Mayor Mike is NOW giving out parenting advice

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When I first saw Mike’s press conference I just laughed and said, typical Mike, armchair expert on everything. Than I started getting texts and emails from friends who are ‘Parents’ questioning his intentions.

I will say this, after watching the spectacle, I really think Mike was sincere, I also think he was spot on with a lot of his advice. Parents need to know where their kids are. Kids need to follow curfew and listen to what their parents tell them. All golly gee, gosh darn it, good advice.

But some in the media were not buying it.

Todd Epp from KELO AM asked if this advice would do much good for parents who are meth heads?

On a similar note, would this advice do much good for parents who have 2-3 jobs?

There is also a little hypocrisy with this message of good parenting coming from Mike. This is a mayor that was opposed to free youth bus rides & swimming. He also tried to cut YMCA after school program funding in next year’s budget (the council restored it). All programs that help keep latch key kids out of trouble when their parents are working.

And it really comes down to that. A lot of kids in our community are living in poverty. Ironically the mayor and the city council have the power to change that. They could require new employers coming to SF to pay living wages. They could implement a city minimum wage of $10-11 an hour. They could implement a city wide job training program. And lastly the health department clinic could supply FREE birth control to women (not just condoms) and make LSS aware of the program.

The mayor can blame ‘bad parents’ until the cows come home, but some of these parents aren’t bad, they just are too busy working to pay much attention to their kids.

As I have said in the past, we don’t have an affordable housing or food supply problem in Sioux Falls, we have a wage problem. Poverty breeds crime that trickles down to the kids.

Councilor Erpenbach, you are the ‘Embarrassment’

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wileys

I watched the city council debate tonight over Wiley’s license;

The Sioux Falls City Council voted to allow the renewal of a liquor license for Wiley’s Tavern in downtown Sioux Falls after more than a half-hour of debate.

City Councilors Greg Neitzert, Theresa Stehly, and Pat Starr visited the popular downtown bar on Friday amid their concerns about the disproportionate calls to Police. They shared their stories, and questioned bar officials about the business and security practices. The Councilors said it was never their intention to pull the bar’s liquor license, but they wanted to use the forum to discuss the bar’s practice of serving patrons alcohol even after they appear intoxicated.

Though councilors Kiley, Erpenbach and Mayor Huether felt the debate wasn’t necessary, I think if a bar has 165 police calls in 9 months, we should be very concerned. Mr. Duncan, the bar’s attorney argued that they get 5x more police calls because they do 5x more business then competing bars. What concerns me more then the obvious over serving is the cost to taxpayers. Let’s say each police call costs us at a minimum $100 a pop, that is $16,500 of tax dollars spent on a bar making loads of money over serving people. How are we making that money back. We are not.

Councilor Michelle Erpenbach called the entire debate an “embarrassment”.

Councilors Stehly, Starr and Neitzert pointed out they were not embarrassed for doing due diligence. Michelle should be embarrassed that while she has been on council she hasn’t done any due diligence. Greg went on to say it was the duty of the city council to review a bar (which is a public place) that has that volume of calls before approving a license;

“The question is why so many police calls?” asked Neitzert.

Pat Starr was also disappointed that there would be no public input and got into with the mayor after stopping the roll call vote by saying ‘Point of Order’.

After a lengthy debate, the Council voted 7-1 to renew the Wiley’s liquor license. Councilor Pat Starr was the lone “no” vote.

The debate ended on a testy exchange between Mayor Mike Huether and Councilor Pat Starr, who wanted to take public input on the matter, but Mayor Huether called for a roll call vote.

The mayor told Pat he has been doing this for 7 years and doesn’t allow public input. Pat told him he disagreed. The mayor hates it when things get ‘messy’ because it makes him look bad. You look bad ‘High Crimes’ Mike because you are neglecting to address crime in our city. I applaud any city councilor that is trying to get a handle on our ‘high crime’ city.

On a separate note, I am also concerned about taxpayers when it comes to Wiley’s hiring off-duty police to be security. The starting pay for officers in Sioux Falls is $49,000 a year. Do they need a part-time job? And if so, should they be running security? I also question how many of these security officers leave Wiley’s at 3 AM after a stressful night, then report to patrol our streets the next morning. How can they do their #1 job if they may be tired and stressed from their part-time job? While I don’t take issue with them having a second job or even their own business on the side, it should be prohibited that they work in a high stress security position. Working for the public’s safety should be their #1 priority.

Should the city gift the old ice complex to the Glory House?

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Starr

As I argued last night at the city council meeting during public input, the city would have true value in the old building by selling it or gifting it to the Glory House;

“One of the options is to allow the Glory House to expand. The Glory House is just adjacent to this piece of property,” Starr said.

The Glory House, which helps former inmates find jobs to get back on their feet and transition back into society, is already working with a developer to tear down the old building and construct 50 to 75 affordable housing units here.

“Over 80% of the people who graduate from the Glory House have full time jobs, what they’re having difficulties with is being able to find a place to live,” Starr said.

“We’re not in the land speculating business, we’re in the human services business as far as I’m concerned,” Starr said.

As I said last night, this is truly a ‘value’ issue for taxpayers. By keeping former ex-cons out of jail, we save the taxpayers money, a lot of money. It only makes sense to sell them the property. Even Erpenbach nodded her head at me in agreement while speaking of the issue. I think this will get a majority of the council to approve this sale. Ironically, while everyone is throwing Stehly under the bus, her and Starr were the first to look into this issue.

Sioux Falls City Councilor Stehly on Neighborhood Watch

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPqxn6xsfTE[/youtube]

At Large Sioux Falls City Council member Theresa Stehly on the push for more Neighborhood Watch programs prior to the Mayor’s questionable bad neighbor presser on June 22, 2016.

Theresa wants to encourage a spirit of kindness, respect and support for all the citizens of Sioux Falls. Expanding the project nice program to a city wide clean-up day would be one step to help all the citizens with tax dollars. Other communities like Fargo and Brookings do it and so can we.

We can work together to foster a helpful loving community for all citizens . The neighborhood watch program has been a fabulous tool for her area for the past 20 years.

Theresa Stehly is out in the community encouraging neighbors to look out for neighbors to help when and where needed.