City Administration Building

Signatures be Damned, September 13, 2016

l3wis September 15, 2016 5Comments

6,400 voter signatures were turned over to an evasive, uncaring, untrustworthy city of Sioux Falls government and what happens? The majority of the City Council on September 13, 2016 essentially said go home and leave us alone.

The April Council had been played like a cheap fiddle by the administration and their leadership by postponing the bonding date to October 1. The 5 to 3 July successful repeal vote of the Council was dramatic, successful but short lived when the mayor vetoed the action the next week. The repeal leaders had given up.

One idea was floated by members of the 5 but who could do an impossible thing like a 5775 signature petition drive to force a vote? The petition drive was born at the only moment it could have. When there was an action to fight. Any sooner and it would have been in conflict with everything else already in action.

The effort to collect the signatures was fought from the moment of the Mayor’s veto on July 27 by the town’s administration. The lack of support from the city clerk shows how little he understands about the rights of citizens. Even with the issues petitioners received, 6,400 signatures were collected in less than 20 days with more than 95% verified. Bravo Sioux Falls voters for caring!

The citizens of Sioux Falls are continuing to learn how little those encased in the power process care about the future of the town or population. As long as they can borrow money without oversight, who cares? Every time the power group seduces another member to do their dirty work, it shows another reason why a corrupting system needs to be fixed.

We brought in new Council members this year who used this project and the fight against it, as center pieces of their reform of process campaigns. At the one yard line, all suited up, with several more plays available, our strongest players collapsed when hit with feathers. Looks like we brought pillows to a game instead of footballs. Asleep at the wheel of power with one yard to go? Nice play.

But how do you feel?

Why passing the Advisory Vote was important

l3wis September 14, 2016 3Comments

It’s nice knowing you have won when the game hasn’t even finished.

I get why the opponents voted against the advisory vote, or at least I understand ‘some’ of their arguments. Basically ‘if’ the bonds sell on October 3, the election would be moot.

But that is still an ‘IF’ and why they should have voted for it anyway. They made it sound like it was a ‘done deal’. It is not. Councilor Stehly said it best, ‘Defeatist Attitude’.

Here are some things to consider;

• This is election would cost the taxpayers nothing if it has to be repealed

• The mayor still has time to delay the bond sale

• A judge could issue a temporary restraining order on the bonds

The way the council spoke on Tuesday night, they acted like the bonds have already sold.

But the most damaging part to voting down this election is that there was NO solidarity shown amongst the 5 councilors that stuck together in the past. I believe and attorneys much smarter than I think that showing that solidarity on Tuesday night would have gone a long way in a courtroom on September 28.

But according to the other 3, we have already lost.

As I said Tuesday night during public input on this item, there are no winners are losers when it comes to this issue, this isn’t a ‘fight’ about the mayor vs. the council or the city clerk vs. Bruce Danielson. This is simply about allowing the citizens to vote on a project that will cost us well over $40 million at the end of the day.

As one of the commenters said last night “What are we scared of?”

UPDATE II: Approving the Admin Building Advisory Vote is the right thing to do

l3wis September 12, 2016 9Comments

UPDATE II: I want to say that it doesn’t surprise me one bit the council voted down the advisory vote tonight (6-2. Stehly & Starr, Yes. Erickson, Kiley, Rolfing, Erpenbach, Neitzert, Selberg, NO). They want this to go away, who can blame them? When people start seeing how sausage is made, it scares them and they have lots of questions.

But I would like to give my two cents on some of the comments made by councilors Rolfing and Kiley about ‘conspiracy theories’ and the mayor’s involvement. There is none. The mayor vetoed the repeal, it is up to him or a judge to stop the bond sale. That is a fact. His hands are all over this.

As for Rolfing’s comments that he hears 10 to 1 that people are for the building, well your golf course survey is just dandy, but the petitioners have ACTUAL signatures, over 6,400 of them, approximately half the people who voted in the last city election. Straw polls don’t count in real life.

As for the defense of the city clerk and the ‘negativity’ towards him. Doesn’t matter if Danielson got the petition oath and language from the tooth fairy, it was Greco’s job to stamp it (in which he did). It is HIS stamp on the petition sheet that he received the petition. This is a FACT. There has been NO one on the council, the administration or the clerk’s office that has said otherwise. His job was to verify and stamp the petition. He stamped it, he just didn’t verify it. This is also a fact.

We can cloud this debate all we want with ‘feelings’ and ‘theories’ but the facts are undisputed.

UPDATE: A court hearing in front of the Honorable Mark Salter will be September 28, 2016 to hear the Writ of Mandamus on the petition validity.

At this point, there is really nothing to report with the validation of the petitions. Let’s just say the legal rangling is in full swing.

But there is something that CAN be done. At tomorrows city council meeting, the city council will hear and vote on the 2nd reading of the advisory vote for a city administration building.

Many have argued the election would be moot if the bond sale goes through on October 3rd. This is very much true, AND it is still a possibility. The mayor has said he will not change his mind on the bond sale. And why would he? He broke two council ties and vetoed the repeal.

But as I have said in the past, the planets could align, the bond sales could be restrained, either by a court intervention, or the mayor miraculously changing his mind. In this case, an election would be set already.

I urge the majority of the council to pass the advisory vote. If the bond sale goes through on October 3rd, it can easily be repealed. No tax dollars spent. No harm done. The right thing to do.