After watching councilor Erpenbach push the cell phone ban on to the council agenda yesterday during the public services meeting, some wondered what the sudden urgency was?
After hearing the comments yesterday during the meeting and taking the temperature of the council, it seems, as of right now 6 of the councilors will vote against the ban, and even if there were 4 on board, rumor has it that the mayor and city attorney are not in favor of the ban either.
One could argue many things, that this is a state legislator issue, or that the council or charter revision commission should put this on the spring ballot instead of just approving it at a council meeting.
But you have to question the political motivation of Erpenbach to push this ordinance change when she is well aware she doesn’t have support for it? Is she doing this to get her fellow councilors on the record voting against a safety issue? Or is she ramrodding this, so in case it fails, they have time to do a petition drive (something I would like to see). For once it would be nice to see the ‘specials’ in Sioux Falls standing with a clipboard in front of the courthouse instead crying to the council anytime they want their indoor pools and tennis centers and other things. If you truly think this will benefit the safety of the public, get the signatures and get it on the ballot. I would like to see the ‘specials’ work for something for once instead of just greasing palms.
Found this paragraph that perfectly describes erps game.
The quotation “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.” is widely cited in journalism, public relations and advertising books where it is variously meant to reflect the importance of the media, the power of publicity, and/or the arrogance of celebrities. Some people believe it; others dispute it. Either way, it perfectly captures the now out-dated but once-popular notion that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
This ban was a great idea for a political feather in a cap, but I would wager the police would enforce it the same way they do fireworks within the city limits and wearing seatbelts.
So someone in traffic witnesses a hit and run accident and tries to follow the car fleeing the scene, to call 911 while driving, using a banned cellphone?
Erp lives in 1960. We use bluetooth. However, teens might still handle phones and she wants to send out the flying monkeys. There’s already enough on the books for cell phones. I’m disappointed she must use something so trivial to get news notice. Knowing city hall, perhaps this is a smoke screen for a new something they’re sneaking in to further restrict our individual liberty.