Two Sioux Falls City Councilors supporting troublesome school bond issue

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Councilors Kiley and Erickson have joined the drum beat of public officials who are encouraging people to vote yes for the school bond issue. It is well within their 1st Amendment rights to voice their opinions. What is troublesome though is that we have elected officials who support not only a dubious election but a very wasteful bond loan. For every $3 we put towards this in tax dollars over $1 goes towards interest and bond investors. Over a $100 million of tax dollars that will never be spent on education.

Another city councilor has worked behind the scenes to try to get the election to use ALL of the precincts, no E-Poll books and have the vote be electronically counted by the Minnehaha County Auditor. Their request fell on deaf ears.

The E-Poll books failed in the primaries because the company that created them no longer services them (Hart Interactiv) and another company, B-Pro has stepped in to try to get them to work. If the E-Poll books don’t work properly there is no way of knowing if people voted multiple times, and if they are hand counted, there is no way of knowing if ballots have been tampered with.

While the election process and extreme waste of tax dollars is troubling in itself, it upsets me even more that we have two public officials promoting this.

Talk about a lack of fiscal responsibility and democratic principles.

Sanford rumors untrue

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Trust me I was well aware of the rumors swirling around about Kelby;

He was not, as a growing chorus of rumors claimed, asked to leave his job nor did he contemplate resigning, he said.

“If it wasn’t so sad or scurrilous, I’d laugh about it,” he said. “But people get worried about things like that. I think it’s unfortunate. I’ve got to believe my own people heard that and went ‘right’ or ‘good grief.’ ”

It seemed the more I heard, the more I just got to a point where, “This is so ridiculous, it can’t be true.” I guess what bothered me most was I didn’t have anyone who could verify the multiple accusations and rumors. NO ONE. What made it even worse was this was boiling up on Facebook, a place that can be full of so much bullsh*t it’s not even funny.

While at times I felt some of the things could be true, I got confirmation yesterday from a Sanford rep that NOT only was none of it true, they were baffled who started this. I have no idea, but it seems the main culprit may be a disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind. Believe it or not today’s announcement by Kelby may be in part because I encouraged this same Sanford rep to have Kelby make a statement to quell the wild fire. Which he did.

If there is one thing I learned from all this is that I’m glad I resisted beating the drum. While Facebook is a great place to connect with friends and family, remember, it’s probably not the best source for actual news.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Of course the lingering question still is out there, Who signed off on the bad events center siding? I was hoping Kelby would tell us. Darn it.

Breaking; Paramedics Plus and Parent Companies pay out $21 million settlement

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We warned the city council about doing business with these folks, deaf ears;

Seven ambulance industry defendants have agreed to pay the government a total of over $21 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that they knowingly submitted claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs that violated the Anti‑Kickback Statute, the Justice Department announced today.

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded programs.  The Anti-Kickback Statute is intended to ensure that medical providers’ judgments are not compromised by improper financial incentives and are instead based on the best interests of their patients.

The settlements announced today resolve allegations brought in a whistleblower action filed under the False Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas by Stephen Dean.  Dr. Dean alleged that East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, Inc. and East Texas Medical Center Regional Health Services, Inc. (together, “the ETMC Defendants”), and their affiliated ambulance company, Paramedics Plus, LLC (“Paramedics Plus”), offered kickbacks to several municipal entities to secure their lucrative ambulance business, including Emergency Medical Services Authority (“EMSA”), Alameda County, California, and Pinellas County Emergency Medical Services Authority in Florida (“Pinellas EMSA”).  The False Claims Act authorizes private parties to file suit for false claims on behalf of the United States, and permits the United States to intervene in such suits, as it did here in part.

It seems more and more, the city likes doing partnerships with crooks.

Sioux Falls Planning Director, Mike Cooper, a long time ‘Art Historian’

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We are often told by the city councilors at meetings how talented are city staff is. Some of them have multiple skills.

Just look at Mike Cooper, not only was he once the Parks Director he got promoted to the Planning Director (which oversees code enforcement).

He apparently has a knack for art history, especially African inspired abstract impressionism and American Folk/Street art.

When he was the Parks Director he determined that the Mural on the horse barn by Ethiopian artist, Eyob Mergia, was NOT a mural, but a ‘large painting’ (like there is a difference) therefore it could remain without the approval of the Visual Arts Commission.

Recently, under his direction, the code enforcement office has determined that Mr. Bendo was NOT advertising, but ‘ART’ so he could have a pipe in his hand. He also made this determination without consulting the Visual Arts Commission once again.

Is Mr. Bendo art? Or is he a sign? I would go with neither on this one. While called a ‘street sculpture’ I would say this is more of ‘decoration’ than anything. He is a mass produced fiberglass sculpture that could be determined kitsch, folk or Americana, but if I had to make a determination if he was more a Michelangelo or more like the McDonald’s golden arches, I would go with the arches.

Let’s just be honest here. The code enforcement office looked like fools and they were trying to save face, so they backed out on their decision without admitting ignorance by using Cooper’s old trick, ‘It’s art’ excuse.

So the next time code enforcement says your junk truck can’t be parked in your driveway, or your grass is too long, just look at them and say ‘It’s Art’.

 

Update: Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, Aug 28, 2018

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Informational Meeting • 4 PM

Minnehaha-Lincoln County Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan presentation. I’m glad to see this. We have been talking about what plans risk management has in case of a major train derailment. And now with the recent amounia leak in the Big Poo by Smithfield’s it’ time we put on our big kid pants on as a city and realize we need to be prepared for a major disaster.

We will also get an update on the Emerald Ash Borer.

Joint Minnehaha County/Council meeting • 5 PM

CANCELLED!