South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

July 2022

Affordable Housing Downtown Sioux Falls Pettigrew Heights SF City Council SF School District Sioux Falls

Rumors still circulating about 9th & Grange greenspace

l3wis 3Comments

The Cathedral and Pettigrew Heights neighborhood associations have already made it clear they do NOT want the greenspace and community gardens at 9th & Grange to be used for affordable housing. Both associations have shown that there are plenty of empty lots and houses that need to be torn down throughout both neighborhoods that can be used to move affordable houses to the neighborhood without using the greenspace.

As I mentioned in the past both associations have plenty of evidence that the school district and the city have been quietly working behind the scenes to take over this space for affordable housing.

A person who attended the most recent Pettigrew Heights association meeting said a city official(?) told some of the attendees that there is still a plan to move affordable houses to the greenspace (Sanford expansion was mentioned).

The land is currently owned by the School District and they may have to get an appraisal on the land before transferring it. If that happens the school board and the city council would have to approve a land transfer (there may be some legal issues with usage). The city could take it over as a park or they could try to transfer the land for affordable housing (the city already maintains the space for the school district).

I guess the first place to watch is the school board, who currently make most decisions behind closed doors, then show up to the public meeting to rubber stamp those nontransparent decisions. The agendas will have to be scrutinized closely because they may try to slip it in on the consent agenda.

As of today, the school district maintains they have NO plans for the space . . . but would they tell us if they did?

Downtown Sioux Falls SF City Council Sioux Falls

Is the City of Sioux Falls using ‘fuzzy math’ for storm cleanup costs?

l3wis 6Comments

Imagine my surprise when I saw this slide in the presentation planned for tomorrow’s informational meeting on Storm Debris Management;

Obviously the live presentation will probably bring some clarity to those last 2 numbers because if they cleaned all the streets and parks for those dollar amounts they must be using Santa’s Elves for FREE. While the May storms were bad, last week’s storm was worse, but I find it a little hard to swallow with labor and equipment costs the city only spent that much. Maybe that is all they spent on clearing boulevards and streets, and if so, it is a disservice to the public. Muni government is easy, you collect taxes and you provide services. That means helping folks with storm cleanup like the city did in 2013 instead of relying on the quilting bee from church.

Bunker Ramp Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

The Bunker Ramp big reveal

l3wis 8Comments

The deputy mayor is coming out of hiding at Tuesday’s informational;

Downtown Ramp – Next Steps by Erica Beck, Chief of Staff

There are NO attached documents, so this mean several things;

• They found an interested party for developing the property

• They are looking for interested parties

• They want to consult the council on how to move forward

I have suspected for a while that there are several developers in the hopper waiting to pounce on the project and all they needed the city to do is handle the legal part.

Since the city doesn’t do RFPs anymore, the administration and planning can pick anyone they want to develop the property with ZERO input from the council and the public. I think they already have an interested party and this presentation is just smoke and mirrors to make it look like they are going thru a transparent process.

With the economy the way it is, I guarantee who ever wants the ramp is going to be asking for all kinds of tax incentives from the city to develop this property.

I also don’t have much confidence in this administration or council to do the right thing since they have been doing the wrong thing for so long when it comes to this disaster of a project. Two councils, two mayors, and a payout to the scammers says all we need to know about how the project will be handled moving forward.

Maybe when it is all said and done we will finally get a public apology from the public officials for this major f’up . . . followed by pigs flying from my ass.

Sioux Falls Smithfield

Slaughterhouse petition is turned in

l3wis 3Comments

For the record I signed the petition. I am NOT in favor of another pig manure factory being built in Sioux Falls, but I also don’t think the problem is a NEW modern facility being built, the problem is the current one that is old, dilapidated and stinks up the whole downtown. We should be working on closing a plant that is owned by Chinese communists instead of trying to prevent a modern facility owned by local farmers being built.

While it will probably make the November ballot, which is good timing by the petitioners, I think it is a violation of the 5th and 14th amendments;

nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

I think Wholestone has fairly good legal standing to either stop this from making the ballot or stopping it if passed. They own the property and it is zoned correctly. There are probably numerous other legal avenues they have. I suspect this to make it to the SD Supreme Court.

*I heard yesterday that another processing plant is eyeing Sioux Falls besides Wholestone. I also heard that Wholestone will be fighting this.

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