By Bruce Danielson
Citizens for Integrity is a good government mission. Spending a life fighting battles for equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunities for all forms a compass to move forward in the darkness of greed.
Citizens for Integrity is not a NIMBY project. Many of those who have come together in this effort do not live close to any of the neighborhoods in question. We have nothing to personally / financially gain from these issues. My personally work will never intersect with any of the parties to these issues.
There are those who criticize what we are doing in order to expedite the ability to get a construction bid or some other favor.
The goal of Citizens for Integrity is only good government. The Ballot is Sacred. How hard is it to understand?
Just imagine any of you were running for election, supporting a measure to say make green the new purple, you would want to make sure every vote counts. You would wish the ballot reflected the hard work you put in to get the Initiative on the ballot so your neighbors could vote on it.
We have processes in place to make it happen. We have problems with the current cobbled up mess our city government is showing. We have a mayor who has shown no bounds for breaking long established customs and rules. He has fired (or arranged for) quality personnel, appointed replacements to do his work and then gets upset when someone finds out what is going on.
We are pointing to problems with an election and the system. The leaders of the four petition efforts are not driving this effort, I am.
This is not a NIMBY effort, this is a moral and legal effort. When will you get off your computers and fight for something good on behalf of your least able neighbors in the name of good government? If you sit at your computers and complain all day, you are doing nothing to improve the system for all of us.
So to those who only want building projects so they can sell materials to it, sell land, have their kids going swimming or sneak a special code into a big complicated document, we are sorry for you. You have lost the value of our system and ways. This is not a greed movement, this is a good government movement.
The next few days will tell a lot about our system and the way we move into the future. Hang on, it could be a bumpy ride.
SIDENOTE (Detroit Lewis): I watched the Minnehaha County Commission meeting it shows why the County Commission differs from the City Council. Bruce receives praise from the commission for finding errors and asking them to get resolved and even the county auditor, Litz attests to Bruce’s diligence. Walk over to Carnegie Town hall, and all he receives is scorn for finding mistakes. The tale of two cities I guess.
And now onto the Council meeting. Crickets. No explanations, no apologies, no remorse.
City government has lost sight of citizens. It’s become a method for individual wealth and power. The present charter has evolved into a corporation that delegates contracts and favors into an inside group of wealthy or special interests. This is not democracy. What’s especially sad is the needs of city residents is hardly met.
Recently, the city attorney rephrased petition language regarding 7 special vote items. It’s now hard to distinguish how you wish your vote counted. The wording is a wrong vote you wish not to cast but is the city choice. These 7 items are on the back of the ballot where many never look. The city attorney considers himself the agent for the mayor (only). If this is true, he’s not a PUBLIC servant and the mayor (instead of citizens) should pay him from his salary and outside income.
KISS. Keep it simple stupid.
I especially like the part in his comments where Bruce routinely makes statements such as “when will you get off your computers and fight for something good…”, “what are you doing but sitting at your computers criticizing those of us trying to fix it”, “If you sit at your computers and complain all day, you are doing nothing to improve the system for all of us”, or “armchair quarterbacks”.
I wonder if someone should tell Bruce that just because someone doesn’t brag about their interactions with government or tell him what they are doing to make a difference in our world, it doesn’t mean they are just sitting at their computers complaining?
Surely Bruce was involved prior to his formation of his little committee right? Did others accuse him of just complaining all day merely because they didn’t see his face on Channel 16?
No that couldn’t be it… I guess we all need to draft press releases and form citizens groups so we can prove to Bruce that we are involved.
I’m going to become chairman of my own group called “Citizens Who Think Some People Have Way Too High Opinions of Themselves”.
There will be monthly meetings – most of you will be invited.
Craig – I will be needing a kick-back of some kind before I’ll get involved.
Heat or guilt getting to some people?
It was just said well “I’m going to become chairman of my own group called “Citizens Who Think Some People Have Way Too High Opinions of Themselvesâ€.”
@ Bruce,
Newsflash: This is a pro-business City. This is a pro-family City. This is a pro-family business City. The City has historically been good to all three and all three have returned the favor many times over. Lots of places talk that talk, but here we actually walk the walk. The proof is in the pudding, or more accurately our numbers that being so creates the most successes both large and small for the highest number of residents. The quality of life here outside the weather is no accident. Its why we grow when other peer cities don’t. It’s why companies choose to move here vs. a population center on the coasts. It’s why kids who’ve moved away come back to start a family.
Our local Government, including the Council & Admin aren’t perfect, neither was the last one or the one before. Do they make mistakes? Sure. Are they honest mistakes? Like art, that’s in the eye of the beholder. What they don’t do is screw up what’s working, and that’s how they have earned the votes they get. Working might mean something else to you, L3wis and others who constantly criticize and rarely recognize anything positive, but the truth is the vast majority of the citizenry are happy with all things Sioux Falls. It’s working for them, so they aren’t hanging out on their computers screaming about ballot typos and they aren’t breaking down your door to get you to save them from the evils of City Hall. Maybe that will happen someday when this City actually starts to step backwards, but until then virtually no one is buying what you’re selling.
“This is a pro-family business City.”
Is that why our local Chamber of Commerce is endorsing a Super Walmart that will take business away from local retailers?
For starters, Walmart is still controlled by the Walton family.
Second, Target would do the same thing..as would any big box. Big box stores have been shown to force mom & pops to find their niche, exploit it and grow accordingly. Look at Nyberg’s Ace or Lewis Drug as prime examples.
Newsflash: This is a pro-business City.
Fully agree with this. But the pro family part? Not so much. This city was primed to succeed back in 1979 when Janklow bypassed usury laws that brought the credit card industry here. The rest is a story filled with banking greed. Not exactly what I would term “family friendly.”
This is what drives Sioux Falls. The credit card industry and the fee harvesting industry it spawned. It’s what made t Denny a multi billionaire and further spawned our fee harvesting hospitals.
PBS has a excellent documentary on its Frontline program called ” The Secret History Of The Credit Card.” If you can watch it on your PC, well worth your time. But for most mobile platforms, like Ipad, viewing it is not possible. But there is this transcript.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/etc/script.html