March 2019

SF School District Shantel Krebs Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls School Board approves ‘English’ mascot for Slaveowner High

l3wis March 12, 2019 11Comments

As you can see, a citizen showed up to protest the naming, and explained quite nicely why using Cavalier is not a good idea. He gave the history of the term and it’s meaning to the English and King Charles the 1st. Not only were Cavaliers English and from a different time period of the revolutionary war, it goes in the face of what Thomas Jefferson and our founding fathers stood for. That’s why when I was researching the mascot I rejected using Cavalier and Renegade instead.

What makes this even more troubling and ironic is that school districts across the state said that they didn’t think graduating seniors should have to take a civics/citizenship test because civics were taught throughout K-12. Really? Didn’t anyone in administration or the teacher faculty have the common sense to tell the students that ‘Cavalier’ was probably inappropriate due to it’s ties to the British and they should come up with another mascot? If we are teaching civics, wouldn’t these students, teachers and administrators know enough not to use ‘cavalier’ as a mascot for a school named after a revolutionary man?

From the very first task force meeting, to the bond elections (counted by district finance employees) to the purchase of the land and hiring of architects, this entire process has been a sh*t show of the highest level, it shouldn’t surprise us that they continue to ignore reason. This is what happens when governmental decisions are made behind closed doors by a select group of ‘Know-It-Alls.’

This is why they had to hire a former shoe salesperson as an administrator to manage a whopping 24 students at the Avera Academy. The more ‘Know-It-Alls’ the better education our kids are getting, yeah right.

Public Utilities Public Works SF City Council Sioux Falls

Major Fail – City of Sioux Falls Engineering and Public Works

l3wis March 11, 2019 5Comments

From a SouthDaCola foot soldier;

I 229/26th Street/ Southeastern Drive Reconstruction Project

ABSENCE OF A NEEDED LIFT STATION

In order to begin this massive road and bridge project, Rotary-Norlin Park needed to be relocated from the east side of the river to the west side.

The majority of this work took place in 2018.

In conjunction with the Rotary Park Project the City needed to do underground work on the utilities (storm sewer, sewer, and water).Â The residents who live in the Riverdale subdivision (which is just across I 229 from Rotary Park)Â saw that utility work was being done last summer/fall in Riverdale Park.Â This is where the new utility lines were being connected to the existing lines.

At approximately the same time the work was being done in Riverdale Park, residents in Riverdale subdivision began to experience both low water pressure and sewer backups in their homes.Â In some homes, sewer backups have happened multiple times since last summer/fall.

Today, we finally may have an answer as to why this is happening.

The City probably should have invested in a lift station when the work was done last year.

THEY DID NOT, AND NOW PRIVATE CITIZENS ARE EXPERIENCING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS DECISION.

After reviewing the documents related to the I 229/26th Street/Southeastern Drive Project onÂ siouxfalls.org, it appears the elevation needed to construct the overpass for the BNSF railroad will also be a factor in this major blunder of not building a lift station.

Phase I of this Project is set to begin in a few days. Should the project be allowed to go forward before resolving the issue of the lift station? Good question.

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls State Theater

Is the State Theater set to get a big donation?

l3wis March 11, 2019 15Comments

Over the weekend there was plenty of chatter in the DTSF gossip circles that the State Theater may finally get one last infusion of of money to finish the project. Rough estimates would tell me that the State probably needs between 2.5 – 4 Million to finish the project, but I haven’t been following that close enough to know.

I have my guesses of who would be willing to put up that money. But the bigger question is the city involved in some way? The State has gotten small donations in the past from the city, but nothing close to a million.

My guess is it will be a private donation, if it happens at all. Not sure if the public has the appetite to give tax dollars of significant proportion to the private project.

While I would like to see the State open already, I also would like it to stay a private non-profit with little to no corporate or city funding. But desperation has a way of rearing it’s ugly head. The ‘State of Denny’ does have kind of a nice ring to it

Chellee Unruh Sioux Falls Tea

Still baffled and Concerned. Why is the City of Sioux Falls allowing it’s new Housing Director to run for Tea City Council?

l3wis March 10, 2019 1Comments

I do stand corrected on one level. I guess an employee of the Siouxland Libraries and an employee of the Siouxland Museums serve on city councils outside of Sioux Falls. But in some ways that is a little different. Both of those bodies are funded by the county and city(s).

But I have to wonder about the conflict of interest with a Tea resident as our housing director saying this about Tea and her run for council;

This is the most important quote from the article I posted yesterday.
â€œThe advantages that suburbs have for adapting to disruptive innovation should not be a rationale for their complacency. Adaptation needs to be nurtured; it won’t happen automatically. Suburbs have an opportunity and, more importantly, an obligation to develop proofs of concept and to share those lessons with other governmental entities.â€

If Tea is just a part of Sioux Falls, why do they have a city council? Why doesn’t Sioux Falls just annex Tea into our city limits? Seems we would solve a lot of problems for both communities. But the quote also makes you wonder who Chellee will be working for? The opportunities of a suburb of Sioux Falls, or her real paying gig with the City of Sioux Falls? How can you promote development and economic growth for Tea (while living there) and promote affordable housing in Sioux Falls at your day job? While I have had problems trying to find a specific rule or law that prohibits Unruh from doing both jobs, it’s still ethically questionable. Should the SF Ethics Commission be looking into this and ruling on it before the April election in Tea? I think so. I also find it a bit ironic that her family has chosen to live in Tea. Is it because housing is more affordable there?

I also find it curious she lists her employment with Sioux Falls as of February, yet no one saw her working at her new job until the beginning of March. So it seems she was well aware of her employment with the city when she announced she was running for Tea city council. Did her new employer know? If so, why isn’t Mayor TenHaken asking the Ethics Commission to look into this? Maybe they see Unruh as a double agent as an advantage to Sioux Falls?