South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

SF School District

New schools named after a Slave owner & Lakota lawmaker

l3wis 18Comments

This is a signed photo I have of Ben Reifel with Ms. Universe (Greece) and Ms. South Dakota (not sure of the date).

Oh, the irony of naming one school after a Native American and a slave owner who seduced one (or more) of his slaves. I will just let that go.

It should NOT surprise us that they named the HS after Jefferson. That was a forgone conclusion. But while I like Reifel* as the choice for the Middle School, I would be curious how many people recommended the name. My guess is ONE. This is why the committee met in secret, and we only have the names of two of the members (School Board President Alberty and a Lakota student). We were told in the press conference that the committee consisted of 12 people, and two co-chairs, Dr. Boysen and Super Nold. The members were students, teachers, parents and administrators. No other names.

I am still disappointed that the committee met in secret with secret members and no idea what the other suggestions were. If this was a private school, they could have done this all in secret, but since the SFSD is funded by taxpayers this process should have been in the open. Just like the school bond election, a total SHAM.

*Ben Reifel served five terms as U.S. Congressman for South Dakota and is of Lakota Sioux descent. I bet if you asked 5 students or parents before the announcement they would have NO CLUE who Reifel was. He actually has an impeccable reputation of highest integrity. My guess is he would have been very disappointed in the naming process.

Janet Brekke SF City Council Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls City Councilor Janet Brekke on FORUM

l3wis 1Comments

Councilor Brekke talks the topics of the day including electric cars and transport. It was also interesting that Janet brought up that communities along the Big Sioux River watershed ALL need to be responsible when it comes to cleaning up our waterways. Tell that to the state and Madison who brought TruShrimp in (due to the lack of strict discharge regulations that Minnesota has). She also brings up that the City Council should be setting the policy for the city, (NOT the mayor’s office).

Democrats SD South Dakotans

UPDATE: Paula Hawks announces she is running for Dem Chair

l3wis 7Comments

UPDATE: Last night before I posted this I was told by some upstanding members of the SD Democratic Party that the vote for chair would be decided by a simple plurality. Basically ONE vote, ONE election. Well since than, a new ruling has come down. Now they are claiming there are no specific rules in the Constitution saying it is a simple majority or 50% of the vote. The Constitution does say, however, anything that is not specifically written in the SDDP Constitution will defer to parliamentary procedure and that the Executive Board will be reviewing the rules during their next monthly meeting.

So what does that mean?  If they defer to Robert’s Rules, then we keep having balloting until a candidate gets 50%.  It could go all night.

All this rule changing and indecision is the EXACT reason why the party needs new leadership.

Another hat in the ring;

I am Paula Hawks, former state legislator from District 9 (Hartford) and 2016 Congressional candidate for the South Dakota Democratic Party.  I am announcing my candidacy for the State Chair of the Democratic Party, along with Jack Mortenson for Vice Chair, and Caroline Hansen for Secretary.  Bringing a united, strong leadership team is important to the success of the Party at a time when we need to be developing a strategy for success in 2020.  From the top of the Congressional ticket to local elections all over the state, we must focus our attention on building the Democratic Party’s ability to identify strong candidates and support them in their endeavors.

This adds to the current list of John Cunningham (SF), Ann Tornberg (Beresford) and Tom Cool (SF). There is also another announcement of another Sioux Falls resident that will be running coming soon (who I support). Since the vote is based on plurality, it’s anyone’s game, but I think it will be a close matchup between Hawks and one of the three candidates from Sioux Falls.

Nice knowing you Ann . . .

I do know that Randolph Seiler did consider the volunteer position but decided not to run.

Planning Commission Public Utilities Public Works SF City Council Sioux Falls

Slab on Grade Baby!

l3wis 0Comments

In one of the more humorous moments during the Q & A portion of the Sioux Falls City Council informational meeting about drainage issues in Sioux Falls, the city official stated that the best way to avoid water in your basement when building a new home was to go ‘slab on grade’. In other words ‘NO BASEMENT’. That’s why these guys have engineering degrees I suppose, to give out riveting solutions to difficult problems.

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