2014

UPDATED: Why does Carnegie Hall council chambers look like the Cracker Barrel front porch

l3wis January 12, 2014 24Comments

They finally had to fess up, well kinda;

“Part of the discussion was actually whether or not to put a railing here in front of the council diaz, and this is in place because there have been individuals over the years that have approached city council members during a meeting,” Sioux Falls City Council Operations Manager Jim David said.

OH MY GOD! You mean citizens are trying to interact with their elected officials! The shame! Like when Mayor Huether got into the face of a citizen in the Carnegie parking lot? Where was the citizen’s protection?

Issues at city council meetings sometimes require intense discussion and deliberation, and any interruption in this could lead to a long evening for everyone.

And that is an issue because? The founders of our country would meet for hours on end in blistering heat. This whole ‘time limit’ of a municipal government meeting is getting tiresome, and frankly, quite confusing. I cannot find anywhere in city ordinance that council meetings need to last a certain time period.

And the only councilor who actually teaches political science, let’s the cat out of the bag;

“Well, definitely, it’s going to keep people further away from the city council members, there’s not doubt about it. Let me just mention that I never thought we really had any problem in the first place,” Staggers said.

Oh, but Kermit, it is the ‘appearance’ that there is an issue, certain people in city government want people to think that they are being threatened, and by putting up this ‘fence’ they can make it look like they are having issues. Remember a ‘salesman’ cannot sell without props. Just another prop at taxpayers expense.

May I also suggest you make the (undercover) officer who is attending the meeting a little less obvious, they stick out like a sore thumb on most occasions.

I was watching the city council meeting tonight, and all of sudden I saw a corral around the podium. Do we need to make sure our councilors and mayor don’t escape for a salty snack refill or potty-breaks?

I texted a city official about it, they said, “I had nothing to do with it, but it is for safety (sic).”

Yeah, those pine wood spindles will stop a lot.

When taxpayer money is spent on scraping goose crap from a bike trail, or mowing a jogging path for the mayor’s wife, I say, what-evh. But if you seriously think some decorative spindles are going to make Carnegie Hall safer, may I suggest you drive a 1972 VW Beetle into a tornado, and test the results.

Should the Sioux Falls City Attorney be elected?

l3wis January 9, 2014 27Comments

While watching the Charter Revision Meeting tonight, I started pondering ideas. It all started when councilor Mrs. Outdahdoorliar suggested that the council have a say in who is hired/fired for the city attorney position. While I like her idea, and understand her concerns (the city attorney having a ‘boss’ to report to) I question if there is a ‘better process’ because who does the city attorney really work for? The council? The mayor? or the citizens?

When Stehly and I were trying to get an opinion from the past city attorney Admundson, he refused, telling us to hire our own. While I partially agree with that statement, the question we are asking could only be answered by him, and the reason he wouldn’t answer it? Because he knew the answer was in our favor (as we found out later). The point is that the city attorney should be looking out for the general best interest of the citizenry, that means, ultimately not having a city council OR a mayor as their manager, but the citizens.

My suggestion would be to elect the city attorney every 4 years, just like attorney generals, judges and sheriffs. If the public wants an honest city attorney working for THEM, they need to be elected by them.