July 2013

A lot to pack in – SF City Council’s Working Session

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcwblvqir-s[/youtube]

Wow, just looked at the agenda for this meeting tomorrow, are they going to also try to solve world hunger?

Call To Order

2. CIP Presentation by David Bixler, Budget Analyst
3. Discussion of Specific Projects Requested by City Council
A. Project #11007 Street Maintenance Bldg/Satellite Facility – $2,150,000
B. Water Department – General Questions
C. Projects #14038/#14042 East & West Side Dog Parks – $497,000 each
D. Project #14030 Aquatic Facilities Development – $19,475,0005 Minute Break
E. Washington Pavilion – General Questions
F. Libraries – General Questions
4. Open Discussion

5. Presentation of 2014 City Council Division’s Budget

WashPav General Questions? LOL! I have a list.


Are We Treading Water?

Usually I get this crap from different art orgs and don’t care, but enjoyed this message today from the SF Arts Council Interim Chair, Nan Baker;

In Ray Davis’ book “Leading for Growth”, he says “YOU GET BETTER OR YOU GET WORSE.  You can’t stay the same.  Treading water is not sustainable”.

What does that mean for the Art and Culture community in Sioux Falls?  Are we treading water?

Moving to Sioux Falls in 1997, starting a career at Western Surety Company on the corner of 9th and Phillips, I walked to work from my apartment across from Lyons Park.  At that time, few people lived downtown, businesses offered no outside seating, public art was controversial at best and professional artists were few and far.  Having lived all over the world, I knew exactly why I chose Sioux Falls as home.  Today, there are at least a dozen downtown apartments complexes, public art is beginning to take shape, new art venues are surfacing, appreciation for design and culture is bubbling.  Things have changed.  Are we treading water?

In 1999 the City of Sioux Falls approved an Art and Culture Plan.  One of the most visible products of that Plan is SculptureWalk.  From its inception, it was and still is a community effort like the Washington Pavilion, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Sioux Empire Community Theater, State Theater, Municipal Band, Siouxland Heritage Museums to name a few.

It is in a community spirit, that the Arts Council will be working to up-date the 1999 Art and Culture Plan in partnership with the City of Sioux Falls and Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation. We will bring citizens together to share ideas, hopes and dreams of how to advance the art and culture of Sioux Falls.

As we begin the planning phase, we hope it will stir citizen participation.  You will be invited to attend community conversations.  We look forward to the up and coming journey and traveling it together.

Nan Baker, Interim Executive Director

Yeah, a lot of the stuff is ‘Pie in the Sky’ but at least someone is looking at this, while I hammer on these folks quite a bit, I do want to be a part of the conversation, because right now, the public is not.

May Jesus protect us from that Evil affordable care act

Image, KSFY News

Like I have said before, the US Senate race for Johnson’s seat is one big bore. We all know who our next senator will be, and this next year and a half will be a gigantic waste of our time. But Dr. Bosworth is making things a bit more interesting.

In her announcement today, in the back of her dad’s truck on his farm, with a US Flag draped over a tractor loader in the background, she announced her intent. While her family figured out that wearing a t-shirt and jeans when in the back of a Jeep Honcho is probably the most appropriate attire, Annette decided to dress for an afternoon tea party, wearing a suit coat and skirt. At least she didn’t have a pitchfork in her hand.

Before the festivities started we got to listen to some woman sing songs about liberty, freedom and god. Fun stuff, real chart busters. Then Bosworth climbed the family foot stool, scraped the cow shit from her high heels and pledged not to raise our taxes, ridding us of the ACA and then in a strange twist babbled about Jesus, all the while the family dog barked their approval in the background (didn’t anyone think to put it in the house).

Here’s a few NO NO’s;

1) When announcing in a pick-em-up-truck on a farm, dress accordingly. A sprint car t-shirt with a Tom Sawyer hat would have looked more appropriate.

2) Politicians who wear their religion on their sleeves are usually charlatans using religion to get votes. Mentioning you are a Christian or any religion for that matter, is fine, but Jesus was no Republican, and I am pretty sure he would approve of affordable healthcare for all, the prophet and the son of god (which ever you believe in).

3) Get a REAL platform, tell us why you want to HELP us in Washington, not how you want to take benefits away from us.

While I still think the ACA should have included single-payer, there is good things in it. How about focusing on the benefit of the ACA and reforming the rest to make it better? Just a suggestion.

Councilor Jamison to run for SF Mayor

Greg will announce next week.

he said the driving force behind his move to run comes from a change he wants to see “in the culture at city hall.”

A culture of dictatorship like secrecy that started with Munson and only has gotten worse under Huether.

I’ve known about Greg’s run for awhile. Ironically the same day Greg told me he was running an insider with close ties to SF Republicans told me within an hour of my conversation with Greg. Funny how those things work. Greg has also been ‘exploring’ the idea for well over a year. He shares the same frustration some others have on the council with the way Huether’s administration treats the council and essentially leaving them out of major decisions. The secrecy ending in city hall will be the first step to cleaning up our form of government in Sioux Falls. Not everything about the Home Rule charter is bad, but when you use city ordinances to harass citizens, keep them in the dark while providing benefits to the special interests, you are undermining everything a democracy is about. We have enough of that crap going on in Pierre and DC, we don’t need it in SF.

I wish Jamison much luck and hope to see some other big hitters get in the game, like Steve Hildebrand. I know that it was essential for Greg to get a support mechanism around him before announcing, and I think he has a good one in place. It’s going to be a contentious race and hard to beat a popular incumbent like Huether. It will also be fun to watch if Huether campaigns while he is supposed to be mayoring. Remember, when MMM ran the first time around, he was campaigning full time. He won’t have that luxury this time around, but he will probably campaign like he did with the EC, making it appear as if he is ‘informing’ the voters.

I also heard about a potential challenger to Michelle Erpenbach in the council race, and let’s just say she will have her hands full if this person decides to run against her.