Tomorrow Night at the Sioux Falls City Council meeting the city legislators will take a stab at amending the mayor’s budget. The rumor is that there is possibly 12-15 proposed amendments. Of course when a councilor proposes an amendment, they must get a second from another councilor before there is discussion and a vote. I think this is bogus. While I may agree with the second on voting, I think the discussion should take place before the motion. At least give the councilor proposing the amendment a chance to argue their case. In the past, most of these amendments have come from councilor Staggers, but I expect to see some from Erickson, Jamison and Erpenbach. Not sure though, I have not gotten even a partial list of what will be proposed. Also a reminder that an amendment can mean a cut OR an increase to spending.
To all of the councilors, have the courage to second amendments whether you intend to vote for them or not. If you want, just say “second for discussion”. These should all be seconded, so they can not only be discussed, but just as, if not more important, everyone can be on the record with a roll call vote. Letting these things die for lack of second so you don’t have to go on the record voting yea or nay on tax increases and line item spending items is the easy way out. Let’s get some seconds so we can roll call each amendment.
To bad Staggers can’t be there (heart issues). He’s a valuable citizen rep who could have kept the budget under control. I’m just afraid Huether will get his budget. Nobody seems to know where the extra 80 million is coming from. It’s probably new debt. It’s hard to watch strong mayor bleed the city. This is just another CEO who compensates himself 1,000 times an average citizens income. Our plight is to leave once taxes get high. To bad, Sioux Falls was a nice city.
I’m feeling a colonoscopy and I just had one. However, I made it for a witness appearance. For me, a court appearance takes priority over a health test that’s easy to reschedule.