South DaCola poetry club w/ Chuck Luden
l3wis 
A black napkin
and spoon
came with the coffee
Prior were 3 glasses of Chianti
and many smiles
from the waitress
Charles Luden
3-12-10
at Grille 26
May 2010
Want to address public officials about your concerns? Do it on the record.
This is the best place to go if you have a gripe about the city.
I have often told friends and associates that if you have a problem or concern about our city, show up to the 7 PM council meetings Monday nights at Carnegie Hall, downtown Sioux Falls. There is a 5 minute ‘gripe’ period before the meeting starts. And while most councilors or even the mayor may not say much, the importance is that your testimony is on record. Meeting with politicians privately usually solves nothing, heck meeting with them publicly doesn’t seem to do much either. But if you have a concern, it is best to let all of the public know and have them as your witness.
Why do I bring this up? A friend called the mayor’s office today to set up a meeting with him to discuss some of her concerns about the city and moving forward in a new administration. The secretary informed her that Mike will not being meeting with anyone from the public privately until after he has FINISHED the 2011 budget, which is August 1. But she was encouraged to go to Whisk and Chop on Saturdays (where Mike is surrounded by mostly his staff) and air her concerns.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Sioux Falls’ solution to competing with the Lyon County casino? Expand Video Lottery.
As I have said a million times; there are no REAL progressives living in our city, and these proposals prove it;
They’d like to see the city ease the 2,000 feet restriction rule. It prohibits a bar or restaurant that offers video lottery from being built within 2,000 feet of a church, school, park or another video lottery establishment.
First off, if anything, we need to restrict video lottery even more. Having three casinos within one block of my home is ridiculous. Secondly the best way to ‘compete’ with the casino in Lyon County is to give in. Allowing VL casino owners and the state to make more money while Sioux Falls is sitting on a possible sales tax goldmine is a regressive approach. Real progressives see opportunities, not detriments. City leaders (business and city hall) need to get off their asses and extend a hand to Lyon County, and not next week or next month – TODAY! We can piss and moan and fight this all we want, but at the end of the day we can’t stop what Iowa or what Lyon County wants to do. As councilor Rex Rolfing said about the casino, “When you are handed lemons, you make lemonade.” And I see a whole lot of it flowing from Lyon County.
The Republican Primaries, Weird Shit
Even though I haven’t blogged about this much, trust me, I have been following the SD Republican primary circus. And maybe that is why I have not said much about it, it is a circus. Weird candidates, weird TV commercials, weird statements.
I have often been accused of saying some off-the-wall shit on this site, but man, Republicans in our state have brought politics to a new low this year, and the opposition isn’t much better. Just look at the Weiland challenge to Herseth-Sandlin, What did that last? Two days?
So I’m gonna skip over all the teabagging, mustache shaving, barrell ropin’ rodeo queen bullshit and cut to the chase.
Who will win the primaries? I predict Noem and Doogard (I spell it like it sounds)
Who would I like to see win? Nelson and Knudson.
Play amongst yourselves, and let’s sing along to Gordon Howie’s campaign song.
Blogger for State Legislature? Haven’t we been down this road already?
Dakota Woman, Angie Buhl wants your vote
I actually agree with many of Angie’s campaign stances, I just find it a bit ironic that she actually believes she has a chance of winning. We have been down this road before. Epp and Powers have both ran for office and got beat – handily.
I have been encouraged to run for office in the past and turned it down for the obvious reasons, I’m a big mouth blogger, there is no way in Hell I could win, and I know it, especially with my entire political mantra only a google away.
When are bloggers going to realize they better serve the public in their pajamas then in the public square?