February 2018

How a Bad Bill Dies in Pierre – HB 1204 – UPOA (G/P- Bruce)

Ah the glories of Public Input. Public Input does make a difference. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible to stop a fast moving locomotive. It took four months to stop this one, but thanks to the South Dakota State Senate Judiciary Committee, it can’t move anymore this year.

This locomotive started with some hope for victims of elder abuse and their families. What it became was a bill appearing to make it easier to defraud them and the unsuspecting. As advocates, we strive to do what is right for those we wish to protect and make it harder for those who might try fraud and deceit. This is why those of us who use Public input fight, not only for today but for the future.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to defeat HB 1204, “An Act to revise certain provisions regarding power of attorney“.

For a little background, as we age or have special needs, there are legal forms and processes available to allow others to help us with medical or financial decisions. We often will pick a trusted family member to legally act on our behalf under certain types of circumstances without the need for court proceedings. This is the Power of Attorney (POA) process. I firmly believe everyone must have a POA document signed, sealed and put away for the time it is necessary to use. Your family and especially the person you trust the most has to know these documents. If you currently have them, do they know where they are,  or how to use them in the case of emergency?

Put into the wrong hands through fraud, deception or self-interest, the POA can be the gateway to stripping you of all your rights and property. Having activated a POA, it can set in motion a process of forcing you into a guardianship where you are left with no rights at all. At this point you are left with nothing to say about your life. All your dreams of a happy or peaceful retirement are gone. In the wrong hands, you can become a legal ward or prisoner wishing you were dead, because death is the only freedom left.

This is not something I have made up; I have been a guardian, conservator and POA for several people in multiple states for over 30 years, seeing the best and worst.

HB 1204 was a 52 page bill created by special interests to create, protect or implement business plans. HB 1204 was based on the Uniform Power of Attorney (UPOA) concept of model legislation. There are many good ideas in the UPOA but this version had so many issues, it had to die and allow the public to be part of a process to fix what is wrong with our current weak processes.

I have recorded and placed on the Internet, over 3300 public meeting videos to teach others how government and Robert’s Rules processes work. There are rules we outsiders may not fully understand but we must become familiar with them in order to effect and affect change. The Senate Judiciary Committee took about 90 minutes to decide HB 1204 was not a good fit for South Dakota. Here is my video of the meeting: https://youtu.be/-0mk_m6wN84 How a Bad Bill Dies in Pierre – HB 1204 – UPOA.

If you want to part of the process to fix these laws in South Dakota, please email me at upoa@citizens4integrity.org. If you have a story to share, please feel free to also contact me.

The Liquor Licensing System has been problematic for years

Like most things South Dakotan, you have to be a rich Republican to do business. Liquor licenses are a prime example of this;

“The regular on-sale liquor license is $192,360,” said Palmer.

So guess who gobbles these up? The wealthy or the large corporations. That’s how HyVee liquor put all the little mom and pop liquor stores out of business around town.

I have often said that since beer and wine licenses are handed out like candy for a minimal cost, a full ‘alcohol’ license in SD should be renewed each year like them and get rid of businesses using liquor licenses like assets. Some argue, ‘What about those who have bought an expensive liquor license already?’ It’s simple, you can pro-rate them. For instance let’s say the yearly fee is $10K. If you bought your license 10 years ago for $100K and we give you a $1K a year credit for however long you have owned it you would have a license credit of $11oK. That would mean for 11 years the licensing fee would be waived due to the credit. I would also allow that credit to transfer to other owners AS LONG as the location of the establishment DOES NOT change.

It would also generate a lot more revenue for the state, counties and cities.

Of course Pierre is full of rich Republican OLD businessmen who are their to line their own pockets and anybody with new ideas are F’ing Lying B—-s!

Guest Toon: Sioux Empire Podcast

As you can see, Mickelson was up to his parlor tricks again;

DiSanto tells KELOLAND News she let the matter go to go along with party leadership. The two female representatives specifically named Speaker of the House Mark Mickelson as the person who wanted the matter resolved without incident.

Sorry, but when someone acts like this, there should be some kind of discipline. I don’t think he should have been kicked out of the legislature, maybe a censure, but I find it ironic since nothing happened to Disanto for her disgusting meme, her attacker gets off also. I guess when Republicans do f’ckd up things in our legislature, they get off.

Mayor Bimbo, “Nobody knows who is running for mayor.”

He goes on to say on the B-N-B show that most people probably think he is running for a 3rd term and don’t know he can’t. He basically accuses the mayoral candidates of not getting their message out there.

While I will agree with Mike partially that voter turnout will be low again, I think he is sadly mistaken about messaging. I think the normal municipal voter turnout will be there on election day and have been listening. In fact when I attended the YPN mayoral forum, it was the largest crowd I have ever seen at a mayoral forum.

Ironically, one of the main reasons why nobody knows about the municipal election is because the city refuses to do a PSA either on CityLink or in a water bill insert. There are many things to discuss; absentee voting, precincts, voter registration, dates of election and run-off, who is running, etc, etc. While we will be spending well over $100K on both elections we are spending zilch on promoting the election. Go Figure. Heck, why don’t we just skip the election and give the money to the Huether Tennis Center?

Besides the fact that he is in a state of denial that he is finished on May 15 and a new person is taken over, he continues to think the RR redevelopment project was one of the best projects he negotiated. LMFAO! Burlington Northern certainly got what they wanted. They sold $62 a square foot dirty land to Federal taxpayers, they continue to run the trains through the same area, more frequently, and still store and switch cars only a couple of blocks from the redevelopment land. They literally got their cake and ate it too. We got hosed! Big time! You can’t even build housing in the area, because the first time a train whistle blows some stinky rich empty nester will be crying to the SFPD about the noise. I would have been extremely embarrassed to have negotiated such a deal. But that is what happens folks when you do these kind of deals in the dark of the night. If that plan would have been negotiated in the public I guarantee the train traffic would be moving differently. Probably one of MMM’s biggest failures of his administration (but that list is pretty long).

STILL TAKING CREDIT FOR REVITALIZING DOWNTOWN

While Mike deserves some credit for revitalizing downtown in his past 8 years, that train left the station in the early 1990’s, I know, because I was working downtown. Than the downtown folks put a boot up Munson’s butt and it really started moving. The mayor claimed on the show this morning that downtown in 2009 was a ‘ghost town’. Puhleezze! as I have told people, Munson dropped the snowball at the top of the hill and Huether is now standing at the bottom of the hill claiming he created the snow boulder. All Mike did (with mostly action by the city council) was continue the progress that was already set in motion.

While they were discussing that matter the mayor referenced transforming DT into a place where you can Live, Work & Play. A caller reminded the mayor that ‘HE’ doesn’t live that way. That was hilarious. The mayor lives in a very sleepy neighborhood over by Paisley Park and has a lake home on a swamp nobody else has a house on.

He was also asked about the noise levels downtown in reference to having entertainment facilities mixed in with residential in reference to the ICON / Jones building kerfuffle. He said there are some issues that need to be ‘worked on’. In other words, next mayor’s problem that our city’s building department does whatever they want. Don’t believe me? Here’s a short list; Events Center buckling siding, Copper Lounge collapse, McKennan Park Monster House, etc, etc.