While the Sioux Falls City Council still has an opportunity to redeem themselves next Monday with a reconsideration on the vote, I don’t have much hope they will get the 5 votes needed to overturn it.
Most people would jump at a do-over, especially after finding out as NO fault of their own they were mislead into believing it was an EMERGENCY. We all know now that was a bunch of phooey.
The main reason this redemption may not happen is that the 6 councilors who originally voted for this have all received campaign funding and endorsements from Mayor TenHaken. I can almost guarantee without his campaign assistance, PAC money and endorsements the last 4 elected would have all lost or had been close races.
Paul knows what he did, they know what he did, we all know how that cookie crumbles.
Ask Janet Brekke and Theresa Stehly what happens to you when you challenge our very own King of Scotland. The castle tower you live in becomes very cold and dark very suddenly.
I agree with a lot Scott is saying here, but I kind of look at this issue a little differently, and as we move to go forward, there are things we can do to hold all of us more accountable, let alone more transparent. I cant blame the Mayor for what happened, I do not he intended to do anything wrong here, and I cannot blame the council other than the fact they keep claiming they lost, or gave up their power.
Fact is, they have the same equal power as the Mayor. They chose to not use it, and they cannot blame or attack the Mayor for choosing to utilize the extend of his power.
The 6th Street Bridge was estimated in 2015 to cost $5 million, then in 2018 it was beginning to look as if it will cost $10 million, “We’ should have seen the signs all along.
What I do fault the Council on, is they may have played a role in the increased costs, it was the COVID policies that they aligned themselves that may have played a roll in how the economy has shaped itself today. “WE” are paying for it today. Did they mean for this to happen? No.
Humans are prone to error, thats in our DNA, we have to begin to learn form our past, to fix mistakes in the present, to make a better future.
Now the Council approved of all the Projects Downtown – they approved of the 6th Street Improvements, the River Green Way Improvements, the 6th Street Bridge Costs, and they approved of the Steel and Cherapa Developments.
They placed the Mayors Office in a position that it was in today, when it gained the approval to sign a contract.
The COVID Policies, the Federal Reseve Policies, the Market, have since placed a role in the extended costs.
Now, it is unfortunate, but the Mayor was backed into a corner here, the BRIDGE has to be replaced now, since it is the center piece of all these other Developments.
The only means to understand what happened is for the Council to use their power to Investigate the issues. If they choose not to grab that power, well, that is on them. Not the Mayors Office.
By means of the investigation, they can ask questions of the Mayors Office, The Public Works Office, the Finance Office, let alone they can ask questions of JOURNEY GROUP.
As part of that process, going forward, they may be able to trim the costs down, work with the developer to go line by line to save money where they can, but…
But the Council has to admit their mistake first, before they can blame anyone else outside of them, For they approved not only the Bridge Project, but 6th Street, the Steel District, the Cherapa District.
We are talking about over $1 billion dollars of public and private investment here…
Pauly Shore…what kind of kick back are you getting?
i suspect journey group didn’t really want this project and massively padded their bid. thinking being “if we’re gonna get stuck with this, we might as well make a shit ton of profit.” good for them and unfortunate for us.
either way it’s a dereliction of duty to us by our council, mayor and public works dept. cotter has been in the middle of all these messes going back to huether. maybe time for him to go.
Journey says “Don’t Stop Believin’”.
We’re “Forever Yours” Monetarily. Journey (the real one) is coming in 2024. That’s enough bridges for awhile. Wait till the London Bridge comes back on the market for a billion?
What ever happened to Mike not posting manifestos here? I believe Scott told him to start his own blog more than once? His nonsense is bordering on unreadable.
Fun for Nigerians. Copy Mike’s manifesto and paste it as reply to spam text.
The “King of Scotland” also liked to be called: “Field Marshall for Life”….. So, from the looks of our new bridge, it might be time for a “Raid On Entebbe” to free the taxpayer hostages.
“Say, if the Cubans can’t have missiles, then why can the Chinese have balloons in Montana?”…. “I know we are talking about ‘Big Sky Country’, but the Chinese can get their own damn sky”…. “You watch, the Pentagon will next spin it as some kind of UAP” (“Which is not to be confused with an UFO”. 🙁 ) …. (…. “And then there is that ‘Goodyear Blimp’ which passes over Sioux Falls every six/seven years”…. “Yah, right”…. )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzk3XZQMI88
Trump will spend the next 21 months talking about that Chinese balloon, which is fitting. Because clowns love balloons.
Steve, I will buy you lunch at Pizza Ranch, ALL you can eat for FREE, since I am buying. Give me a call.
Now there’s a balloon in Latin America. Time to build a really tall wall!
Will Mike’s date with Steve included free tokens for the arcade room?
Is it just me, or are these balloon sightings the making of an Austin Powers sequel with Dr. Evil? AND, there’s still Rocket Man, too, and don’t forget about the Leopards being shipped to Ukraine.
“Say, did Raven ever build that manufacturing plant in China?”….
Many of the big items were competitive bids. I wonder how much of the 21,000,000 was determined by 3 competive bids? Perhaps more was bid competivley than by one bid.