As if getting screwed on the failed geo-thermal HVAC system wasn’t bad enough with the City Admin building, the regular old HVAC replacement took a crap last week and all the employees were sent home to work when the AC died.
So glad we spent all that money to build a modern facility instead of just buying an existing building 🙁
#mymanmoron
It seems our local media has been on a ‘look at how great the city is’ kick these days. Blaming bicyclists for poor planning of detours on the bike trail, and now patting themselves on the back over the transient issue, not so fast;
Because repeatedly, now, as I’ve walked throughout downtown Sioux Falls in essentially any direction, the difference is clear: The feeling on our streets has changed for the better.
While I would agree, the panhandling has been less in that 3 block strip on Phillips, the transient population HAS exploded this summer DTSF (in the fringes).
I ride almost every night DTSF after dark and I do a homeless count. The biggest night I had was 36. Most nights I count over 20. They hide at various parks and camp out on the fringes of DTSF. They absolutely love the Levitt space (because they have outlets to plug in their smart phones) Sure, they have been pushed out of the main drag, but they are seeping over into the neighborhoods around DTSF (some of the poorest in the city with very little police presence unless they are hiding on a break, that happens a lot). There is a picnic shelter close to my house on the bike trail that is literally a campground for around a dozen transients, and when the police chase them out, they are back the next night, same people, same spot.
I would encourage Jodi to take a ride with me at night, and SEE just where the police DTSF are pushing these folks. Because while the panhandling has been down, the population has exploded and the problem exists in the shadows. The SFPD, which I believe are responsible for eliminating the issue (they are called public safety officers, it is YOUR job to keep us safe, that means addressing the transient issue instead of playing whack-a-mole.)
I would give each transient approached by either a street team specialist, ambassador or an officer FIVE options;
• The LINK (ONLY option if they were extremely intoxicated). After DETOX, these four options will be available;
• A bus ticket back home.
• Stay with a friend or relative locally, and have them pick you up.
• Go to a shelter that would except them.
• Jail for trespassing, and after incarceration the three options above.
If we started being strict with these options, you would see the problem lessen, right now they are playing a game of whack-a-mole and just moving checkers around on a board. I think MOST of these options are compassionate and humane, and they actually work.
So Jodi, you can keep writing stories about how glorious DTSF is, or you can get on a bike with me and see the real issue.
I was pondering this today, what if I didn’t know any of the candidates running for mayor? I didn’t know them personally or even knew what they looked like and I was asked to review their professional resume (non-government experience) who would I lean towards? Well, just based on resumes it would be Joe Batcheller.
I know this sounds odd, because Joe has NOT announced yet, but it sounds like he is running, and he checks most of the boxes;
• Non-partisan moderate (not even sure if he is a Dem, Repug or Indy)
• Lead a non-profit for several years
• Worked as an urban planner (his degree)
I think the last point sealed the deal for me, because we had no mayor since Hanson that had any government experience, especially planning.
This is NOT an endorsement of a fella who hasn’t announced yet. It’s just something I thought I would look at. Joe is going to have to show some enthusiasm and some pizzazz when he is out on the trail, and I’m not sure he can pull that off, BUT on paper, he’s a winner.
We know how it rolls in SF, it comes down to looks and personality, and if you ain’t got it, you are toast.
I am encouraging citizens to actually research the professional resumes of the candidates running instead of just looking at a wink and a nod from another salesperson.
The next mayor will be handed a giant stinking turd; half the directors will be gone, the operating expenses on all the new play palaces will drain tax dollars and we will likely be in a ‘light’ recession by the end of the year, and like the last one in 2008, it will take several more years for the middle class to get caught up in Sioux Falls. I still know people who are still behind the 8-Ball from that recession.
We are going to need a leader who knows city government and how to pull it’s levers.
This is funny. A while back I met this guy riding an E-Motorcycle, they have tons of torque, too much really and he let me try it, and I wiped out. What I didn’t know is that he was filming me. Today, one of my friends called me laughing and said he had a video for me from his cousin, enjoy;
I know, NO surprises here. So the developer spends over a year building this place while wrecking the street and when it comes time to re-surface the road, they just do the half adjacent to their building and have the other half full of potholes. When the developer bought the property from the city and presented their plans, the city should have put a condition in there that they would fix the street once the construction is finished. Developer welfare queens strike again, “Yeah, we are the brand spanking new apartment building downtown right next to the street that was hit by mortar rounds. Should be easy to find, when the front end of your car falls off, you will know you have arrived.”;
l3wis