South DaCola

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Brandon

1st Amendment Brandon

Brandon City Councilor’s 1st Amendment Rights were probably violated

l3wis 3Comments

I’m still waiting to hear more details on this fiasco;

The Brandon city council voted unanimously Monday evening to censure one of it council members.

Tim Wakefield tells KELOLAND News, he was censured because other council members don’t agree with his use of social media to bring public concerns to light.

He says the council is in the process of drafting an ordinance that says any council member can be fined $500 for that type of behavior.

Tim ran for mayor and lost last week. Tim’s platform was based on the condition of the water in Brandon (they have high levels of radium). Tim is an engineer that understands some of those processes, and while he was running for mayor he would often talk about Brandon’s water issues on Facebook. He has suggested that Brandon hook up to Lewis & Clark so the town has safe, clean water.

I guess the contention of the council was that Tim was on Facebook telling people he won’t drink city water. The council claims it is against the law (not sure if this is Brandon charter?) to say ‘bad’ things about Brandon’s city government or criticize them while serving in that government. Where do these small town Hayseeds come up with this stuff?

Just because someone is serving on a governmental board, doesn’t mean their 1st Amendment Rights are stripped of them, quite the opposite. Just imagine if Stehly was on the Brandon City Council, she would be serving a life sentence in prison for speaking out on Facebook 🙂

If Tim really wants to challenge this, Brandon could have a monster 1st Amendment lawsuit on their hands that could cost them millions if they lose, uh, I mean, when they lose.

I have never liked that town . . . Weirdsville is at it again.

Brandon SF City Council Sioux Falls

Brandon/Sioux Falls City Council Joint Meeting (Public Input)

l3wis 4Comments

Sioux Falls City Council Invited the Brandon City government over to have dinner and conversation on December 20, 2018. Most of each Council showed up for a nice dinner in front of our cameraman Bruce.

As the only public, guess who was the only one to speak (tough guess for ya, right?). The night’s topic was regionalization of resources. Its about time and its about the right thing to do.

1st Amendment 2nd Amendment Bob Litz Brandon County Commission Elections Minnehaha County School Funding SF School District Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls & Brandon Public Schools seem to be confused about the term ‘Public’

l3wis 2Comments

”He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.” – Ben Franklin

Voting is the cornerstone of a free democracy, so where should this exercise take place? Well, probably in a public place, but Brandon & SF School District officials are saying “Not so Fast”;

Sioux Falls Schools officials have told county election managers that Hawthorne won’t be available for voting this election, citing security concerns.

Bob Bray, risk assessment manager for the Sioux Falls School District, said the building’s layout and scheduling make it hard to keep voters and students separate.

First off Mr. Bray, kids can be shot anywhere, parks, churches, walking down the street, and an election being held in your school is NOT going to increase that risk, and I almost question if you are using school shootings as an excuse.

Secondly, schools are publicly funded, and I almost question the legality of the districts denying access for an election, and would challenge Auditor Litz to dig up the laws on it.

Thirdly, the irony of all this couldn’t be more hypocritical. In a state where we scream and hollar about gun rights and being able to carry guns anywhere, we turn our backs on the very people who carry these guns and say, “Not in our facilities.” Well we can’t have it both ways. Until we change our culture about guns in South Dakota, there will still be shootings, whether they are accidental, intentional, or in a church or school setting, elections have little to do with when they occur.

Let’s end the paranoia, and stop the musical precincts;

Minnehaha County Commissioner Dick Kelly said he’s concerned the move will contribute to voter confusion during an important election.

“I think it is unfortunate you have to vote here one day, vote here another then vote here the next,” Kelly said

Litz agreed the search for polling places is a joint effort, requiring cooperation between the district and the county.

Never thought Bob and Dick would be the words of wisdom on this one, but they are right. Consistency helps with voter turnout.

Brandon SF City Council Sioux Falls

The common sense of the city of Sioux Falls trimming the boulevard trees

l3wis 1Comments

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4lbv8b2EPg[/youtube]

(November 18, 2015)

Let’s talk trees. Especially the trees growing in the boulevard area between your house and the street. It is city property and in many cases you have been required to plant trees on it. They look nice and help cool the city but do you know the damage they cause?

The City Councils of Sioux Falls and Brandon got together for dinner at Leonardo’s Cafe on Wednesday evening November 18, 2015. Cameraman Bruce showed up also to capture the event for all to see and hear. There was a lot of talk about sewers, roads, car shows and more until closer to the end when Councilman Jamison talked of the boulevards. This part of the meeting is here for you.

We learn about Brandon’s determination to trim boulevard trees. To them, tree trimming is the responsibility of the city, not the homeowners. The city contracts with a certified arborist to trim the trees with branches below the safe height. As the Brandon members stated, it was cheaper for the city to hire the tree trimming on the city’s property than to leave it to inexperienced homeowners.

After the measurements, letters and ticketing the fines / fees were shown not be a cost effective program. They could hire the work done, have it performed properly and save not only the taxpayers but the city as well. At one point Rex Rolfing mentioned a Sioux Falls city plan to spend $1,000,000 to buy the equipment necessary to do the trimming plus hire employees to which a Brandon member stated they had other things they would rather spend a million dollars on.

Brandon SF City Council Sioux Falls

Brandon & Sioux Falls joint informal city council meeting

l3wis 1Comments

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yBaGZJsL4I[/youtube]

The audio isn’t that great on this (mostly because of the ventilation system) but there are some audible parts. My camera man, Bruce, gets invited to sit at the royal’s table though;

Thank you for the gracious invitation allowing me to join your Brandon – Sioux Falls Joint Meeting dinner and conversation. The invitation was not expected.

It was very good to witness the open discussion of joint problems and issues during the meeting. For some of the issues discussed, it appears the Sioux Falls region in time could consider a more formal regional council similar to the Twin Cities Met Council to help operate regional services and joint planning.  The meetings you have started with the area communities is a great first step.

I had hoped to inform the joint meeting members of the work of the Minnehaha County Election Review Committee in a “public input” type setting. The informal nature of the meeting allowed me to explain our work. The time given me to explain and then answer your many questions was very enjoyable.

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