Carry on? (G/T-Tim Benson)
l3wis 
UPDATE: City of Sioux Falls(?) finally addressing panhandlers?
UPDATE: The sign was gone this morning and must have been removed last night. Me thinks someone wasn’t quite following the rules.
Imagine my surprise today while driving down Cliff at the intersection of 14th Street when I saw the traffic sign below, which read in 3 frames; GIVE TO . . . CHARITY . . . NOT TO PANHANDLERS.
At first I thought this may be the handy work of the city, but I am not sure, there wasn’t much info from the sign itself. If it is the city, I guess I should say ‘thanks’ for finally doing something, but this wasn’t my suggestion, I said to put in permanent signage at the intersections informing motorists it is illegal to impede traffic while handing money out the window with the listed ordinance and fine.
I’m also not even sure if this is following sign code, even if the city put it up. Also, what is it costing taxpayers? If this was a private political donation of sorts, shouldn’t there be a disclaimer?
If the city truly did this (it is on city bike trail property) it would be nice if the mayor or the part-time mayor, Beck, at least put out a press release about it.
While I applaud the administration for possibly doing this, I continue to be baffled by the way these things are done. Cruise control government at it’s finest.
Maybe they should put a Girl Scout cookie stand next to it?
Sioux Falls Mayor TenHaken selects Rubberstamp Hiring Committee for future Police Chief
Let’s not kid ourselves, this panel which consists of two city employees who work for Paul, and a person who rents private office space from him isn’t really going to get too ‘edgy’ and suggest Paul hires someone externally or qualified;
The hiring panel plans to identify the finalists by mid-June. At that point, the community will be invited to meet and interact with the finalists. Details regarding the public engagement opportunity will be outlined at a later date.
What is this, an episode of ‘SURVIVOR’? While I would most certainly disagree with whatever internal yahoo the mayor picks, it is ultimately his decision, so why all the smoke and mirrors to make it appear someone else is picking the new chief? Well, because he is a Sh!tty leader and we all know this.
By charter, as the city’s employee manager if I were advising the mayor I would spend some of that moldy developer welfare money on a consultant that would review external, nationwide candidates and also review internal candidates. Pick two from each category and make a personal selection from there.
While I agree public engagement is needed, let’s face it, the job of a city manager is to hire qualified directors, Joe 6-Pack, like myself may have an opinion on it, but what do I know about hiring police chiefs? Ironically, what does the color blind graphic artist know about it either?
I still think that the mayor needs to hire an external bulldog that will clean up the internal mess while mending the relationship with the community. And on day one I would enforce a physical fitness policy and tell the hospitals to shut off the FREE feeding trough. Our police make well over a living wage, they can afford to pack a sack lunch.
Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, May 11, 2021 & the $449K Convention Center Door
Informational Meeting • 4 PM
Presentations on Curbside pickup and Sioux Steel TIF;
Not sure what the garbage presentation is about, but it looks like the garbage haulers are not happy about the changes. You know, if you would have just gave discounts it may not have changed back. But guess what, sometimes being greedy sucks. I don’t have a problem with putting the can at the end of the driveway on pickup day, but why not just offer a discount to customers who do it? Oh, that’s right, that greed thing again.
There is also an update on the TIF for Sioux Steel. As I understand it the original TIF will be rescinded and after changes to the project (not sure what they will be) the TIF will be re-instated. I think the council should send a message and rescind the original TIF and not give them one. We don’t need more office space or hotels downtown, we need affordable housing. If the developer was willing to turn the project into a work force housing development, I think the TIF would be fine.
Item #7, Approval of Contracts, Sub Item #10;
Software Platform, Mass Transit On-Demand Pilot Project; amendment to introduce a second “Pilot Program†of “SAM on Demand†This pilot project will test to see if on-demand service will improve ridership, Pantonium, Inc. $36K. (I’m wondering if the public is going to get an update about how they continue to milk this bad idea).
Sub Item #11, Convention Center Improvements – Convention Center Vestibule Door Replacement; Sunkota Construction, Inc., $449K (While the mayor bragged about giving a whopping $1 Million in rental assistance last year, he failed to tell folks he plans to spend almost a Half-Million on a door. To be fair, it’s probably a couple of doors. Wouldn’t spending that money on actually marketing Sioux Falls for conventions be better spent)?
Sub Item #12, Greenway and Trail Improvements – Downtown River Greenway Improvements – Phase 3; Agreement for final design, Confluence, $797K (so it costs less to build a door than it does to design a sidewalk. Hmmm).
