The mayor spent 7 years blowing our money on every play palace he could, straddling us with debt for over 20 years, than today he presents us with the crumbs that are left.
Notice in 2013 we spent $68 million in play palaces, in 2017, $6 million.
DOC:Â CAP-2017
He didn’t seem ashamed one bit that he created this BOOMTOWN that lacks affordable housing, decent wages and has a soaring crime and drug problem.
Steve Hildebrand who helped anoint King Huether, and has since turned away from him, was on the Good Ship Lalley Pop show talking about a possible run for Mayor (I think he is blowing smoke) but he didn’t hold any punches against MMM. He said Mike concentrates too much on telling everything that is positive about Sioux Falls and doesn’t concentrate on the real problems facing SF, like poverty. He also ripped MMM a new one about how idiotic building the Administration Building was.
Does Lalley have a podcast replay?
Notice the 30 mil OTHER in 2015. That should be explained. What this proves is Huether went on a special interests spending spree (green). The city budget is 350 mil annually. There’s about 250 mil annually unaccounted for. It can’t all be salaries and overhead. Most departments added 10 times as many employees. Worst cases are city attorney, finance, and parks. The population grew 50k, about 50%. The first thing the next mayor can do is terminate 300 city employees. Not the new hires but those who don’t live in city limits.
I get the feeling this is not government of/by/for the people but a secret society of corrupt city officials and developers.
Just read the Argus article on da mayors cip. The numbers do not add up, and the numbers presented are inaccurate. Comparing last years proposal to this years does not add up to 45.2 million. Nor was last years cip 589 million. It was 573 million. So, in reality it is a 25 million decrease from last year. Also, to listen to da mayor, one would think he is carving away at culture and recreation, and turning those carvings into the hands of the street department. Again, simply not true. Comparing last years cip piechart to this years piechart concerning department distribution shows them to be nearly identical. Only difference is Fleet and Technology went from 5% of total capital outlay to 4%. Streets went from 43% to 44% of total outlay. All the other departments, including the “fun” ones, stayed at the same percentages as the previous year.
Oh, one other thing. For a cip that has been cut to the bone, it is still 57 million higher than the cip presented in 2015. Would love to see how much higher it is than in ’11,’12,’13, and ’14.
This is major money. The accounting should be verified by a reputable professional independent accounting firm. It’s a coloring contest Huether always wins because he’s the only entrant.
Now, let’s see annual bars for city debt. The base line will be at the top of the page. Better use 8.5 x 14 so the 2017 bar fits on the page.
The 30+ million listed under ‘Other’ in 2015 are Federal Dollars rec’d by SF from a congressional earmark. These dollars have been handed over to BNSF for the purchase of approx 10 acres of land in downtown SF.
Now, the conversation switches to Local Tax Dollars needed to continue this project. The CIP proposal the Mayor has presented to the Council requests 2.3m.
Part of this 2.3m will be used to remove 6 inches of contaminated material from the 10 acres. Several years ago, the City proposed dumping these contaminated materials into the Morrell Quarry which is located 1/2 block east of 1st Street and North Weber Avenue. This was being proposed because it would represent a significant cost savings. They ordered a study (which I have a paper copy of). The decision, At That Time, was not to go forward with this idea.
The City Council needs to be vigilant to insure that the Administration does NOT backtrack on this decision. This quartzite quarry needs to be preserved as a natural landmark and the neighborhood surrounding it needs to be protected from any environmental hazard.
Given the history of the land involved in both the Railroad Relocation Project and the Levitt Pavilion at Falls Park West, the subject of contaminated soil and the cost of its removal has the potential to be a real boondoggler for the Administration!
The mayor has spent/borrowed taxpayers money like a drunken sailor on payday…from a former drunken jarhead. Love the mayor countdown clock.