South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

December 2012

SF City Council Sioux Falls Urban Agriculture

South DaCola EXCLUSIVE; Urban Ag Committee

l3wis 12Comments

By Detroit Lewis

The city council was presented the final findings of the Urban Ag Committee on Tuesday at the Sioux Falls city council informational meeting.

While many things were presented in a short period of time, council Head Honcho, Lady MacErpenbach decided to cut the meeting short, because, as she stated to me afterwards, “When a woman has to pee, you best get out of her way.”

But not before an intriguing conversation was had by all. Councilor Standfortruth asked Code Enforcement Czar, Shoona Limphammer, who led the Urban Ag Committee, “So were the meetings a TOTAL waste of time, or just a partial waste of time?” To which she replied, “That’s not for me to decide. But if you have over 8.0625″ of grass in your yard, I will make the decision to have the city take you to court or arrest you.”

Councilor Tex Golfing said people have different definitions about a nuisance, “Some people think white old men that still think they are living in the 1950’s are a nuisance, you may disagree. But I have seen a mad chicken, and you can bet me Councilor Starsky’s goat on a spit, they can be a bit of a nuisance.”

Starsky seemed to be confused about the line of questioning, to which he responded, “Bahhhhh.”

Councilor Andyland Jr. brought up pot belly pigs, “So which are they, Shoona? Food or Pets.” Limphammer responded, “That all depends. Have you ever licked the belly of a pot belly pig?” Andyland responded, “Well there was this softball tournament I attended in the South that . . . ah . . . nevermind.”

Councilor Diamond Jim Antiman felt it was your neighbors that should decide everything about your property, “I think you should have a 100% of your neighbor’s approval before you get chickens. Heck I call my neighbors and have them help me pick out my Christmas lights, etc. Heck yesterday, my one neighbor picked out my socks and underwear for me.”

When the topic of how many eggs a chicken can produce in a week came up, councilor Soo Agrisans says, “Is that all?! Maybe the Phillips Avenue Diner needs to get some chickens, just as long as they don’t take up any of my booth space.”

Councilor Craig Jamisun felt that more in depth discussion would happen when the topic comes in front of the land committee. “There will be plenty of time for me to stand on the fence and watch Standfortruth ask endless questions to which no one will answer, Antiman to continue to be in property rights denial, and Golfing to ask the African word definition of a rabbit.”

Health and Human Services Healthcare Healthcare reform Republicans South Dakotans

UPDATE: SD Republicans, never a part of the solution only their self-interests

l3wis 11Comments

I can’t believe we let this CLOWN work in the Secretary of State’s office. What a ‘TRUE’ waste of taxpayer dollars. His lastest post about Dems being the root of out of control spending in Pierre is not only far-fetched, it is hypocritical. SD Republicans seem to have amnesia when it comes to corporate bail-outs, no-bid contracts to campaign supporters, increases in FTE’s, state airplanes, prisons and blatant nepotism. All under THEIR watch. Because there is one area I do agree with them on, Democrats are powerless in Pierre. But it doesn’t stop them from denying WORKING people healthcare;

These aren’t the elderly. These aren’t children. They’re able-bodied people who have the use of both hands and feet, who are actively in the workforce. And Democrats want 48,000 of them to be on “Health care welfare.”  At taxpayer expense.

It just staggers my imagination.

Governor Daugaard’s address today pointed out that “because of the uncertainties we need to be conservative to committing to future ongoing expenses.” And, hence, the optional expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare was not recommended.

Ironically, they point out the very reason why these people deserve healthcare, they are working, which means they pay payroll taxes to the Federal government. Governor Doo-bad calls it welfare. Last I checked, people receiving welfare are not working.

What amazes me is how hard these same jackasses fought single-payer (using our taxdollars and resources to fight it), but if it would have been implemented it would have saved states billions of dollars in Medicaid costs, because it would have been funded through payroll taxes. But the insurance companies (who profit from sick and dying people) cried they would go out of business. Good. Now if we can just put Republicans out of business in Pierre.

Some SD Legislators get it

UPDATE: from my email box;

I wrote this a couple weeks ago when this was a headline in the Argus.  I didn’t send it, but it p’d me off just the same and it still does. And today you wrote about it.  SD has the largest number of women who work 2 and 3 jobs to support their family. They all can’t afford healthcare.
The headline for this story in the Argus is totally wrong.  SD did not opt out, it was the governor who chose to opt out of the health exchange even though there are so many people in the state who need these health benefits and the gov’t. is paying for him.  All these stupid republican states opting out is disgusting, they are only doing it because they don’t like President Obama.  Plus the gov’t. pays for the healthcare for the first 2 years. 
And then once again the people on Dailykos are coming to the aid of people on the reservation in South Dakota so they will have Thanksgiving dinner and heat.  They did the same thing a year ago.  And where is/are the governor and past governors……no where to be seen. But you can bet your bottom dollar they are stealing money that is suppose to go to the people on the reservations.  I know the funds to make it easier for them to vote has been used else where. And they could certainly use a clinic and healthcare along with a lot of people who are barely making it in wonderful South Dakota.
It’s pathetic.  

 S.D. opts not to run health exchange

By David Montgomery

dmontgomery@argusleader.com 

DEADLINE : Under the Affordable Care Act, states had until today to tell the federal government whether they plan to operate a health care exchange themselves. The deadline was extended to Dec. 14 after several states requested more time.

S.D.: Gov. Dennis Daugaard is carrying through with his decision not to run an exchange for South Dakota, according to spokesman Tony Venhuizen.

WHAT IT MEANS: The federal government will build and operate South Dakota’s health care exchange, which is a marketplace on which individuals can buy health insurance and, if eligible, receive subsidies.

WHY: Daugaard says he thinks the cost of operating an exchange would be too high — up to $7 million per year.

WHEN: On Jan. 1, 2014, exchanges will be operational.

EXCHANGES: Insurance plans on the exchange are required to sell to anyone and can vary the cost of premiums based only on age and whether individuals smoke. People will be eligible for government subsidies depending on family income, with subsidies for families up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line.

——————————————————————————————-
Add Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to the list of Republican governors who are continuing to protest Obamacare by refusing to establish health insurance exchanges, in the process forcing the federal government to step in and create the exchanges itself.Starting in Oct. 2013, the exchanges will be the marketplace for individuals to obtain insurance if they do not have coverage through their employer, Medicare, or Medicaid. Beginning Jan. 2014, the new insurance plans will take effect, giving nearly every American citizen health care coverage.

Under Obamacare, if a state does not establish a health insurance exchange, the federal government must do it for them. Therefore, while ostensibly a protest against the expansion of federal power, these governors are actually forcing the federal government to expand the scope of its operations.

 

SF City Council Sioux Falls

City Council online meetings software working just fine?

l3wis 12Comments

A few weeks ago I requested the contract the city has with SIRE, (Document: SIRE Agreement) the software company providing the council meeting services. The system has been down several times over the past months and sometimes takes awhile to get the meetings up after they have been recorded. I have questioned the clerk’s office about this on several occassions. In fact, the problems started when Owen was still the city clerk.

When I received the contract from current city clerk, Lorie Hogstad, she was quick to point out that the contract SIRE has with the city is with the ‘Central Services’ department. So I sent them an email asking about the problems, here is their reply;

Mr. Ehrisman,

The Sire recording application is used for Regular and Informational City Council meetings, Fiscal Committee meetings, Public Services Committee meetings, Land Use Committee meetings, Audit Committee meetings, Joint City/Minnehaha County meetings held in the Council Chambers, Planning Commission meetings, as well as some additional special meetings held in the Council Chambers.

The primary purpose of the Sire system is to provide live web streaming capabilities, and to be a central repository for documents and files. For the Clerks office that includes agendas, meeting minutes, and video files. At the start of each meeting, City Clerk staff initiates the Sire application which starts the video encoding process on the Sire server.  The live web streaming then becomes available on the City’s website. At the conclusion of each meeting, City Clerk staff signals the Sire application to stop the video recording which also terminates the live web streaming session.

Notice the finger pointing goes back to the city clerk’s office;

City Clerk staff is responsible for uploading the video which allows it to post to the City’s website.

This is true, they are responsible for this, but they are also not, IT professionals;

If there is a technical issue with the video file, we utilize a secondary file which is recorded by CityLink staff as the meeting is being broadcast on our cable TV channel. This is a backup file, but can also be used to upload to the website if need be. This file must be converted and digitally encoded into the Sire video system, and then it can be uploaded to the website. If this method is used, it can add one day to the process.

I have asked several IT people about how long it takes to convert this video. At the most, I have been told it shouldn’t take any longer then an hour, tops, certainly not 20-40 hours.

Overall, we have been very pleased with the Sire product, and intend to continue our relationship with this vendor for the foreseeable future.

Thank you, Jon Klemme – IT Manager – City of Sioux Falls

While the city has been very pleased with the product, I have not been. I am paying for this service, and it should work, 99.9% of the time.

The big question still remains. Is it a glitch in the software that is causing these problems? And if so why isn’t SIRE fixing them? We can certainly terminate their contract at any time if they fail to hold up there part of the maintenance agreement;

Or are these videos being purposely held back as a form of censorship? And if so, who is doing the censoring? The Clerk’s office or the IT department? And by whose directive? I would like to think that this is not the case, and if it isn’t, why hasn’t either the IT department or the clerk’s office asked SIRE to fix the problems? I’m hoping by bringing this up, one more time, that finally someone will get the system to work, or at least STOP THE CENSORSHIP whether it is intentional or not.

Sex Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, stop being so skanky

l3wis 14Comments

First, I will start out by saying that one of the main reasons STD’s have risen in Sioux Falls is because of the lack of education and a puritanical view of teenagers and young adults abstaining from sex. It just isn’t happening, and we need to face the facts. Still it doesn’t stop people from blaming others;

“It’s because the media sells sex,” said Caitlin Hicks, 22, a coffee shop worker in Sioux Falls.

Well, Caitlin, I certainly cannot remember the last time a TV commercial or a newspaper ad gave me an itchy scratchy, but I will be on the lookout. We can blame the media for a lot things these days, mostly mis-information, but saying they contribute to STD’s is silly. In fact I have never gotten one. Why? First I believe receiving sex ed at an early age (I think my first class was in 4th or 5th grade) better prepared me when I became a teenager. And I remember seeing images of certain STD’s in a HS science class. WOW, that will open your eyes. I am also a firm believer of ‘planning’ pregnancies. Too often couples just kind of fly by the seat of their pants and don’t really put any thought in the repercussions of having an unplanned child. I also think demographics have a lot to do with our sudden rise in STD’s. Working class and lower income people tend to be less educated when it comes to sex and it’s repercussions.

As a person who has been single my entire adult life, I can tell you I have seen and heard just about every scenario possible, and if you think people are getting safer with age, you are wrong. My best advice to anyone starting a relationship with someone is to take it slow. Know who your partner is and if you are not planning on having children, I highly suggest birth control, namely condoms. And most importantly, don’t be a skank.

Drugs South Dakotans

SD Families First

l3wis 3Comments

This is a new lobbying organization one of my friends is helping out with. Check them out!

sdfamiliesfirst.org

Here is a letter to the editor, explaining the group‘s mission.

Sheriff Mike Milstead recently announced the Department of Justice will visit our county jail in December to review the growing inmate population. Meanwhile, a work group has completed a review of our state’s prison population at the governor’s request — launching a discussion around many needed reforms.

The magnitude of this issue is truly alarming. I am very concerned about the over-incarceration crisis because we arrest twice as many people as our neighboring states, despite having a similar crime rate. The arrest rate has increased by 400 percent for women since the early ’80s, about the same time we embraced the “war on drugs” and started locking up a record numbers of nonviolent drug users. Although well-intended, this approach actually fuels the cycle of crime, poverty and addiction and makes the public less safe.

The clear connection between our punitive drug laws and skyrocketing arrest rates should prompt a serious discussion about how we handle drugs. I urge our community leaders to consider decriminalization and treating problematic drug use as a health care issue for the family and community, not the police and courts.

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