Finally
l3wis I have been trying to get a closeup picture of this little rascal for the past three days but he usually scoots away before I can nail him. I got him this morning at about 5:50 AM right outside my backdoor.
June 2011
Are our water rates going up to provide better service?
UPDATE: This is the results of the Argue Endorser’s poll yesterday.
If you read over all the documents when it comes to our water department you will find some glaring facts. While our city would like to proclaim rates need to go up due to the cost of chemicals, they are only telling HALF of the story, literally. Notice from this chart that 51% of expenses are in wages.
We also have a problem with heavy management (see the convuluted document here)
There should be three managers. Director of Public Works, Director of Water and Director of Reclamation (Sewer). That’s it. Wanna know why rates are going up? Too much management. I don’t have a problem with paying management well. That is not the problem here. There seems to be too much management. Take for instance the ‘Residue coordinator’ and the ‘WW super’ and the ‘collection super’ Couldn’t that be one manager? I work in the restaurant business, and management is expected to know every duty, from washing dishes, grilling a steak to waiting on a table. Not sure why in the public sector they need to have so many specialized managers?
BREAKING: NIELSON sends me the results of the recent poll
For immediate release:
Date: 6/6/2011
Subject: Nielson Brothers Polling survey of Sioux Falls — Proposed Events Center
Contact information:Â nbpolling@gmail.com, 605 496-0911
Website: HYPERLINK
Arena location is supported by a 2 to 1 margin over downtown site for new events center
A new survey by Nielson Brothers Polling (NBP) shows 40% of Sioux Falls registered voters prefer the arena site for the proposed events center. About half that number (19%) support the downtown location. Another 25% say the center should not be built, with 16% undecided.
While opinions differ little by party, age is a factor. Respondents over 65 show higher numbers of both undecided and opposed. For example, 24% of respondents over 65 are undecided, compared to only 10% of those 65 and under. In addition, 31% of those over 65 are opposed to a new center, compared with 20% of those 65 and under. With regard to location, 45% of respondents 65 and under support the arena site, compared with 33% of those over 65. The downtown location is favored by 25% of those 65 and younger, but by only 11% over 65.
“The arena site has more support but still falls well short of 50 percent,†says Paul Nielson, a partner in NBP. “The 16 percent undecided allows some room for movement, but with a quarter of respondents opposed, advocates for the arena and downtown sites may need to collaborate to make the new center a reality.â€
For this question, NBP surveyed a random selection of 550 Sioux Falls registered voters over a three day period — May 23 to May 25. The margin of error is 4.2 % at a 95% confidence level.
Nielson Brothers Polling will release more findings from its Sioux Falls survey in the next few days — including questions about the Grand Falls Casino, approval ratings for Mayor Huether, and teacher salaries. NBP plans to continue its research and publication of local opinions as a civic resource. Interested parties may contact NBP with regard to questions and answers on past and future surveys. For more information, contact nbpolling@gmail.com, or call 605 496-0911.
More on the Mo
The Sioux City Journal has a great piece on the floods;
“Because people are lulled into believing floods will never come, people began building right up to the river. I think the building of Dakota Dunes symbolizes that,” he said. “I think, again, they’re putting their faith in the Corps of Engineers and dams in South Dakota to protect their property.”
As the Missouri River has flooded in recent days, frustrated property owners have criticized the corps for its management of the river. Many want to know why the corps didn’t begin releasing water from reservoirs earlier when it knew there was above-average snowfall in the mountains.
Why? Well because government doesn’t like change;
Col. Bob Ruch, commander of the Corps of Engineers Omaha Division, said the corps follows a master manual to set reservoir releases during the fall and winter so that once spring arrives and the snow melts, there is enough room to hold the influx of water.
Imagine if private industry worked like that? There would be no innovation, no new technologies.
More on the water rate increases
This is a flyer that will be handed out at today’s informational and council meeting.
Bread for the World chimes in;
2. A proposal to raise water rates.
Increases for sewer rates have already been approved. Now there is a significant rate increase (14% proposed for water).  Since 2006 water rates have already been increased 89%. This new proposal would mean a 115.6% total (cumulative) rate increase since 2006.
For example, a $10 water bill in 2006 would be $21.56 next year for the same amount of water used.
• Presentation at 4:00pm tomorrow (Monday) at the Informational Meeting about why the proposed increases.
• Public input allowed, early in the 7pm city council meeting: tomorrow (Monday) June 6.
• First reading at the 7pm city council meeting: Monday June 13. Public input allowed.
• Second reading (ie, the vote!), at the 7pm city council meeting: Monday June20. Public input allowed.
About the 4:00pm Informational Meetings:
They are located at Carnegie Town Hall, 235 W.10th St., same as the evening meeting of City Council. There are a few free parking spots on 10th St. Otherwise, ride the bus, or pay parking, or ask at the bank next door about their lot.
The public may come but there is no public input at that time. But I hear it is very good to be in the room for these, if you can, because (1) it shows an interest (2) you see not only the presentation, but the questions from the council to the presenters and their answers, (3) you have the same info the council has and you can make up your own mind.
The presentations can be found at this web address:
http://docs.siouxfalls.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1506&doctype=AGENDA
You find the item of interest in the agenda, click on it, and look on the right side for the pdf of the presentation.
About the 7:00pm City Council meetings:
They are located at Carnegie Town Hall, 235 W.10th St., the Carnegie Building. Parking is free at that time of day, but there is no bus service to get you home from the meeting.
There is time for public input near the beginning of each meeting. Anyone may speak on any topic for a max of 5 minutes. If your topic is something on the agenda, you may be asked to wait til it comes up during the meeting.
It would be really good to have people at any or all of these meetings. But if you cannot come here is
How to contact City Council:
If you cannot come, you could express your opinion to the city council members. (Please use your own words. A forwarded email does not have much impact.)
Here are their emails:
vbrown@siouxfalls.org, kandersonjr@siouxfalls.org, RRolfing@siouxfalls.org, saguilar@siouxfalls.org, jentenman@siouxfalls.org, gjamison@siouxfalls.org,dkarsky@siouxfalls.org, MErpenbach@siouxfalls.org, mhuether@siouxfalls.org
You could call them or write to council members at home, or leave messages at their city phone numbers, found here:Â Â Â http://www.siouxfalls.org/Council/members
Thanks on behalf of so many people who are struggling in this economy.