Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

I found this video interesting. It was the annoucement of the Hayward School Clinic that was built in cooperation with the School District, the City and the Feds. But gee, for some reason we can’t cooperate on building a public indoor pool?

I guess the city is already scrambling to find another location for an indoor pool if Spellerberg fails. Here is a suggestion, BUILD THE POOL WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT!

Don’t forget to vote in Tuesday’s School Board Election, May 21. The school district will once again be using super precincts and you can vote at ANY location OR at the county administration building, absentee.

I feel that Schorzman and Reiter will bring fresh ideas to the school board. Joshua wants to have monthly informational meetings for the public, something the City Council does on a weekly basis. Reiter is a young mother who is very well-informed when it comes to public education in our community.

I don’t really have a position on Leedom, except that Joshua and Carly seem more qualified. As for Alberty, it time to retire his Homan Rubberstamp. School Board members should be watchdogs of the Administration, not lapdogs.

One of the many things the Indoorers are pushing for is a therapy pool if an indoor pool is built at Spellerberg for the Vets;

At Tues evening’s May 14th city council meeting, during the public comment section, there was an organized effort by indoor pool supporters to cheer-lead the issue of placement of an indoor aquatic complex in Spellerberg Park.  It is to be noted that none of those speakers addressed the LACK OF CLEAR TITLE regarding the land called Spellerberg Park.

One talking point made by Mr Sommervold is the inclusion of a therapy pool for veterans.  Who is promising this?  ACCORDING TO THE POWER POINT HANDED OUT AT THE CITY COUNCIL’S INFORMATIONAL MEETING, THERE IS NO THERAPY POOL INCLUDED IN THE NEW AQUATIC POOL PLAN from Counsilman-Hunsaker.    The power point says they are recommending option 5 (large indoor) defined as: Indoor 50 meter by 25 yard competition pool with springboard diving and separate 3750 sq ft indoor leisure pool with current channel and waterslide.

This apparently means the plan would have to be changed before the council could vote on acceptance/rejection, or someone is making empty promises to veterans.  Furthermore, adding a therapy pool  for veterans to option 5 will significantly increase cost above the $18M plus being suggested right now.  Incidentally, this money will need to be borrowed and added to our present city debt of $398,868,664 as of December 31, 2012.

While I think this is a great idea and a nice gesture, we have to wonder if this is just a false campaign promise;

We attended the 4pm council meeting May 14th and I picked up a copy of the power point used to present the aquatic plan to the council.  Option 5 below is copied from the power point. There is no therapy pool in the plan. From a bit of researching others have done, the water needs to kept much warmer (10 degrees or more) than for regular pools.  Also, I have been told, there are other physical differences between a therapy pool and a regular leisure pool.  Additionally there is the issue of employing therapists.  A therapy pool would significantly increase the current estimated cost of the Counsilman-Hunsaker plan!

The issue is that a therapy pool is not in the plan before the city council, but it is being dangled out there as probability or even possibly a “done deal”, and you voters/veterans will need to support the current plan to help us get this accomplished.  The second part of the issue is who is the source of this talk or proposal?

So who is floating this idea? The mayor? Or the Indoorers? Either way, doesn’t matter because it is NOT in the current Indoor pool plan. I hope once the indoor pool fails at Spellerberg, the city finally awakens from their deep sleep and either builds a pool at one of the HS’s or at the Sanford Sports Complex. It is no secret who will be using a public indoor pool, people who competitively swim, so put it where it would get the best use. Duh.

Seems a little ODD that someone who has been doing the job for almost 6 years just suddenly leaves without a peep from Pavilion management. She has also been removed from there management page with NO replacement listed.

According to Allison’s professional page;

Director of Development

Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science

Nonprofit; 51-200 employees; Museums and Institutions industry

September 2007– May 2013 (5 years 9 months)

Responsible for creating and implementing the annual Development Plan.  Work with a wonderful team of 5 full-time employees who coordinate grant writing, membership recruitment/retention, donations, special projects and volunteers.  They are simply the joy of my professional life.  Contribute over $1,000,000 toward the operating budget of the Washington Pavilion.  Commited to providing quality experiences for all the patrons of the Pavilion.  Proudly a member of thePavilion’s Director Management Team.

Usually when a high-profile management person leaves the Pavilion there is at least some kind of an announcement. Allison’s job was very important, she was in charge of bringing in grant money, donations and other subsidies to the Pavilion. This is not position that just goes away quietly in the night.

Maybe I am misinformed and missed a media piece about it or a press release. If so, please forward it to me, I would like to clarify her departure. The Pavilion had a rough year in 2012, wondering if there is a piece of the puzzle we are missing here?

Okay, more speculation from SF #1 conspiracy theorist, Detroit Lewis.

After watching public input last night at the regular council meeting, I became a bit suspicious as to why 25 minutes was spent on a non-agenda item, an indoor pool at Spellerberg. In an almost rehearsed well choreographed presentation, each speaker came up to the podium to tell the mayor and council why we need an indoor pool at Spellerberg. At first I thought, “Shouldn’t they be addressing the public (voters) instead of the mayor and council?” The issue whether we build an ‘outdoor’ pool at Spellerberg will be on the municipal ballot in 2014. The key word here is ‘Outdoor’ I also found it a bit strange since the election was over a year away. When Citizen Stenga approached the podium and made this remark, “It’s a good thing CITIZENS will be voting on this.”

Or will they?

I’ve been researching whether the mayor and city council can legally trump the Spellerberg petitioners by either;

- Approving an indoor facility before the election, which could possibly make their petitions null and void, OR

- Putting an indoor facility on the ballot with the outdoor facility. This seems more like a reality. Why? Well the Spellerberg petitioners kind of pigeon holed themselves by setting a price tag for an outdoor pool, where the city can pretty much just say;

Do you want a $7 million dollar outdoor facility that you can only use 3 months out of the year, OR an indoor facility (Pricetag to be determined) that you can use all year?

Obviously this wouldn’t be the EXACT ballot language, but you get the gist of what I am getting at. City Hall is up to something. The city has been denied an indoor facility TWICE by the voters, and there is certain people in City Hall that are not going to let the VOTERS turn this down again. Keep your eyes peeled, something smells fishy.

Citizen Stenga & Tree Trimming

As I mentioned above, Tim gave another Oscar performance last night. Besides the pool issue, Tim talked about the city trimming boulevard trees. He said, in the past during Project TRIM, the city would charge you $150 per tree to trim your (their) boulevard trees, but during the ice storm that city was paying anywhere from $30 to $90 per tree for contractors to trim back any hangers or potential troublesome branches (according to Tim). Tim questioned the difference, he also questioned why isn’t the city just trimming these trees all the time? To which the mayor blurted out “We are not trimming the trees!” Ah, yes you are, because one of my boulevard trees was trimmed, and I did not do it. So either the city did it, a contractor they hired did it, or the tree fairies came in the middle of the night and did it. Either way Mike, your lies are going to start catching up with you, you wouldn’t want to make GOD unhappy with you? Would you?

City will buy the State Theatre a film projector

(to help underpriviledged kids watch movies for FREE).

The city approved the $63,000 expenditure as long as the State gives away FREE tickets to ‘deprived’ kids in exchange.

(Image: KELO-TV)

City ordinance was changed last night to allow the Overlook Café to apply for a malt beverage license and sell alcohol during regular business hours.

I am all for the café providing alcohol during special and catered events. The café has done this in the past, but I am have trouble grasping why they need to sell during regular hours?

Good question.

First off, I don’t think this is going to add much to the Overlook Café’s bottom line. Many other family restaurants/cafes downtown provide beer and wine, and most would tell you that it really doesn’t help/or harm the business, so why the big push at Overlook?

WILD SPECULATION

Remember what the first proposal for the Overlook Café was? It was proposed to make it a fine dining, privately ran full service restaurant. I cannot recall why that idea was ever turned down, but I do know that it is something that CAN be done in the future simply by changing the contract or lease agreement.

You will have to give Milstead credit, she understands that working with local government, you have to take baby steps all the way. Her husband has worked in public service most of his life, he for one knows things don’t get done overnight. Milstead understands her first step was getting approval of this ordinance change and eventually her license. I ‘speculate’ once she proves she can provide alcohol safely during regular business hours she will propose changing the café into a full-service restaurant, and she may even want to take it a step further by changing the way the café profit shares with the city and convert it to a lease agreement.

This of course is speculation on my part, but I am still scratching my head why she fought so hard to sell beer with ice cream cones, hot dogs and cookies. .

Don’t get me wrong, I think a full-service restaurant in that location is a wonderful idea, and have often wondered why it was turned down to begin with. Food for thought.

FF: 11:15

Joshua Schorzmann

Education: Kilian Community College, A.A. Liberal Arts-2005; University of Sioux Falls, B.A. Political Science/History-2008; University of South Dakota, M.A. History-2013.

Occupation: Server, Darden Restaurants, Inc.; Volunteer Policy Advocate, South Dakota Voices for Children; Board Member, Sioux Falls Board of Historic Preservation.

Family: wife, Katie; daughter, Kylie.

Years in Sioux Falls: 13.

I was at a School Board public information meeting last September, interested in the school consolidation that affected Longfellow, Jefferson, and Mark Twain elementary schools.  What struck me as odd during this meeting was that although the School Board was asking for public input on the consolidation, they had already made up their minds on the issue before hand.  How long? Who knows, but I didn’t appreciate being told that my input was integral to the process while the decision had already been made.

I got into this election with the firm conviction that I would not keep the public out of the loop. Let me ask you a question:  how many people within the Sioux Falls School District can name all 5 school board members? My guess is not a majority. This is not the public’s fault, it is the board members’ fault. Becoming more visible and meeting with the district employees, teachers, parents, and the taxpayers on a regular basis is a fundamental goal of mine, and using this input from these individuals to accomplish a set of positive goals is very important to me.  The School Board must be more transparent, and I vow to make this happen when elected.

I want to implement a program of more one-on-one math and reading tutorials for the K-5 students.  These are the two toughest subjects for many of these children, and the district’s policy of group interaction within these subjects needs to be amended.  By doing this we will be instilling confidence in our public school youth which will set them up for better academic success moving forward.  A positive, happy, confident child is a better, more attentive student!

Massive Open Online Courses are the next step in the district’s technological future.  I want to start using MOOC’s in the district’s CTE and New Technology High School to keep these young adults interested in their focus of study.  While this is similar to distance learning, it can be organized quickly and efficiently with immediate feedback from the program instructors.  By taking the time to help students focus on a particular subject of interest during the school day will better prepare them for their futures after they leave the district.  This program can connect across disciplines, reduce teacher shortages, and build a community of students and teachers without communication barriers as it can be used in any language.  With a growing and diverse district this technology program will become increasingly useful.

As a school board member I will preserve the quality of the school district, achieve positive goals, embrace the new district wide technology program, be open minded and carry no prejudices, and assist every parent, teacher, district employee, and taxpayer with any questions or feedback at anytime.  A School Board member is not hired by the administration, it is an elected official whose job is to represent the public, and this is the way my elected position will be handled-with the focus on doing what is right for the everyone in he Sioux Falls School District.

Vote for Joshua James Schorzmann on May 21^st for Sioux Falls School Board!

Had to chuckle at this blog post by an outsider doing business in South Dakota;

On the city website, he is referred to as “Mayor Mike.” With a background in marketing, Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether is none too shy about calling attention to his city.

“We should make the top two or three with every project you have,” he unabashedly told the assembled site selection consultants.

My experience is that a company will often have pretty good ideas on where it needs to be, as was exemplified by an email that I received from a CEO on Friday. My job, of course, is to refine those ideas and then find the best place, based on a whole lot of tailored criteria, where the risks are minimized and the chances for success are optimized.

I’m sorry to report to Hizzoner that Sioux Falls will not always make the finalist list. There are certain practicalities specific to a project that will simply prevent that from happening. I know it’s hard to imagine, Mr. Mayor, but sometimes your city will not be the best fit.

But I do believe the mayor, truly I do, when he passionately states that red tape doesn’t stand much of a chance in his city, with expedited permitting guaranteed. “We get shit done,” he said.

I only wish there were more like him.

Said Matt Healy, operations manager with Glanbia Nutritionals, now building a cereal ingredient processing plant in Sioux Falls: “The city and the state have been remarkably supportive. They have been exactly who they said they were.”

Yes, Mr. Barber, the city and state are very acommodating to ‘business’ but when it comes to their workers, they tax their food and pay them low wages. The unemployment rate in SD is low, because people here have to have multiple jobs to make ends meet. Funny how our mayor will pull no stops when it comes to ‘red tape’ for businesses, but when it comes to it’s residents he will threaten to haul your ass to the pokey for having grass that is 9″ high.

The commission decided today to leave the petitioners policy in front of the administration building ‘As is’ with possible improvements. They have also posted the policy on the building for petitioners to read. The commission is also considering budgeting for improving the entry way to make it more ADA compliant.

I will applaud the Commission for listening to constituents on this issue and making a common sense decision allowing petitioners to easily petition their government instead of making it more difficult.