South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

November 2013

Event Center SF City Council Sioux Falls

Director Cotter ‘sorta’ answers the Events Center’s ‘expandable’ question

l3wis 3Comments

AERIALRENDERINGMay2013-640x350

Yesterday during the Sioux Falls city council informational meeting (hopefully the video will be up sometime today) they had another Events Center update. After the presentation councilor Staggers asked Public Works director, Mark Cotter, if the EC is being built to be expandable to 15,000 seats?

After a nervous twitch Cotter says that the east side footings have been ‘beefed up’ in case they decide to expand to approximately ‘14,000’ at the most.

First off, I thought the building was being constructed so that the seats could be just put in later, instead of knocking out a wall, and secondly, we were always told 15,000 seats NOT 14,000. Of course, councilor Entenman backs up Cotter’s explanation saying that the expansion was something that needed to change after engineering made their recommendations and those plans were not set in stone.

That isn’t quite how I remember things going down. We were told it was going to have 12,000 seats when completed with the option for a 3,000 seat expansion. No mention of ‘letting the engineers’ decide.

Can’t wait until they ask for the parking ramp to be built out there in a couple of years. I guess SF better be ready to ‘beef up’ their 5-buckle over boots, because it is going to get deep, real quick.

Code Enforcement SF City Council Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

So is it a finable offense to light up in a SF Public Park?

l3wis 2Comments

tobacco-free

Recently Councilor Staggers has aired his discontent with the tobacco free policy in SF parks, not because he doesn’t think it is a good idea but because 1) The city council should have passed the ordinance, not the Parks department & 2) Is it a finable offense? Good question. Staggers asked;

Dear Don,  Many months ago we were told that there was no punishment for smoking in the parks.  Now there is punishment, or is there?  You mention the punishment for violation of city ordinances where no punishment is stipulated, however, the prohibition on smoking comes from a directive from the head of the Parks Department, and not from an ordinance.  We should not have a situation where an individual can say that something is wrong and then have a person  fined and/or imprisoned.  Only the City Council should be passing ordinances fining and/or imprisoning people

UPDATED: (I removed Kearney’s email context ) The ordinance as stated;

§ 95.032 AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN CONDUCT; NOTICE.

The director may prohibit conduct in those areas of the parks when and where the director deems conduct dangerous or unduly interfering with another’s use of the parks such as, but not limited to, picnicking areas. A notice prohibiting activity within a specific area shall be conspicuously displayed setting forth which activity, conduct, or games are restricted.

It seems director Kearney seems to think it is okay to not only MAKE the rules, but enforce them and if needed fine people. (All City Ordinances, unless otherwise provided, are punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or imprisonment in the county jail of up to 30 days.)

Remember, city directors are appointed by the mayor, not elected officials.

Let’s leave ordinance approval up to the (elected) city council so Kearney can get back to doing more important things, like scraping goose manure off of the bike trails.

Minnehaha County Sioux Falls Taxes

Property Tax increases

l3wis 10Comments

untitled

A friend dropped off a print out of her property tax increases since 2009 to me yesterday.

Since 2009 she has done little to no improvements to her property. In fact this past year, the city had to tear up her boulevard for water issues and remove a tree due to the icestorm.

Her home has not increased in value since 2009. It is valued at $96,000 by the county.

From 2009-2010 her taxes increased $4

From 2010-2011 her taxes increased $3

From 2011-2012 her taxes increased $70

I suppose the sudden bump has to do with the county & school district opt-outs.

The part that is disconcerting is that while the city is handing out property tax cut incentives to wealthy developers, we are sticking it to the little guy to help pay for the needs of the county, city and school district.

If we feel like we need to continue these kind of increases, fine. But let’s eliminate TIF’s and have a triple approval process with the county and school district.

Governor Rounds

Either former Gov. Mike Rounds is incompetent, in denial, stupid or all three when it comes to the EB-5 investigations

l3wis 26Comments

Bosworth-Cardboard-Rounds-by-Bob-Ellis-Dakota-Voice-20131121

I’m just a cardboard cutout, how could I have known Richard Benda was pulling a fast one? Why don’t you ask him? Wait he’s dead. Oh darn.

You can HEAR & READ all about the EB-5 investigations to your heart’s content, but I’m not buying Round’s story of ignorance;

“One of the documents in question is the letter of authorization that basically said that they could receive a Future Fund payment for construction costs had been changed slightly and it had a different date on it than the one I authorized,” Rounds said.

It’s pretty easy to take Rounds’ word on this? Right? Because our chief witness is dead. Benda, who was originally hired in 1979(?) by another dead guy, Bill Janklow.

While I am NOT sure that no criminal charges against Rounds can be brought up, with the whole document altering and such, one has to own up a bit about ‘what Mike knew.’

• While a document manipulation can certainly go under the radar of the Governor’s office, you can’t tell me ‘other’ (alive) people are not involved.

• Who cut the check to the SDRC? Isn’t that the job of the auditor and treasurer? Why didn’t they inform Rounds about the check?

• There obviously would have been a lot of legal commentary that goes with such a contract? No one in the AG’s office questioned these fees?

• No one in the GOED office, auditor’s office, SDRC office, heck, the freaking Post Office, told the Rounds administration that they thought this payment was a little suspicious?

• Richard Benda (who is conveniently dead) masterminded this whole scam on his own? No help from anyone? No oversight? No whistle-blowers? No patsies? Nothing. Zilch. Zero?

My speculative conclusion is this on the EB-5 programs;

Rounds might have known what happened after the fact and failed to investigate or inform Federal authorities. While manipulating his signed documents is certainly out of his control, knowing about something that was possibly illegal after the crime is committed and not telling authorities, then you have a problem. “Because, like, you were in charge and all of the state, like, you were the governor, man.” (sorry, that was my best ‘Dude’ impression)

All I can say, is let’s hope my speculation is wrong, would hate to see (another) former governor go to jail. No worries Mike, probably only get a 99 days. It’s not like you killed a man, governors only get a 100 days for that.

SF School District

If you are asking kids to say the pledge, put a little meaning and introspective behind it.

l3wis 28Comments

Animated-Flag-USA

Is the school board having a change of heart;

Board President Doug Morrison, who was the voice on the call, said the goal was to clarify the policy revision, as well as gauge how community members feel about how the Pledge is performed at high schools.

“We represent them, so we need to get their input,” he said. “We’re looking for some hard data rather than anecdotal reports.”

Yeah, Doug, I’m sure you want to hear from the parents, that’s why you are putting this survey out AFTER the vote. Reminds of when Ms. Stehly was fighting for a sub-teacher pay increase and you hung up the phone on her after telling her you could only speak with her through correspondence through the school district’s attorney’s office. I guess violent threats from ‘patriotric Americans’ will make anyone have a change of heart? I thought as flag pledge reciting true-blue Americans we don’t give into (domestic) terrorists?

What are my feelings on the pledge? Well as I have said to many people (to make a sarcastic point) “How is making kids say the pledge any different then Obamacare? Kinda sounds like communist Russia socialism.”

Here is my feelings, and I will piggyback this off of a comment by a veteran;

Boorman said he is concerned about today’s students.

“If they don’t understand where our country has come from, if they don’t understand how we’ve gotten to where we are, if they don’t understand the high cost for freedom, then how are they going to lead our future country?” he said.

I like where Boorman is going with this, but I would like to add this. If HS students are going to be required to say the pledge, fine, but the teacher in that classroom should also give a short 3-5 minute history lesson about examples of patriotism that have happened in our country, each and everyday, before the pledge. Of course, teachers and staff will say they don’t have time to research such things, that is fine, I’m sure while Boorman is at the VFW telling old war stories, him and his buddies can come up some great patriotic lessons. I mean, if you have time to do FOX interviews and play pinnacle, you got time for a little patriotic research? Right?

My point is simple, if you are asking kids to say the pledge, put a little meaning and introspective behind it.

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