF program in Sioux Falls. As we saw again today, building permit records were broken again for the 6th year in a row. Development DOES NOT need subsidizing by the taxpayers, they are doing quite well on their own.
  4. Require Directors and Managers who work in Emergency positions within the city to be Sioux Falls Citizens.
  5. Elect the Parks Board to 4-year terms in districts. I would even be okay with paying them a per meeting supplement.
  6. Apply a ticket fee to every ticket sold at the Events Center. Not sure what would be reasonable, but I think $5 would be a good starting point, with a review of the fee every 2 years. The fee would be directly put in the CIP to go towards paying the EC bonds. While this may only generate $2-3 Million per year, its better than what we have now, which is $0.
  7. Require the city to trim boulevard trees. This is doable if you put it on a reasonable rotation. As we are seeing with the Emerald Ash problem, the city DOES have the resources to do this.
  8. Require the city to pay up to 50% of sidewalk repairs adjacent to boulevard. Citizen could pay for the remainder through a property tax increase over a period of 5 years.
  9. Make the city attorney position an elected position for a 4-year term with NO term limits. I think this would keep the attorney’s office from becoming a political pawn for the mayor, it would also help the council to get fair advice on legislation. This person would also have the power to hire their staff, such as assistant attorneys and paralegals.

This of course is my ‘wish list’. Let me know what you think we could add or change.

After watching the Charter Revision Commission this past year, I have lost all hope that they will put anything meaningful on the ballot. They seem to be interested in protecting government from its citizens, instead of the other way around. It’s sad really.

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls

UPDATE: City Hall still in denial about what the 2nd Penny is for

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The 2nd penny was designed to help pay for roads and infrastructure, like sewer plants, but city hall seems to be clueless about it;

Stehly’s repeal efforts, though, face long odds of gaining success. T.J. Nelson, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Paul TenHaken, said the administration opposes the resolution because it is a less equitable way to provide sewer service to Sioux Falls residents.

That’s because right now, sewer and water customers — including businesses like big box stores and industrial type companies — pay for what they use. Nelson said if the city shifted from consumption-based pricing, the average citizen who pays sales tax could end up subsidizing water and sewer services for the heaviest water and sewer users in the city.

“Councilor Stehly’s proposal goes completely against the heart of the issue,” he said. “Her resolution would to have the opposite effect of what she thinks it will.”

Yet every time I go buy groceries or anything in this town I am subsidizing people who are attending shows at the Denty. Doesn’t that go against the ‘Heart of the Issue?’ Why should I have to pay extra for milk and eggs so people can be entertained? If we truly want to use user fees, then we need to have the users of the Denty pay for the Denty.

Stehly’s proposal is simple, use user fees to pay for operating and maintenance of the sewer system, use the 2nd penny to upgrade the infrastructure of the sewer system. It’s not rocket science, in fact it is the fiscally responsible thing to do and worked for decades in Sioux Falls until the former mayor had to get his mitts on extra money for his play things.

Also, the bigger question is why didn’t hear about this expansion until after the election, they have known about this for a very long time (Public Works).

UPDATE: I wrote about this TWO years ago, changing all the entertainment facilities in Sioux Falls over to Enterprise Funds.

Posted in: Mayor TenHaken, Public Utilities, Public Works, SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Theresa Stehly

UPDATE: KSFY edits Councilor Stehly’s ‘OPINION’ after Mayor TenHaken sends out chastising email to the media and Theresa

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UPDATE: Just when you thought this couldn’t get any better, KSFY decided to put Stehly’s comments back in the story with this disclaimer;

Mayor Paul TenHaken has called into question Stehly’s comment about sewer bills rising to $300 a month. He calls it an absurd assertion. KSFY News initially removed the comment after the story aired over concerns that it was confusing, but we have since put the comment back in. Stehly says she stands by her comment.

Prairie Values TV Journalism at it’s best. Maybe KSFY should just stick to doing stories about charity dog races, halloween decorations and food trucks and let the newspaper and blogs cover the ‘real’ news.

It is one thing to edit a story based on having a name misspelled, or numbers and places that or incorrect. That is responsible journalism. But to edit an ‘Opinion’ of an elected official after another elected official in same government entity sends out an email, well, is horrible journalism. I often chuckle at Trump when he says ‘Fake News’ but in this case, one has to wonder.

The other night on KSFY they did a story on the wastewater treatment plant, Councilor Stehly said she has a ‘concern’ that water bills could exceed $300 dollars a month. While I kind of cringed when she said that, it is what it is, an OPINION. (she really isn’t that far off the mark, while our bills will increase $2 a month, for a small business owner they could easily see bills increasing to $300. In fact, over the past decade our water/sewer bills have increased 93%).

Well this ‘Opinion’ did not sit well with Selfie Paul, he sent out this email to city staff and the media (I was conveniently NOT included);

Councilor Stehly:

Thank you for the opportunity this week to once again provide you with information on the Water Reclamation System. Upcoming investments in the collection and treatment systems is a foundational investment crucial to both current and future residents who expect a reliable wastewater collection and treatment system.

The administration has invested hundreds of hours on this project due to the importance of this infrastructure for our city as well as the large price tag attached to it. We have also spent time briefing the City Council, media and public on the importance of this project.

Unfortunately, this week you broke a sacred trust elected leaders have with their constituents. As elected officials we have an obligation to present factual information to the public. That is what I have done in my role as mayor and that is what I expect of city employees. Yesterday, on KSFY and on Tuesday at City Council Informational you stated wastewater customers will experience a $300 per month rate increase as a result of this project. Spreading such misinformation when factual projections have been presented to you is a disservice to your constituents and I’m disappointed you knowingly spread this false information.

Talk about misinformation! It was simply an opinion of ONE city councilor. In the original KSFY story (the edited version is here) Stehly’s ‘Opinion’ was in there, after this email was sent it was edited out of the video (almost) and the text.

Ironically though they didn’t edit the close captioning, it still remains there;

I’m NOT blaming the reporter for this, I’m sure the higher ups made this decision to edit the story, which makes it even more egregious. There’s a fine line between FACTS and OPINIONS, maybe someone should explain this to the producers of KSFY or more importantly the Mayor.

Posted in: Mayor TenHaken, Media, Paul Ten Haken, Public Utilities, Public Works, SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Theresa Stehly