South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

April 2014

County Commission Elections Minnehaha County SF City Council Sioux Falls

Citizens for Integrity Statement

l3wis 9Comments

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.

Developers Development Elections Mayor Hubris Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Sioux Falls

Is the mayor or his wife investing in ANOTHER development recommended by the planning commission and planning department

l3wis 14Comments

Untitled-4

Only one week from a municipal election and the mayor suspiciously steps out on Item#35 (FF: 1:18) without explanation;

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS APPROVING THE PRELIMINARY PLAN OF PINEWOOD ADDITION.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD:

That the preliminary plan of Pinewood Addition to the City of Sioux Falls, Lincoln County, SD, is hereby approved, and the City Clerk of the City of Sioux Falls is hereby directed to endorse on such plan a copy of this resolution and certify the same thereon.

Date adopted:

Mayor __________________

ATTEST:

City Clerk________________

Notice that the mayor is required to sign this document. Will he? That all depends if he is investing in this development. Even after many in the media, his mayoral opponent and many people in the public have said they prefer the mayor and his wife DO NOT invest in developments that have to be approved by his staff members, the council and planning commission.

He is hard of hearing I guess.

Since he didn’t explain why he stepped out on the vote and discussion, I guess we will have to see if this document gets signed before the election, and if so, by who?

Elections

BREAKING: the City decides to destroy municipal ballots, use dolphins instead

l3wis 5Comments

Dolphin4

April 1, 2014, 1:45 PM

While discussion has probably been occurring all morning (at outside law offices and county commission meetings) on deciding what to do with the typos, misleading attorney language and musical ballots being mailed all over the southern part of the state, the SOS of state decides to step in with a solution.

“I say we release the dolphins. At this point in the game it is the only solution.”

The SOS got the idea in a dream after a full night of watching the Cartoon Network. “If Aquaman can summon the beasts of the sea, why can’t we?”

The idea is simple, instead going to a super precinct to vote, the city clerk and auditor’s office will transport dolphins throughout the city in vans with kiddie pools in them. They will drive throughout neighborhoods at slow speeds and the dolphins will pick-up votes through mental telepathy.

“It will alleviate many of the ballot issues, including not having enough ballots at the vote centers. BTW, we will not be using any SF School District vans. I think we have learned our lesson.” Says the city clerk.

We wondered if there would be any concerns with this new system of voting? “At this point, we don’t know how the dolphins will react to pool ballot measure, but I am sure it will be fine, they will be getting a pool either way. Right?” Says the SOS.

Once the dolphins have tabulated all of the votes, they will bark the vote counts at the mayor’s gigantic head, which enables them to ricochet into the many vote counting computers.

“With the help of the mayor’s gigantic head, the votes with be tabulated in minutes.” Says the county auditor.

We asked if there would be any danger of some of the votes leaking into the mayor’s head and getting trapped? The auditor said, “Nah, we did a test, we found that they just bounce around for awhile in the massive empty space and eventually seep back out.”

Developers Development Elections Sioux Falls Walfart

UPDATE:Why are so many former community leaders spreading mis-information about the WM Rezoning?

l3wis 29Comments

Sent from a SYN, member;

If you read the Argus Leader this morning you likely saw the quote from Carol Twedt, former Minnehaha County Commissioner, implying that the homeowners near 85th Street and Minnesota Avenue are at fault for not verifying the City’s plans for the area when they built their houses. “I think when you purchase property, it behooves you as a citizen to find out what the city’s plans are for your area, especially on a thoroughfare like I am,” she said.

Having been active in county planning, Commissioner Twedt understands the need for proper planning. She also recognizes that people rely on the government’s plans once adopted. The single family homeowners near 85th and Minnesota relied on the City’s plans when they built their homes. Going back to the 90s the City’s plans called for the area where these homes exist to be developed into single family neighborhoods. There was no plan for heavy commercial development in the area. Some of us asked at the time as Commissioner Twedt suggested.

While we appreciate the service Commissioner Twedt has provided her constituents, there are times when politicians must admit their have misspoke. Many others have also been mistaken in their understanding that the City long planned the area for significant commercial development well in advance of homes being built. Therefore, we ask that Commissioner Twedt publicly acknowledge that the City had not adopted any plans for large commercial development at the 85th & Minnesota intersection before 2009 when most of the homes were built. To insinuate otherwise is a misrepresentation of the facts.

 

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Twedt needs to concentrate on retirement instead of spreading mis-information:

Carol Twedt, a former Minnehaha County commissioner, said 85th and Minnesota is the right place for a Walmart. She’s lived in a condominium on Minnesota Avenue south of 57th Street for more than 20 years, and she’s watched the city grow around her.
“I think when you purchase property, it behooves you as a citizen to find out what the city’s plans are for your area, especially on a thoroughfare like I am,” she said.
“Growth happens in a vibrant community,” she added.

Here is the facts: The City didn’t have a plan for that corner until it designated it a sub-regional employment center on December 7th, 2009, by that time (see above).  We always expected commercial development on that corner, but under Shape Places C-4 commercial development can be an unlimited size, and a 185,000 sq ft super-center is absolutley the biggest and most intense commercial development imaginable.

Elections Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Ballot typo discovered by ‘Citizens for Integrity’

l3wis 29Comments

UPDATE: City Clerk responds, nothing to see here, move along.

Dear Bruce — In response to your letter dated 3/31/14, I apologize for not meeting your two-hour deadline after your unannounced visit on 3/31/14. I was out of the office all afternoon on election business. Thank you for voicing your concerns.

In reviewing your concerns regarding Initiated Measure 2, with the stated completion date of “December 15, 2015” rather than “December 31, 2015,” I have determined that this transcription error in the exact day of the month of December is not material to this ballot issue. The month and year are correct and reflect the intent to have this project completed by the close of the 2015 budget year. As you are aware, construction season in South Dakota closes about the first week of November. If the voters approved an outdoor pool, it would realistically need to be completed by early November 2015, in advance of any day in December, 2015. The material specifics of the proposal, including “ . . . shall be constructed for not more than $7,500,000 . . . “ and the size limitations stating, “shall not exceed the size of the new swimming pool complex, including parking, by more than 20 percent” are correct.

We apologize for this error, but again, it will not affect the expression of the will of the voters on the merits of this issue.

Sincerely,

Lorie Hogstad, CMC
City Clerk

Mr. Danielson asked for a formal explanation today in a letter to the City Clerk’s office, to which they have not responded.

It would seem to be a violation of state election laws since a date is wrong (not just a simple misspelling).

How did this happen?

It certainly probably wasn’t the print shop that printed the ballots that messed this up, since the ballot measure brochures also display the wrong date, and they were printed BEFORE the ballots.

Some would say the 15 days doesn’t really matter, but you also have to realize that the petition language is prepared by an attorney, people sign the petition based on this language, and the language states December 31.

What’s the fix?

They could postpone the entire election and print new ballots. They could also move forward with an election next week, and tell voters that the pool issue is null and void and will be postponed to the next election.

Not sure. I am not an attorney for election law. Not sure what the options are or who is even at fault, but many fingers are pointing towards the city attorney and city clerk. Some that knew about this are asking if ‘it was intential’ to have an excuse to invalidate the ballot issue after the election. Seems far-fetched. I’m on the side of incompetence. Just look at what happened in the auditors office last week (BTW, Central District Council Candidate Rebecca Dunn will be addressing the county commission tomorrow morning at 9AM at the regular meeting about the absentee flub).

Some would say the ‘typo’ mistake should have been caught in the public review period. HA! HA! Unlike the state elections, the city had NO public review of the ballot language before printing. In fact the city clerk FLAT OUT refused to allow representatives from the different petitions review the ballot language.

Nice move.

_______________________________________________________________

Neat PDF File

_______________________________________________________________

But the date isn’t the only error on the ballot. The snow gate language is also misleading, and the city attorney was made aware last week about it, and refuses to remedy it.

ACTUAL PETITION LANGUAGE;

Snow gates are discretionary upon the declaration of a snow emergency on routes that have been declared snow emergency routes.

CITY ATTORNEY’S EXPLANATION (CONVENIENTLY NEXT TO THE VOTING SPACES);

Snow gates would not be used on streets designated as emergency snow routes.

So which is it? You would follow the petition language and use them on emergency snow routes when you can (the intent of the language) or you just do what you want?

So incompetent.

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