Image: Noise & Color, Photographer: Bryce Turcotte
My good friend/artist/carpenter/musician/songwriter had a nice article written about him (Page 14). Matt & I have known each other for over 20 years, and I could write a book just about our experiences together. A true Hippie-Artist to the core.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWH8_D1ilqo[/youtube]
Transcript (DOC: MCRC Commission Report by Danielson)
Actually, I don’t think we were, but look at what the new Super was making in Kearney;
The KPS Board of Education on May 9 voted to freeze administrator salaries for fiscal 2011-2012. The breakdown of the superintendent’s compensation package: salary, $188,605; health insurance, $6,398; dues, $761; retirement, $15,772; unused vacation (varies per year), $3,500; and, personal use of car, $.51 per mile.
Notice that the process of hiring the NEW Super has been done under a cloak of secrecy. I heard that the media knew who the new Super was before the teachers were even given the news.
Make no mistake, the lack of transparency wasn’t to protect the identities of the candidates, it was there to protect the contract negotiations, and from the public knowing what we are going to pay our new super. It’s been two days since the announcement, and the ink on the contract is supposed to start drying this afternoon, yet we still have not been told what we are offering him?
Realize, he was making $188K for a district of 5K students. What do you think he will be asking for to run a district (he is NOT familiar with) that has almost 5x that many students? (Pam makes $194K currently)Â Get ready Sioux Falls property tax payers, this is going to hurt.
Touchmark has been trying unsuccessfully for years to expand on the corner of 18th and Phillips. The neighbors claim that it would ‘ruin the neighborhood’ and historical aspects.
First off, without the most obvious argument, Touchmark owns the land. Yeah, Yeah, I heard the same with the Walmart issue, except, Walmart DID not own the land, they only had an agreement to purchase, not even sure if they have bought it to this day.
Also, it seems besides a few nit-picking neighbors, the historical preservation board seems to be the only ones objecting, and they truly are powerless and advisory in nature. The Planning Commission and City Council CAN ignore their advice, and should.
Other then that, I actually think a building on that corner would be an improvement. I drive past that intersection a lot, and I have yet to see anyone utilizing the land for recreation that live at Touchmark. In fact, IÂ have never even seen a groundskeeper in the grove of trees.
Touchmark owns the property, and the expansion would improve the lives of their residents. Stop crying about a couple of trees and let them expand.
Remember when we got over $11 million back for building the levees? This would have been the perfect project for us to spend the money on;
A massive project to replace a sewer line that carries almost all of Sioux Falls’ wastewater won’t cost taxpayers as much after the state approved more than $30 million in low-interest loans to pay for the work.
The 1.25 percent interest loans offered by the state will be paid back over 10 years.
“On that amount of dollars, that’s a substantial savings,†said Cotter, referring to the higher interest rates associated with traditional loans.
Hey Mark, we could have saved 100% if we would have paid for the project with the Levee repayment fund and surplus in the budget. But that’s right, we need to build playthings, they are more important. Maybe the next time the sewer system threatens a backup, we can use the new indoor pool to store all of the sewage instead of Covell Lake or pouring it down residential streets.
If we truly had a mayor who was concerned about prudence, he would have allocated the money correctly and put the pool on hold. But that would take someone who actually cares about the average tax payer and not himself and the special interests.
BTW, I heard the indoor tennis facility’s membership drive isn’t doing so well. Rough road, isn’t it Mike, when you have to spend your own money on play things? Can we get our $500,000K back please?
l3wis