Cleve Abbott on Forum
l3wis 
July 2021
Is the City of Sioux Falls secretly planning $40 Million in Quality of Life bonds after the 2022 election?
I got word from some city hall moles yesterday that the Parks Department in cahoots with the Mayor’s office is rumored to be planning around $40 million in quality of life bonds for two new swimming pools (I think outdoor) after the 2022 municipal election is over.
It’s no secret a couple of pools are at their life, but what I find ironic about this rumored proposal is the fact that we can’t even get lifeguards to work for the city, because of low pay and no paid certification.
What makes it even more egregious is that we need to prop up our infrastructure, workforce, housing and crime prevention before we think about building under staffed pools. This is just another handout to contractor buddies of city hall, much like the Bunker Ramp, Admin building, Indoor Pool and Events Center.
When are we going to get a city government that works for the people instead of the developers? This is what happens when you give executive authority to your chief of staff that was a former executive with the largest developer and TIF welfare recipient in the city, and possibly the state. Lots and Lots and Lots of payback.
The running joke amongst my political friends in the city on the right and the left is that the developers run city hall and the city council. Sadly, it’s not a fictional joke anymore, it’s fact.
City of Sioux Falls Public Meeting Agenda for July 20-22, 2021
There are several interesting agenda items, including another IM 26 task force meeting, in the AM during the workweek at the library where it cannot be recorded or easily attended by working folks. The mayor also lays out the budget for the city, even though according to charter this should be the job of the city council. In the regular city council agenda is the 2nd reading for the land swap deal the smells about as bad as the river it borders. If you go look at this land, it is pretty clear it is controlled by the Corps of Engineers and not the city or the property owner.
Is Billie Sutton running against Noem?
Well isn’t that the $64 thousand dollar question?
The rumor mill going around is that Billie is being actively recruited.
Is this bad? No, and while I prefer a candidate that isn’t Republican Light, he is the only Democrat in the state with enough clout to challenge her, especially if he gets the National Party behind him.
Noem is beatable, but you have to convice the indies and moderate Republicans in the state who haven’t been happy with the crazy Trump train she has been driving.
Hopefully if Sutton is running he will announce ASAP. There is NO time to waste.
UPDATE: Sioux Falls Planning Department & City Attorney’s Office hid information from the City Council and Public
UPDATE: Cameraman Bruce wanted me to remind you of this post from March of 2020, and this added commentary;
The article is credited to me and the maps are still true.
The river bed was never owned by anyone but the federal government and since it was part of a navigable it cannot be taken over by anyone without the Corp of Engineers releasing it and likely an act of congress. Sioux Steel never owned the river bed filled in by garbage. The reason the city is not releasing any of their documentation is due to the faulty “quit claim†deeds they might be citing.
The city attorney, Lloyd Companies and Sioux Steel are playing fast and loose with the facts to seal the property permanently. Sioux Steel cannot give away property then never owned. They were and are squatters with no real claims to the property.
The parties to the development including the Sioux Falls city attorney, Lloyd Companies and Sioux Steel must prove they have the rights to continue building on and trading property they do not own or have rights of fee simple.
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So if you watch the city council meeting tonight, Item #12 is a land easement deal with the developer of the Sioux Steel project. While that certainly isn’t anything to raise eyebrows over since the city does these kind of deals several times a year, what makes it concerning as you watch the discussion is that the Planning Department, the City Attorney’s office and likely the Mayor’s office hid this information from us and the city council for over 18 months. Wouldn’t this land transfer deal be something that should have been presented to the citizens before BOTH TIFs for this project were presented? What makes it even more interesting is that it seems some of the information remains confidential even though the city is having a public meeting, discussion and 1st vote on this land deal. Remember when they terminated former City Clerk Debra Owen? Deja Vu.
It also gets even more nefarious when you consider that this land transfer will end up costing taxpayers millions more because the land we are getting from the developers will suddenly become river greenway property that we will be responsible to develop.
Luckily this is only 1st reading, and hopefully the council will be able to really dig into what is going on here, and hopefully by 2nd reading some of those secret legal documents will appear.
At first glance, it is my guess that this was kept from the public and the city council for this long because it is NOT a good deal for us, and they tried to skate this as long as they could (or at least until they got their precious TIF).
I keep telling you folks, there is a lot of ‘stuff’ going on behind closed doors at city hall, and it is NOT to our benefit. And the irony is this is all occurring while the head city attorney is rumored to be on an extended vacation – how convenient for him?