South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

5G SF City Council Sioux Falls

Another snag with 5G, it’s all hype

l3wis 1Comments

Just when you think the 5G debacle couldn’t get much worse, the hits keep coming;

Wireless carriers are working hard to talk up 5G (Fifth Generation) wireless as the future of broadband. But don’t be fooled—they are only trying to focus our attention on 5G to try to distract us from their willful failure to invest in a proven ultrafast option for many Americans: fiber to the home, or FTTH.

A recent FCC report on competition found that the future of high-speed broadband for most Americans will be a cable monopoly. Without a plan to promote fiber to the home, that’s not likely to change. In fact, because the 5G upgrade relies on fiber infrastructure, even 5G will be possibly limited to areas that already have FTTH – meaning, they already have a competitive landscape and, therefore, better service. The rest of us get monopolistic slow lanes.

And what about all that rural service Ironic Johnny talks about;

Without a comprehensive plan for fiber infrastructure, 5G will not revolutionize Internet access or speeds for rural customers. So anytime the industry is asserting that 5G will revolutionize rural broadband access, they are more than just hyping it, they are just plainly misleading people.

In other words without the cable in the ground, they cannot put up the antennas in rural areas. And the speed? Laughable;

5G will also not be competitive with wireline Internet services. In the early Verizon home 5G broadband test cities, where the connections were marketed as faster than your cable broadband, it turned out that speeds average around 300 Mbps with some peaking to gigabit speeds. By comparison, cable networks had already deployed gigabit download networks earlier in 2018 and have plans to upgrade 10-gigabit networks (which they comically call 10G, because why not). In other words, 5G’s peak speeds match broadband speeds that are already in the process of being topped.

In other words, if you are hooked to the ethernet like I am, you are already getting the best internet speeds that 5G will never even come close to. Hopefully with all the lawsuits and congressional investigations this whole 5G scam will end before they roll over on us.

MIDCO Aquatic Center SF City Council Sioux Falls

Midco Aquatic Center subsidized $625K in 2018

l3wis 2Comments

A presentation will be made today at the 4 PM Sioux Falls city council informational meeting.

Ironically, while there was 10,000 fewer visitors in 2018 than in 2017 that operational expenses jumped $100K. 2018 made $1,000 less than 2017.

It also interesting to note that many sponsorships expire next year and need to be renewed. We will see how that goes.

I have often argued if there is the NEED for a public sporting facility in the community, it will at least break even or come very close. As I mentioned before the vote, besides being a bad location (no room for expansion) there are plenty of other indoor swimming opportunities for folks in the private sector, and many of these facilities offer other fitness options at their locations, some even include bowling and golf passes.

We will continue to be in the hole for years to come on the MAC, because it simply really wasn’t needed and was built in the wrong spot. I still think we should have partnered with Sanford on a pool at the Sports Complex. There is a still a rumor floating around that they intend to eventually build an Olympic competition pool out there, and once Slaveowner High goes in it will be utilized.

Denny Sanford Premier Center Event Center SF City Council Sioux Falls

UPDATE: How did the Premier Center do in 2018?

l3wis 7Comments

UPDATE: I just checked the calendar of events for the Denty. From 2/22 until the end of October there is 31 events booked. Only ten of them are major concerts, the other 21 are mostly local sporting events (Storm and HS and College sporting events). Obviously there will be other concerts announced, but as of right now that is 3.5 events per month. Ouch.

I have been wondering for awhile, is the honeymoon over for the Denty?

Recently we found out that the long time GM was terminated and now the Marketing Manager is moving to another market for SMG.

With new management moving in, it would be a good time to crunch the numbers from 2018. I will be honest with you, I don’t follow what concerts and events go on out there. After spending almost $200 (ticket and beverages) to see the Foo Fighters, my hunger to attend shows there isn’t high on my priority list.

With the EC Campus Book Club meetings going on, even if they are meeting in private, I think that information would be important to their decision making. It’s even more important for the city council that is moving on the 2020 budget to know how the place is doing. Not only revenue sources, but ongoing sponsorships, economic impact, and as it seems, very expensive maintenance costs of the entire campus (parking/SF Stadium, Convention Center and Arena).

My guess is that 2018 was down from the previous two years. But the bigger question is how much and why? General Managers don’t just get fired on a whim. I have a feeling SMG knows the numbers and are concerned. I also think that the Mayor’s office knows the numbers to, this is probably the reason they want to hand the Orpheum contract over to the Pavilion.

I asked a couple of city councilors to make a request to the city’s finance department with a 2018 audit update of the Denty. We will see how long they stall.

Elections SF City Council Sioux Falls

Returning the Plurality back to Sioux Falls City Council races ‘Should’ be a snap

l3wis 2Comments

Mayor TenHaken told the Argus that he hopes he doesn’t have to break a tie Tuesday night over changing back a 20 year old rule that served the citizens and city council just fine.

I agree, he should not have to. While I can’t predict if it will pass or not, I do think it will come down on a 5-3 vote. And it should.

It’s obvious that Stehly, Starr and Brekke support changing it back. While that is 3 votes, shouldn’t the other 2 they need be a piece of cake? Erickson and Neitzert voted against the change almost two years ago. Why? Because the process wasn’t broken.

Now some have argued that this should be up to the voters. I suppose, and if you believe that, Brekke has offered that this be looked at by the Charter Revision Commission for the 2020 ballot. But as we all know, it wasn’t broken and should not have been changed to begin with.

While Erickson and especially Neitzert have argued that they don’t want to be messing with city elections, this would be a perfect reason to change it back to as it was, unharmed for 20 years.

In the last election, there was a city council run-0ff, but it still would have occurred under the old ordinance, because neither DeBoer or Soehl received the 34% plurality. Another reason why the change was not needed.

I don’t expect the votes of Rex Rolfing Jr. (Kiley) or Selberg (who probably doesn’t even understand the math) or Soehl (who sold his soul to Erpenbach and Huether a long time ago) to change. But I would expect Erickson and Neitzert to hold their votes like Starr, Stehly and Brekke did on the 2nd go around on the Elmwood street vacation.

But I’m not holding my breath.

Mayor TenHaken

Mayor TenHaken on BNB show this morning

l3wis 7Comments

Unlike the last Mayor who made outrageous statements, and ramrodded outrageous projects, it seems the current Hizzoner doesn’t seem to know what he is talking about, or at least how to communicate his plans.

He talked about how he went to Haiti to learn about refugees in their country so he has a better understanding of the refugees we have in Sioux Falls. Here’s a concept Paul, why not go down to the Multi-cultural center and have some meetings with them? He feels we need to get the refugees to assimilate into Americans, okay Donald Trump. Also, though I have asked several councilors and city officials to get back to me about Public Works Director Cotter going with Paul on the missionary trip to ‘study the infrastructure’ and whether the taxpayers paid for the trip and if he used vacation time, I have heard NOTHING. I guess it would be safe to assume it was a junket for Cotter, spreading the good news of Jesus and running water on the taxpayer dime.

When Greg asked Paul about the Events Center Campus Study Book Club he told Greg that sometimes secret meetings get more things done, “Sometimes you need to shut the door to get the work done.” Which was ironic, because right after saying that he told Greg exactly what he wanted the EC Book Club to accomplish, solving the parking problems at the site by shuttling people from Downtown on concert nights. While this is a great idea, who is going to pay for it? Will this come from ticket fees? Will the artists be paying for it? Will SMG? Will the shuttles cost the concert goers as they get on the shuttle? Or will this just be ANOTHER 2nd penny subsidy to the Events Center? These are why these discussions need to be opened to the public, but on the other hand, I ask the question, what is so secretive about parking and shuttle buses? At the beginning of this topic though, Paul said it wasn’t worth discussing new development around the EC campus, because it has never worked. Well, that’s no secret.

He finished by talking about snow removal, and the wet panties it seems the last couple of mayors including Paul gets by saving snow removal money. We don’t pay our taxes so you can put it in a savings account, we pay them to PLOW SNOW!

He also talked about the Elmwood street vacation vote. He thinks the neighborhood lost by not allowing the street vacation of Elmwood. I still struggle with how taking a viable street away from a residential neighborhood is a ‘win’ for them. It’s not. I think by not closing the street both the neighborhood and Lifescape won. Lifescape can still build their parking lot, and they can still devise a safety plan. This was about GIVING taxpayer owned property worth well over a quarter million to a private organization at NO cost so they could increase the value of the property when they sell in a couple of years. I have argued for a long time that if these businesses or non-profits are requesting a street vacation they should have to pay us at least HALF of the appraised value. When we closed the street by Billion Auto we essentially GAVE a private for profit car dealership about a million dollars in property. It’s not right or fair. Enough with the corporate welfare to developers and private non-profits.

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