Undervotes show many SD voters either don’t know or don’t care

From Cameraman Bruce;

Post-election, I always like to look at how campaign messages get out to the voters and how it encourages them to actually vote in an election. As a resolutions board judge for many elections, I am always surprised how many people go to the polling place and then just turn in an empty ballot. My guess this year, from the statistics so far provided, shows .7% of the voters didn’t want to vote. I know it’s not exact because of the way people mark ballots but from experience, the fact that Noem – Sutton race has the lowest under vote shows people wanted to actually vote.

Under votes are lost opportunities for campaigns. I like to look at this to determine what might have worked or not. Would closing the campaign under vote have made the difference for the losing effort? This year, I don’t see any race loses to blame on under votes.

Now, I’d like to know the number of provisional ballots attempted.

Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, Tue Nov 13, 2018

City Council Informational Meeting, 4 pM

The meeting is jam packed with presentations;

SF Development Foundation will do a presentation. My educated guess is that it is about their new workforce development manager and what they plan to do.

We also get a progress report on the response to the Emerald Ash borer.

Cotter will give us a water rate increase presentation. Can’t wait! Wonder if he will talk about all the delicious extinguisher foam in our water?

We will get a presentation on the city’s proposal to implement Asset Management Software. This is the first I have heard about this. Should be interesting.

City Council Regular Meeting, 7 pM

Item #1, Approval of Contracts;

(16-17) Enterprise Asset Management Informational System, $835K

Enterprise Asset Management Informational System for strategic asset management and work order system for the City. The system will be deployed city-wide to provide life cycle management and long range forecasting on City assets while creating a standardized workflow for all departments. Contract will be five years from the final approval date with a base cost of $835,000 and an annual software maintenance cost of $60,000 for the first five years. The City has an option for a full pavement management package at $291,500. Contract No. 17-0095

This is the item the CC will be briefed about at the informational meeting. I still have NO CLUE what this is, and when I talked to a city councilor today about it, they were clueless also.

Item #3, Surplus Property. Apparently when a city vehicle gets in a wreck they just junk it out. So the question is, did they get any insurance money? Who’s fault was the accident? No biggee, just junk it out.

Items #14-15, 2nd Readings, Naming rights at the indoor pool. Am I the only one finding it funny one is for a greasy pizza chain and a healthcare provider? Or is it a greasy healthcare provider? I get confused.

Item #16, 1st Reading. Changing public input on 2nd readings that are quasi-judicial from 3 minutes to 5 minutes. While this is all well and good, you know my opinion. On second readings, citizens should have unlimited time if they are defending their neighborhoods. As long as that defense isn’t repetitive or disrespectful and pertinent to the topic. As I have said several times, there are NO time limits on the meetings. So why time limits on public input? Silly, but more importantly, Anti-Democratic.

Item #17, 1st Reading. Renewing the private ambulance provider until 2026. With that kind of time frame, this would be a good opportunity to research a public ambulance service.

Chamber announces Sioux Falls new population numbers

I wonder how many of the 4,700 were newborns?

Upon another record year of construction, strong job growth, and improvements within our community’s quality of life standards, Sioux Falls continues to see its population increase. The population of Sioux Falls now is estimated at 183,200, a growth of 4,700 people over the last year.

On an annual basis, Planning and Building Services develops year-end populations estimates; the annual July population estimates are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Sioux Falls has averaged a 3,200-person annual increase for more than ten years.

This 4,700 person increase over the past 12 months means the city is growing at a rate of 2.6 percent. Last year, the city grew by 5,200 persons, a 3.0 percent growth rate. Since January 1, 2000, Sioux Falls has seen a 59,000-person increase in our population. The last Census estimate (July 2016) showed a 2,700-person, 1.6 percent increase. By 2025, the population of Sioux Falls is projected to be 202,000.

It’s NOT free speech, it’s vandalism

Pitty had a crybaby session over at the Wuss College;

This just popped up in my Facebook feed. Apparently, Augustana University dems think they get to decide what is free speech, and anything they disagree with is to be obliterated.

First off, if this was done on PRIVATE campus property, it would be vandalism, not free speech. First the students who decided to chalk up the sidewalk with anti-choice messaging AND the students who scrubbed the message away. While removing the messaging wasn’t vandalism, icing up the sidewalk was.

As I have told people who argue with me about the Jesus snowplows, there is a difference between public and private property. Neither party practiced free speech since this involved private property.

Speaking of crapola from Pitty;

Donita Trump Noem already practicing Nepotism before she is even sworn into office

Like most SD Republican Governor administrations, Nepotism reigns. Rounds was one of the worst, Denny continued the tradition, and now Noem announces her transition team which features her daughter;

Kennedy Noem is a senior at South Dakota State University, where she is majoring in political science with a minor in economics. She is the daughter of Governor-elect Noem.

I wonder if her minor in economics helps her keep track of the millions in farm subsidies her family has received?