September 2024

Councilor ‘Lucy’ Bayse proposes ordinance change without consulting local fencing industry

A new councilor is at it again, making an ordinance change that 1) doesn’t benefit homeowners, only makes fencing more expensive and 2) doesn’t give homeowners any options. Councilor Bayse proposed the change at the Planning Commission Meeting last night, but didn’t even bother to show up as a Planning staffer presented the item (don’t blink you might miss the meeting);

§ 160.480 FENCES.
(l) A fence post must be secured below ground level in all residential zoning districts.

He said a ‘couple’ of people complained that their neighbors(?) put fence posts in 5 gallon pails of concrete and didn’t bury the pails just had them sitting on the ground. So why not write an ordinance that says;

‘No fence posts can be put above ground in pails of concrete or other substrates.’

There is also a million different ways you can secure a post. You can attach it to another out building or your house, you can use L brackets and bolt them to a concrete patio pad. Heck, there are probably so many different ways to fix this, it’s not even funny.

I spoke with a person who is in management for a large fencing company in Sioux Falls. He had no idea they were proposing this. Fortunately it hasn’t arrived to the council yet so he has a few weeks to shake them down, and he intends to.

Instead of making regs based on a couple of your friends bitching, why not actually research the topic, talk to professionals in the field, heck, have a public round table. But for god sakes stop passing ordinances to make it look like you are doing something. And don’t pull away the football at the last minute either!

UPDATE III: BREAKING: LOCAL TV STATION TRACKS DOWN NEWEST HOT DOG CART!!!

UPDATE III: As I predicted most of these plastic thingies have been removed or destroyed by vehicles. Shocker! I Know. Just yesterday the last one remaining in front of the post office was ran over by a mail carrier big rig. He didn’t completely destroy it, but he broke one of the pieces. Absolute stupidity. Do we even have a traffic engineer that studies industry standards and keeps abreast? Doubtful.

UPDATE II: As you can see, cars are already hitting and damaging these devices, and they have only been on the street for a couple of weeks. I think this will end badly, mark my words.

UPDATE: As I suspected they are using these bands in the wrong way, they are for protected bike lanes;

Bicycle lanes should feel safe and inviting. But that doesn’t mean they have to be eyesores. The Wave Delineator accomplishes this by quickly and easily creating protected bike lanes, while providing a visually appealing alternative to its traffic cone and flex post counterparts. Ideal for temporary pop-up bike lanes during day- or week-long events, or when communities want to pilot a location for a longer-term protected bikeway.

Now that I have your attention I really wanted to talk about the city’s traffic calming efforts. While I get how this works, these white bands are actually not only a hazard to passing car they are also to bicyclists who are trying to navigate around these contraptions. I am all for the other stuff, but not this floating thingy that I have almost hit twice now. The city has a bad habit of doing this all over town, building pedestrian crossings where the curb slopes are NOT cut out and other hazards like barriers, light posts, weird angles, etc. Can’t wait to see this wrapped around someone’s driveshaft.

We need to educate drivers on pedestrian safety. This city needs to drop about $500K on driver education thru a multiple media platforms. We can paint every intersection like Willy Wonka, but until drivers wakeup, doesn’t matter.

Speaking of idiotic things the city does, after former councilor Neitzert spent months on changing the rec trail ordinances the city employees fart around installing inadequate signage;

Notice how small the MPH sign is. They also have E-Bike crossed out and you have to read the small print to realize you can ride an E1 or E2. And where are the speed signs? I think that the SFPD probably told the Parks Department they won’t be enforcing speeds on the trail, and probably the reason there is NO speed signage along the trail. Can’t ticket someone for speeding if there is no speed limit notice on the trail.

Still waiting for a road biker doing 25 hitting a grandma on her E2 doing 10, then we can have a discussion about speed, braking and physics.

Did the city of Harrisburg violate open meeting laws?

The short answer is YES. When the Sioux Falls city council decided to fire then city clerk Owens behind closed doors they got slapped with an open meetings violation. Harrisburg recently fired their city administrator behind closed doors. That is a NO-NO. Whether the person was doing a good job* or not does not matter, an appointed position like this is hired in the open and fired in the open. I hope this person slaps Harrisburg with this violation.

*There was a quiet recall effort amongst citizens in Harrisburg to get rid of the city administrator. Not sure if this had an effect on his firing or not? He also was getting into it with our mayor over jurisdiction lines and the state over the prison. Will we ever know why he was fired?

Personal Privilege

Love you Bonita! Just wanted to start with that. So you may remember Bonita, she still haunts Sux but recently she told me she is running for City Council in her new residence. Good Luck Bonita! I am sure you will win. Is David Z running? Better check your sources.

I can ask Bonita for ANY advice, and she always has an answer, and if she doesn’t she just laughs and gives you a hug. Who wouldn’t want this person for a city councilor? Oh, that’s right . . . Sioux Falls really missed an opportunity.

UPDATE II: Mayor TenHaken continues to cut off public inputers

UPDATE II: HERE IS a great example of what Paul is doing wrong;

“Public meetings are not safe spaces for elected officials,” Fitzpatrick said. “They should expect to hear the unvarnished thoughts from their constituents, and if they can’t handle that, they shouldn’t be in public office.”

Did you hear that Paul? Time to resign.

Paul struggles with his Constitutional oath of office. When you say you will defend the constitution that means every amendment including the first. At the informational Curt was cutting people off also. I will remind the mayor for the 1000th time, people can say whatever they want to at public input as long as they are not physically threatening council. It is really frustrating that constitutional officers don’t understand their oath. Oh that’s right Paul went to the school of doxing and closed government. If he ever cuts me off I will continue to speak right thru him, because I know the security police in the room will not arrest anyone for practicing their 1st Amendment rights.

UPDATE: Speaking of that last sentence, I encourage any constituent who is being cut off by the mayor to stand your ground. I won’t defend you if you are yelling and dropping S and F bombs but if you are being respectful and actually talking about ‘government’ in general they can’t arrest you. In fact, I know that the SFPD has told the mayor they will NOT arrest anyone at the council meeting for practicing their 1st amendment rights. So let’s challenge him and see what happens? It would be a black eye on the administration if the mayor requests security arrest an 80 year old woman who is complaining about her neighbor’s stereo.