July 2017
l3wis Congressional Race Heating Up
An independent conservative is now running for House;
George Hendrickson hopes he can accomplish a goal that has eluded independent statewide candidates in South Dakota: winning.
The 46-year-old former police officer and medical cannabis advocate from Sioux Falls is set to announce Sunday that he will run for U.S. House. And he’s hopeful that his conservative platform and promise not to accept money from political action committees will set him apart.
“South Dakota Republicans are always afraid of voting for the independent because it could help elect the Democrat,” he told Argus Leader Media. “But that could be different in this election because every single person I’ve talked to, they are so mad at the establishment, Democrat and Republican alike, that they are dying for a real choice.”
I’ve only met George on one occasion, and I hardly remember what we talked about, but I am well aware of his stances. I applaud his efforts for medical  cannabis to help children, but I keep telling those folks to go whole hog. I still believe if medical and recreational cannabis both get on the ballot that Rec will pass and medical may not. There are more people who want to use the drug for recreation than for medical reasons, and I think people who want it for pain relief don’t want to fiddle with a prescription, they just want to buy it openly and be done with it.
I still think Rec will garner over 52% of the vote. But I also think the AG and Legislature will try to erase the measure if it passes due to Federal regulations.
Cameraman Bruce sent me an interesting article about the ‘Marijuana Treatment’ racket;
Yet, well publicized data from the US Centers for Disease Control, Monitoring the Future, and others reports that daily, monthly, and yearly marijuana use by young people declined sharply during much of this same period. Perhaps even more importantly, studies further report that rates of problematic marijuana – so-called “cannabis use disorder†(CUD) – also fell significantly. For example, data published last week by investigators at the US National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) finds that the prevalence of past year CUD in young people fell 25 percent in the years between 2002 and 2014. Their findings mimicked those of a 2016 NIDA-funded study which similarly reported a 24 percent decline in problematic pot use by young people.
So, if fewer young people are using pot – and even fewer are doing so problematically – why are more teens than ever before winding up in substance abuse treatment programs? The answer lies with the criminal justice system.
And I believe Jackley and Republican Legislators will try to use the system to kill legalization in our state.
Council Agenda, Tuesday July 18, 2017
Besides consenting to $300K towards lighting upgrades to the EC, the council has a very busy agenda.
Item #32, Ambulance rate increases. This is another bizarre legislative item the city council has to vote YES on from advice of legal counsel. So what’s the point? Should be an interesting discussion about the power of the council.
Item #45, the council approves the (Half) gift of land to the Glory House. This is a good thing the council is doing. The only unfortunate part is that the mayor had to get his grubs into a deal because a 100% gift wasn’t his idea of hand up, you know, like a private tennis club the city gave $500K to.
Item #48, the council will be approving a resolution for a preliminary plan for Avera’s new south side campus. As a person who lives close to the DT campus, I am happy to hear they will not be expanding anymore in my neighborhood. Now if we can just get Sanford to stop gobbling up central Sioux Falls affordable housing.
Item #50, the council will be presented with the new districting maps. Not sure if they are approving them Tuesday night or not, it is unclear from reading the agenda item.
Item #51, this one is a mystery to me since there are NO attached documents with the item. It seems to be about picking an external audit firm for the city. The city has always used Eide Bailly to do their external audits which is just basically a financial statement audit. A few weeks ago, councilor Stehly asked if the city ever considered using alternative firms to change it up every couple of years and wondered if it was ever put out for bid. We’ll see I guess.
Councilor Stehly explains her position on Districting the Parks Board
The Argus ED board gave Stehly the opportunity to respond to their ridiculous ‘sky is falling’ editorial about the Parks Board;
Just as we have district representatives on the council, this would allow a seat at the table for all areas of Sioux Falls on this board. I have been very impressed with the level of concern that our district council members have demonstrated for the whole community, while being available in a special way to hear the concerns of their own area of town. This is the desired benefit of the Park Board ordinance.
As we grow in diversity, population and geography, more representation is a good thing for our citizens. We need to make conscious efforts to stay connected to all the people in our wonderful community. I am grateful that we are able to have a discussion about it and I encourage the citizens of Sioux Falls to weigh in on it. Please feel free to call me at 605-929-8783.
Seems like common sense government to me. Maybe they could use some of that common sense at their ED board meetings in the future instead of kneeling to the desires of city hall.
The city is tightening their belt? Fooled me.
If you look at this week’s council meeting (Item #1 – Consent) and the business bid notices you would think the city is awash in money for play things.
As you may or may not know, the penny entertainment tax came about to help pay the bonds on the Pavilion and Convention Center. Once the bonds were paid off the city has decided to keep collecting the cash cow and they haven’t been shy about throwing millions at the Pavilion over the last couple of years. But what is even more puzzling is the $300K in lighting upgrades to a $117 million dollar building that is practically new. I have a feeling more and more there was a lot of ‘unfinished’ work to the EC to keep it under the price tag amount, including a half-ass siding job.
Remember when the city council recently approved a new snowcat groomer for Great Bear because they ‘might’ have to change a couple of hydraulics on the old one? Now they want new snowmakers. One portable snowmaker runs between $2,500-$12,000 each.
Funny how the mayor says he is tightening the city’s belt, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at these expenditures.