Last day to sign opt out tax petition
l3wis 
You can either sign at the County Administration Building OR at the 57th street entrance of Yankton Trail Park, all day today. The petitions are due tomorrow.
July 2017
Sioux Falls Parks Board Meeting, May 16, 2017
Here we go again, the Sioux Falls Park and Recreation Board met for 19 minutes in relative secrecy on May 16, 2017 at the Elmwood Golf Course Clubhouse.
You’ll notice they need more money for the mayor’s play palaces even though the faucet for cash is being turned off for everything else during this year’s budget battles. Let’s just say if you don’t ask you don’t receive?
A recap follows:
Report of Standing Committees: For committee reports, the Marketing and Public Needs Committee did not meet. Abdallah reported that the Park System Planning and Development Committee discussed all the items on the agenda, the golf course RFI, City Serve, and the Ice Master Plan. Nachtigal reported that the Partnerships and Recreation Committee discussed all the items on the agenda.
Under New Business
a. 2018 Operating Budget: Kearney presented the 2018 Operating Budget request. The budget request included an increase of $360,000 in nondiscretionary wages, benefits, and utilities. The new initiatives proposed included a part-time wage increase for operations and an increase for repair and maintenance of concrete and pavement for a total increase of $105,000. The total budget request including initiatives represents a 2.6 percent increase from the 2017 budget. A motion was made to recommend approval of the 2018 Operating Budget request. The motion passed unanimously with all present Board members voting yes.
Report of Director of Parks and Recreation
a. Kearney provided the Board with the updated Policies and Guidelines manual that was approved at last month’s meeting.
b. The Friends of Levitt surpassed their Chamber-approved fundraising goal with $1,130,000 raised to date.
c. The Recreation Manager position was posted yesterday and will advertise for three weeks.
d. The Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation job description is being reviewed and updated to reflect current needs for the is position.
e. The Golf Course RFEI has been out for advertisement for a couple weeks and has received good interest so far. The RFP will be drafted and advertised later this year.
f. Phase 1 of the bike trail reconstruction from Minnesota Avenue to Tomar Park started in April and is scheduled to be completed in June. Phase 2 will start in September, after the Sioux Falls Marathon, and will start at Tomar Park and end at Cliff Avenue.
UPDATE: ‘Smoother Roads Ahead – Jamison 2018’
Here is me, about 20th in line for a pork sandwich, waiting for the mayor to drop the hammer. I found it ironic they herd us like cattle to eat pig.
My sad attempt at being a Fireworks photographer.
DOC REVIEW: The Putin Interviews
Oliver Stone not only is a fantastic director, but he is a pretty damn good interviewer. But what makes this series of interviews is Putin himself. A very intelligent, focused, disciplined man, with a great sense of humor (about some pretty serious shit) and cocky as all get out.
There are parts in the interview where you know he is lying, but there are parts where you really are not sure. You get this sense he doesn’t trust the American government (heck, I don’t) but he also knows he must walk a fine line with us, so he blows the ocassional brown kisses.
He is truly more fascinating than I ever thought he would be. Though you have to read on screen most of the interview, it is well worth it.
Are our regulations in Sioux Falls enabling us to be bad neighbors?
Hey, I see it right here on my blog, several anonymous commenters throwing barbs at each other, because it is protected speech, and better yet, no one knows who is saying it. We seem to be a lot more daring in how we treat people when we can get away with it without being identified. Sad really;
Is there really a need to demand action from the city or call the police every time we’re annoyed at a neighbor’s too-long grass or the landmine their Chihuahua left beside our mailbox?
Approach minor nuisances of daily existence on your street with a Neighborhood Watch philosophy that promotes autonomy and self-reliance. There will always be occasional extremes — like the toxic situation seen recently in Norton Acres — but a great deal can be handled on a neighbor-to-neighbor basis without appealing to authorities. Good fences might make good neighbors, but only if we’re willing to walk through the gate for mediation and understanding when needed.
In other words if we just chose to talk with each other instead of anonymously turning each other in, things would be a lot better off, and frankly cheaper.