October 2023

UPDATE on Brockhouse Animal meeting

l3wis October 4, 2023 4Comments

Mike Zitterich attended the meeting and sent me these notes.

Erica Beck opens meeting at 8:02 AM she commented on the fact: 
1) this will be a 2, 3, maybe 4 meeting committee; 
2) She has referred to it as a very serious meeting, discussing a city asset, 
3) She portrayed this first meeting as strictly a INFORMATIONAL Meeting designed for members to gain information, with perhaps opening up one of the meetings in the future for Public Comment, 
There is NO agreement between by the Brockhouse Family and the City of SFS, The “Agreement” to gift the Animals to the City was strictly between City and C.J Delbridge, and that the ZOO has been in contact with several members of the Delbridge Daughters in recent weeks to go over gifting agreements, and terms. 
Alex Jenson wants a full “appraisal” delivered to City Council that includes both costs to Refine, Refurbish, Plus the costs to Upgrade the Building. Richard Merkouris asked some great questions his concerns are what are the visitor/traffic to the ZOO, to the Museum over the past 10 years, any drop, or increase to one or the other, 
The leading concern is the profitability of the ZOO, in an attempt to increase membership, traffic, and $$$ to draw enough income to maintain, operate, and afford the bills of the Great Plains ZOO. 
Jeff Scherschligt, gave a brief history of himself being one of the oldest members who remembers going to the West Sioux Hardware to see the animals, portraying Mr. Brockhouse as someone who had a vision to bring potential customers to his store, off the highway, promote his business, but most importantly, to provide to the travelers, the means to view, and see Animals that may or may not exist anymore, he had a passion for displaying Wildlife, 
Jeff goes on to comment, the visitor traffic to the museum may be done, mainly cause kids today, families today have so much more to do than go to the ZOO, they have other public places to go today that the ZOO, or the Museum is no longer the “lead” entertainment thing to do today, TIMES have changed, 
Becky Dewitz expressed that the Arsenic/rough estimate of the conditions were not a firm estimate, but a quick, fast assessment to provide the City and Council an informational meeting, the assessors came in did a quick review, and understanding, have gave a high and low estimate of their damages etc, 
Jeff Scherchlit went on to comment that one could almost add 40% based on inflation, but he meant that in a jokingly manner, but honestly explaining the economic hardships we are experiencing today… 
City Attorney OFfice elaborated on the FEderal Laws that limit the city to transfer assets instate, let alone, anyone who takes on the asset, would be doing so on basically on LOAN, and the city maintains ownership rights, but the loanee takes on the liability costs, and responsibilities while in their possession… 
There was NOT a lot of talk related to arsenic, that will come later.. 
THis appears to be more of an Informational to meet and greet each other and provide a basic understanding of the Delbridge Museum.
 Richard Merkouris wants data on the effects of, and costs of is it a worthwhile investment value in spending $4,000,000 to update, and repair the building, compared to is there any talk of Schools, People, Businesses wanting to utilize the services of the Museum itself today, versus yesterday. 
There was talk comparing other museums, if they have experienced these same issues related to age, wear, and arsenic issues…Many of which are more than 80 to 100 years old in many museums… 
Becky Dewitz mentions that much of the damages to the animals are caused by repeated touching, nothing they can do, kids will always touch, but the ZOO has no means of paying for, and placing GLASS in between the animal and visitors today… 
THe ZOO says, if they were forced to pay for the Updates to Museum, they would have to fundraise, so the CITY would have to pay for the overall costs. 
There was some talk, raised by Richard Merkouris about changing state law to provide the city an avenue to easily deal with the trading of assets, but City Attorney says, yes, you could change state law, but remember, the law would not effectively change until July 1, 2025 so you’re still looking at more than 1 year out….to explore changes in law.  
In attendance was: Mike Zitterich, Jason Haack (recording), Ms. Brockhouse, and Robert Kolbe, and the Media – Dakota News Now, KELO, ARGUS, Dakota Scout–

Jason Haack did express during a brief public comment, Erica did allow for some of the public to ask questions – Jason expressed to the committee that he is a licensed taxidermist, and would be willing to repair animals for free, no cost to city, Erica Beck thanked him for his offer….afterwards the two engaged in civil discussion, where Jason further discusses his offer, Erica Beck politely expressed the Mayor’s response was that at this time, he is not interested in his offer, but thanks him for his effort.

UPDATE: The announcements have begun for the Sioux Falls City Council race

l3wis October 4, 2023 7Comments

Once Spellerberg announced this week that he will be running for council I figured more names would be coming out this week;

Tarek Maalouf, an attorney and actuary in Sioux Falls, announced his candidacy Wednesday for the council’s Northeast District, saying he’s committed to supporting policies that foster affordable housing, public safety and economic development.

I have heard good things about Tarek (I was told he was running this past Saturday). He is considered a moderate Republican though I’m not sure about this;

serves as the secretary of the South Dakota Young Republicans

I’m not real keen on a partisan serving in local government and that goes for any party you are associated with. BUT, I actually like attorneys on the city council because they can weed thru the BS the lead city attorney throws at them. Councilor Brekke was constantly calling them out and probably the reason Paul recruited Cole to run against her.

I also like that Tarek is young and could bring a different perspective to the council. But I do have to wonder if he was recruited by the mayor. He checks SOME of the boxes; Male, Republican, moved here in 2021 from the East.

The NE district is pretty solid blue, so if a smart progressive challenges Tarek he would likely lose.

UPDATE: Imagine my surprise when I went to Tarek’s FB page, he copied my Emmett logo (EVEN the FONT that I manually designed). I am flattered but you butchered it. Throw me a few bucks and I can clean it up for yah. BTW, Emmett lost his race, just sayin.

I asked Emmett if he gave him his logo and he told me he didn’t even know Tarek.

Sioux Falls City Council takes a page from the Planning Commission

l3wis October 3, 2023 6Comments

So the Mayor (chair of meetings) and councilors Cole, Soehl and Barranco were absent tonight, which left only 5 councilors to make decisions (which is a quorum). The chair CAN vote when the mayor is absent.

What made it even more ironic is that councilor Jensen decided to ‘phone it in’ and had the audacity to try to cut off a public inputer several times. She actually shut him down and continued. BRAVO. Later during public input I informed the council that we have the right to talk about ANY city business on ANY item and they need to STOP interrupting people.

Public input bothers the administration and some councilors so much there is now over a one minute delay if you watch the meeting on CityLink.

I also asked the council tonight after they approved a project for Nielson construction (item #76) if the same company is moving forward with the affordable housing project that got a TIF from the council last year. I don’t think the council should approve any projects for this developer until they break ground on the TIF project. You told us we needed this and it was workable. So when is it going to happen?

Also, on a side note, I encourage the media to live stream the Lenin’s Tomb (zoo animals) meeting tomorrow. If we can’t get transparency out of the administration it is the duty of the 4th estate to pony up. I also encourage members of the public to protest the public input denial at the beginning of the meeting. While there is some gray area when it comes to public input and state law, it is pretty obvious this is an official meeting that doesn’t have the normal carve outs. They are discussing city business publicly during a work session and that falls under the purview of state law and public input. Before the current whatever was mayor the city council used to hold work sessions in the lobby of Carnegie to discuss pending policies, nothing set in stone, just throwing ideas out there and during this the public was invited and encouraged to input. This meeting is no different. I would suggest though if they make a motion to do public input to put it at the end so constituents can respond to what was discussed. Having it at the beginning would NOT be beneficial to the committee or the public.

The Animals at the Zoo aren’t the only thing that is dead

l3wis October 3, 2023 4Comments

Dead silence, that’s what you will hear at the meeting held Wednesday at 8 AM because there is NO public input;

Brockhouse Collec-on at the Delbridge – October 4, 2023
8:00 a.m., City Hall Media Room
Work Group meeting #1
Work Group Invites:
Don Kearney
Becky Dewitz
Councilor Alex Jensen
Councilor Rich Merkouris
Mick Conlin
Jeanelle Lust
Ally Brandner
Jeff Scherschligt
Staff Invites:
Denise DePaolo
Jenna Harris
Vanessa Gomez
Karen Leonard
Audrey OWo-Pepper
Dave Pfeifle
Catherine Schlimgen
Erica Beck

1. Developing a plan for surplus, Erica Beck
   a. Mayor TenHaken’s request
   b. Work group & resource team
   c. Meeting hygiene
   d. Targeted milestones
   e. Today’s meeting focus
2. Introduc-ons, Erica Beck
3. Brief overview and history of the collec-on, Don Kearney and Becky Dewitz
   a. City / Delbridge agreement
4. Collection condition, Becky Dewitz
   a. Master inventory list
   b. Annual maintenance
   c. Condi-on assessment
   d. Testing – previous and ongoing
5. Es-mated costs of refurbishing, encasing, and building a new space for the collec-on, Becky
   Dewitz and Don Kearney
6. Op-ons for surplus, City aWorney’s office, Becky Dewitz and Don Kearney
   a. Legal considera-ons
   b. Liability
   c. Specific to the master inventory list
7. Next meeting: October 19, 8:00 a.m., City Hall Media Room

As you can see, the administration changed their mind and decided to have a public meeting. The problem is the public isn’t allowed to speak. This could be a violation of state open meeting laws dealing with public input;

The public body shall reserve at every official meeting a period for public comment, limited at the public body’s discretion as to the time allowed for each topic and the total time allowed for public comment, but not so limited as to provide for no public comment.

Public comment is not required at official meetings held solely for the purpose of meeting in executive session, an inauguration, swearing in of newly elected officials, or presentation of an annual report to the governing body, regardless of whether the activity takes place at the time and place usually reserved for an official meeting.

So is this an official meeting? Technically YES! It was publicly posted on the city website 24 hours in advance, so that would make it an official meeting. But the violation may have already occurred. Since it is under the 24 hour window to re-post a corrected agenda that includes public input, they may have already had a boo-boo. They could however correct it at the beginning of the meeting by making a motion to include public input on the agenda.

But that won’t likely happen.

You know, the hits keep a coming!

Yeah, like we need another banker in city government

l3wis October 2, 2023 7Comments

I joked recently that I considered bringing a ballot question to the Charter Revision Commission that would ban marketing/banking/real estate executives from running for mayor or city council. While snarky, maybe I need to get serious about it!?

For the record, I don’t personally know Mr. Spellerberg and when he announced today, I had no clue who he was, BUT, he did what I have been telling potential candidates for several months; YOU MUST ANNOUNCE FIRST AND EARLY. I actually put that window between October 1st and Thanksgiving. Well someone must of heeded my advice, unfortunately it wasn’t somebody I know 🙁

A Sioux Falls mortgage loan officer is the first person to publicly announce their candidacy for next year’s Sioux Falls City Council elections.

Ryan Spellerberg made the announcement on Monday afternoon that he intended to run in the city’s southwestern district, a seat currently held by Councilor Marshall Selberg, who is term limited.

Spellerberg’s release named affordable housing, reducing crime, investing in infrastructure and expanding the city’s park system as some of his main goals.

You know, all the things that a good city councilor would and should be working on. I am always surprised that people running for city council for the past 20 years mention the same things they are going to work on. Well guess what, most of the things he mentioned are on cruise control and take little to no action from the council. Taxpayers fund the police, they don’t need the council’s help running the department. The chief is appointed by the mayor and does what the mayor tells him to do. Most of our taxes go towards infrastructure (new and maintenance). I am not sure how a councilor could improve this, just another cruise control policy that the council approves spending on in normal routine business. Our park system is our greatest asset and the city manages the system well, especially when it comes to funding and expansion. Not sure they need anymore cheerleaders on the council.

I agree, affordable housing needs help, but like past candidates, promises made, promises broken. It is going to take bold and courageous policy changes that will piss off the developer and realtor industry, and I am sorry, but someone on the inside can’t fix this problem because of their blatant industry conflicts. You can’t have two masters.

It often surprises me when people throw their hat in the ring to run for city council and have little to no idea what the body actually does. Everything he mentions in his press release is already being done by the current council besides improving affordable housing.

Basically Spellerberg is saying, “I am the status quo. Now where do I pick up my rubberstamp?”

I speculate, though I have not heard either way, that Mr. Spellerberg was likely recruited by either the administration, Councilor Selberg or both;

He has yet to file a statement of organization for his municipal candidate campaign, but his announcement has already drawn support from Councilor Alex Jensen, who said “Let’s go Ryan Spellerberg!” in a Facebook post.

As I assumed, the mayor will be recruiting candidates, just not sure if this is one of them. But he fits the PTH Council candidate mold; White. Male. Christian. Developer/real estate/banking. Transplant from another state (but still midwestern). Volunteered on some non-profit boards. You get the picture. I wonder how many city elections he has voted in? We will get you that info, even though it doesn’t seem to matter to people, since Dr. Cole was elected to council with no local voting record.

I did laugh about this part in Spellerberg’s resume;

In his spare time, the 46 year old has been involved with Habitat for Humanity, Sioux Falls Veterans Community Project and teaching Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey.

The first two projects, great for our community, but Dave Ramsey??!! I actually have listened to Dave, and what is really ironic about his advice is that it is common sense. So maybe we need someone like this on the city council to teach a little fiscal common sense?!

I think they are beyond help.

I am willing to give Mr. Spellerberg the benefit of the doubt. He just announced, and if he can come up with a workable solution to our affordable housing issues, he would be worth installing, he just better keep that to himself 🙂

Here is my random count on potential council candidates;

NE District, Pat Starr is term limited so this seat will be open. So far I have heard a male moderate Republican is considering a run in the district.

At-Large. Jensen is flip-flopping everyday. It is comical. Every day I either get an email or text telling me that either Alex is running or he is not. I could care less at this point. But there is a community activist considering running for the AL also. Alex has bent so many rules behind the scenes that if he decided not to run I think the council that is left next Spring would be OK with that. It is unfortunate that the public doesn’t know some of the BS this guy has been up to, because he certainly wouldn’t be on the council anymore and NOT running for re-election. If Jensen bows out on a 2nd term run, it won’t be because of ‘family commitments’ it will be because no body wants him around Carnegie.

SW District. Obviously Ryan is running, but I have heard about two other potential candidates in that race.

NW District. I have heard about two candidates running in this district, both minorities.

Since Spellerberg’s announcement, I expect more PTH hand picked candidates to announce while I watch all the others play catch up.

The thing about announcing a run for council now is that you can always back out before you have to collect petition signatures next year. Maybe you get on the campaign trail, and realize this isn’t for you, that’s fine. Just announce already, because if you don’t we are setting ourselves up for another blowout.

I think if I was advising a candidate, my advice on a campaign slogan would be, “Save the Children!” Wins every time! I would avoid, “Save the Dead Animals!” It just doesn’t have a good ring to it.

Also, hire an experienced graphic designer to create a logo. I know it is fun killing 50 hours in Word creating the perfect logo with your children, but it’s not a science project, you are marketing yourself and it is OK to hire a professional to create that image of you (that’s my lame graphic designer rant).

Now for some common sense;