Entries Tagged 'Sioux Falls' ↓

I guess they are on a tight schedule now with the council. Maybe since none of them are getting very good raises they all have to start using public transit?

This is all very strange, and to tell you the truth I have NO idea what it is all about. Maybe this is why they got mad at Stehly, she was interrupting the bus schedule for the city directors that had to catch a bus.

As I have said in the past, anyone who works for the city or is elected is getting paid to be at these meetings, there are no time limits. If they start to go long they can always be postponed.

In the things we miss but others report to us the  glorious and exalted leader of the Sioux Falls City Council (in his mind anyway) decided to be a smart ass at a pretty luncheon on Thursday September 22, 2016.

During a special CVB luncheon & meeting being held at the Sanford Pentagon, Rex Rolfing decided to brag about “his” soccer tournaments coming to Sioux Falls next summer.

To start the soccer presentation he thought he was in charge at Carnegie.

Seeing Theresa Stehly was not in the room and him never being mellow but quite yellow when the coast is clear, decided to start by calling the meeting to order.  His method? He repeatedly slammed his empty pop bottle like a gavel on his table top. Making a lot of noise as he called his meeting to order.

Someone in the room shouted “You’re out of order!” There was an uncomfortable chuckle in the room and likely two embarrassed City Council members.

Mr. Mellow and Yellow just shook his head and said “I’m just practicing for next week” as he finished. The crowd did not appreciate it.

What was even more embarrassing about this lack of decorum, this was a very special event being put on to show off the Pentagon to the hospitality industry. Our Rex was an ass and not even apologetic as he finished.

By the way if you need rooms for next summer, Rex made sure everyone there knew all Sioux Falls hotel rooms next summer were for his needs during the tournaments not your family reunions. Thanks hotel Czar.

 What a sick man.

Before getting back to basics on budget night, the citizens who witnessed the earlier shameful Rolfing power play and the cowardly behavior of some of Stehly’s “colleagues” decided to let the large in-house crowd and the massive viewing audience in on the joke called Sioux Falls City Council. September 20, 2016 will be remembered for what NOT to do to your fellow member. The speakers reminded them.

Did we witness, how to be a turncoat just because? We’ll put it out there as a question which only can be answered by the offending member(s). The public input speakers got it. The audience got it. The massive number of people watching TV, CityLink, internet and more could not believe what they saw when they got it.

Should we be ashamed of the help given to certain people in the recent campaign? We’ll decide because we all must decide. Trust built on pledges and promises is hard to earn back when lost.

Tim Stanga was eloquent. June Staggers started off the festivities with a quiet dignity. Our own L3wis took us down memory lane while the clerk’s staff got David Zokaties PowerPoint running. Did Sierra let the Council know they should be taking sensitivity training in Pierre also? If not, it is a great thought though.

Cameraman Bruce just wanted to know if the Mayor, Kiley and Rolfing got out their whips to beat down the plantation inferiors, trying to get them back in line for work. Did they get upset when a couple of them didn’t line up?

Everyone should be calling and emailing Rex Rolfing at Phone: 367-8808 and email: rrolfing@siouxfalls.org to let him know what kind of person he was and will remain in our hearts.

Since I have been writing this blog, I have been a strong advocate for open government, transparency and 1st Amendment free speech rights. I think you all know that. We may not always agree on what people have to say, but we have that right.

Theresa defended that Tuesday afternoon.

But to call Theresa a ‘Lone Wolf’ is the furthest thing from the truth. She has formed coalitions in every political activity she has been involved with. She has embraced the community and worked for them. It is no secret why Theresa is sitting on the council, because of her community involvement and sticking up for the little guy. I would call her ‘Mother Wolf’ before I would ever call her ‘Lone Wolf’.

Gawd, Rex, what the heck is wrong with you? Seriously Dude?!

Ironically, while everyone wants to blame her for the ‘drama’ if Rolfing would have just let her speak and not gaveled her (there was NOTHING confidential in what she was saying) there would have been no drama. And the chickensh*t council just sat there and let it happen. Wow!

As a citizen we have a right to transparency, the Argus Leader is in the middle of a lawsuit right now with the city over it. We talk often about transparency in our government, we get no where.

I know about the charges lobbed at Theresa (a butt hurt Chief of Police and moving chairs around Carnegie because of the 911 aniversary), they are petty, in fact not even worthy of blogging about, or an ethics charge, just prattle from perfect hair Mike.

This of course is NOT over, chickensh*ts and idiots get emboldened when they are embarrassed. They have there resources, and we have ours. You want a fight on transparency? You are going to get it. You are going to lose, big time.

First off, props to Cameraman Bruce and our credit on the video. Our cameras are always rolling.

As I argued last night at the city council meeting during public input, the city would have true value in the old building by selling it or gifting it to the Glory House;

“One of the options is to allow the Glory House to expand. The Glory House is just adjacent to this piece of property,” Starr said.

The Glory House, which helps former inmates find jobs to get back on their feet and transition back into society, is already working with a developer to tear down the old building and construct 50 to 75 affordable housing units here.

“Over 80% of the people who graduate from the Glory House have full time jobs, what they’re having difficulties with is being able to find a place to live,” Starr said.

“We’re not in the land speculating business, we’re in the human services business as far as I’m concerned,” Starr said.

As I said last night, this is truly a ‘value’ issue for taxpayers. By keeping former ex-cons out of jail, we save the taxpayers money, a lot of money. It only makes sense to sell them the property. Even Erpenbach nodded her head at me in agreement while speaking of the issue. I think this will get a majority of the council to approve this sale. Ironically, while everyone is throwing Stehly under the bus, her and Starr were the first to look into this issue.

Sometimes you would think I had a crystal ball. I have been warning for a long time that our police department needed to go through sensitivity training and not just because of the LBGTQ community, but for diverse cultures, etc.

The department plans to send representatives to Pierre in December for a three-day training workshop that will include sessions on interacting with transgender people. Attendees will share their training with the rest of the department upon their return.

One of my native friends used to joke with me that the SFPD would often pull him over for DWI (driving while indian). This isn’t just a a transgender issue, this is a real issue in our community. With the dramatic increase in violent crime in Sioux Falls, it is time our police force bucks up and becomes more professional.

I knew this ‘sex sting entrapment’ crap would eventually blow up in the SFPD’s face

A few years ago a judge warned that posing as Mickey Mouse to entrap potential sex offenders wouldn’t fly. Now it seems the tax payers of Sioux Falls may be paying for their stupidity;

Murphy in his lawsuit claims that he tried to leave the meeting after learning the age of the woman he was supposed to be meeting with, but was held against his will. He was then arrested by undercover authorities.

The lawsuit alleges that Murphy’s rights were violated because he wasn’t allowed to leave once he refused the undercover officer’s offer. The lawsuit alleges Murphy’s Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated.

Is a person who is seeking a prostitute a creep? Well, yeah. But in his defense (I use that lightly) he did refuse the service once he found out it was an underage girl. All that aside, I have never understood why our PD wants to ‘create crime’ to make it look they are tough on sex trafficking. Our State’s Attorneys office is overloaded with REAL criminal cases, why create more work for them? Like I said, the guy is a creeper and probably deserved the 2 year sentence. But instead of creating situations for people to commit crime, why don’t we crack down on REAL criminal activity. I’m starting to get more and more why our PD didn’t get a raise.

You can read Whitney’s diatribe about Theresa, some of it is true, some of it is stretch. His constant HATE of all things Staggers and his close relationship with the mayor is no secret. I have always contended that he should have stayed at the sports desk, the section of the newspaper I automatically pull out and put in recycling. Not to say Stu can’t write, but like many reporters in this city, they have NO historical knowledge of city government, so they write trash, some still call it a ‘commission’. The only good reporter they ever had on the city beat was Ellis, and after the Mayor cried to Beck, they pulled him off the beat.

But I have to take issue with this statement by councilor Neitzert;

“I have not been bullied by the administration and no one ever said that we can’t talk to the press. Being asked to follow certain codes of conduct does not mean you are being suppressed.”

Really Greg? Really?

Greg has told me in emails and on the phone that he has in fact been bullied by the mayor for talking to the media, in fact, Greg has bragged to me he has gotten the best of the mayor in an email exchange after the mayor chastised him over a letter to the editor.

If Greg wants to give criticism towards Stehly, he is well within his rights, she has stumbled. But to say the mayor hasn’t bullied him is complete boloney.

The sign of a despot losing control is when the gavel flies. The Sioux Falls City Council Informational meeting on September 20, 2016 showed a city leadership spiraling out of control. When City Council members are told what to do, who they can talk to and what they are to believe something is rotting down deep.

Before you start watching the video, click on it so you can view it full screen. This is our first use of a five camera blend to show you the action of the room. Notice when the city attorneys join the video and how even Fiddle Faddle gets into the act and appears to yell out something with the crowd.

Those of us who have followed city government for years have known this day was coming. City Council leadership takes their marching orders from the mayor’s office and his directors. You can see it when Rex Rolfing looks to the mayor’s attorney for guidance as Theresa Stehly uses her open discussion time to bring up the illegal use of the Executive session process. We have been documenting the abuse of the secretive executive sessions to hide the public’s business from the public.

The secret executive session was called to discuss ethics but in fact was a scheme to go after Stehly to set her up as an example. YOU MUST OBEY OR ELSE!

Why shouldn’t we hear this? What is so secret about ethics? Is it actually kind of oxymoronic (get your dictionary out Rex) for our town to teach one version to the council but not explain it to us?

The abuse of council members, the public and the process must stop. A past council member once told Cameraman Bruce explained the rule passed down by the mayor, “Councilors are not to intervene on behalf of constituents.” If this is the case, why do we even have a city council?