Elections

Maybe someone needs to ‘Educate’ Pat about how our city is wasting our taxdollars (Guest Post, Bruce Danielson)

l3wis February 10, 2014 1Comments

Mr. Lalley of the AL does not seem to understand our recent petition action. So I guess we need to help him.

This petition drive is not to demean our public servants. We need our public employees to keep our system running. What our movement is about is really quite simple.

Our petition drive is simple, it is Constitutional. We have elected leaders, appointed directors and paid news personalities currently shooting from the hip in fear of the public. The public wishes to have a free and open discussion concerning issues touching their lives. We the public, wish to properly debate with our neighbors without our taxpayer treasury being turned against us, the very same public.

In our current petition movement, we are asking the citizens to use Mr. Lalley’s words, their best efforts at “Reason” “Research” “Facts”.  When there are issues to debate and the people rise up, demanding a place at the table of discussion through the petition movement, the official government must step back.

A properly lead government will have a trove of studies and reports outlining community needs. These reports should be written without a predetermined point of view. It is with unbiased report and study results, a proper discussion / debate can be attained. Our current city leadership feels the public needs to be lead to their conclusions without knowing the “Reason” “Research” “Facts”.

We do not want pretty pictures of four color, 3-D presentations of concepts not being seriously considered to be the basis of the discussions. We want real “Reason” “Research” “Facts”.

Our petition movement does not restrict city employees or elected officials from partaking in the citizen effort as everyday citizens.

Our petition effort does not stop the presentation of ideas from the different citizen groups. Citizens of Sioux Falls have many ideas to present in each of these four issues.

Our petition effort does not stop city employees from partaking in the discussions and debate as average citizens.

Our petition effort does not stop elected officials from partaking in the discussions and debate as average citizens.

Our petition effort encourages city employees TO sign petitions. Their supervisors cannot browbeat a city employee or contractor because of a signature.

Our petition effort prevents city officials from restricting their employees constitutional right to be part of the debate.

Our petition efforts does stop the expenditure of taxpayer revenue from being spent on the debates.

Our petition effort stops the use of official office, position , power and money from be in used by city officialdom.

We voters of the city of Sioux Falls are legal adults, we have been educated to understand, reason and act. We do not need a city official with a vested interest in a plan or plans to “educate” the populace, interfering in the debate.

The reason any of these petitions are before the voters this spring, stems from the official bureaucrats possibly returning favors? Wanting to implement a 50 year plan their grandparents wanted? Settle an old personal score? We the public, who pays the bill, says in these efforts, “We don’t know and we want to find out”.

So to make it very clear, we don’t have anything against our fellow citizens who work for us as city employees or bureaucrats. We appreciate the hard work they perform on our behalf. We wish to have them as part of our public debate. They are our fellow citizens who have to put up with much.

Mr. Lalley has a cute phrase he uses to which can be used to demean us, “Best Little City in America”. If you are going to use this phrase Mr. Lalley, you have a lot to understand. We have a lot of people who wish to be heard to make it better.  The people wish to be heard without filters paid for by our own tax dollars. If the officials feel they need to defend themselves on these citizen ballot efforts, they are citizens. So speak up as citizens, without using your citizen paid for office budget to finance your place at the decision table. The public wants a real debate. We want real “Reason” “Research” “Facts” to make this the Best Little City in America.

UPDATE: Chairman of ‘Citizens for Integrity’ offers a brief of the press conference yesterday

l3wis February 7, 2014 25Comments

I am Bruce Danielson, I live out in the west side of town. I’m not in part of any one of the neighborhoods that have any of these questions….

As members of four current Sioux Falls citizen petition efforts, we ask the following:

The city of Sioux Falls, as of the September 2013 voter purge, had approximately 50,000 active registered voters or voters who actively go to the polls since 2008.

We meet here today as a group of active citizens to file a petition on behalf of the 25,000+ petition signers who have decided to help guide the city into the future.  Our petition signers asked us to help them with issues close to their hearts. These issues have been raised because we have a city administration and bureaucracy not responding to the citizen requests for a place in the decision process.

Our signers have felt excluded in all of these issues brought forward since 2012.

On Tuesday, at the February 4, 2014 City Council Informational meeting, we witnessed members of the administration admitting to exclusion of the public in their decision to push forward, on a swimming pool concept the petition signers have not placed on the April 2014 city ballot. Sioux Falls city Director Kearney let it be known he has ‘cleared’ his schedule to persuade, educate or lead the public in the administration’s pro-pool debate.

We saw this action when the snowgate petition gatherers were told by city employees and contractors how their superiors were interfering in their process. The citizens watched as city leaders worked data for the results they needed. The snowgaters only asked for a citizen debate on a benefit to be utilized by all.

The Shape Places debate and zoning issues had to fight the building, zoning and police departments plus the mayor’s office to get the petitions done in the 20 days set by law.

In the end, each of these efforts was successful in reaching the ballot. Now we are joining together in submitting a new petition. This petition drive will commence because we have found our city charter and state law do not stop government officials from interfering in the citizen’s right to openly debate the issues.

Now we present the citizens of Sioux Falls a question. Do you want the elective representatives and employees of the City of Sioux Falls to use tax dollars collected from them, to be used to interfere in our open citizen dialog?

Why shouldn’t the citizens of Sioux Falls, once an issue is placed for open consideration, have the public discussion and debate without government interference?  This is what we ask for, the American way.

UPDATE: Bruce responds to the quote city attorney Fiddle-Faddle recited in the Argus today:

‘The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate’: – Jefferson

In answer to City Attorney Pfeifle, we are not educated voting adults who can’t discern fact from fiction, or truth from lies?

We have government employees using the power of their positions trying to tell us what to think and then to do. A bureaucrat with an edifice building agenda gets to tell us the owners of the society what debate we are to have on any issue. Are to be led by the nose like livestock, to the slaughter also? We have asked for a real chance to be part of the decision process.

We ask only for true debate on these four issues and any others future generations bring to the forefront. We do not wish debates clouded by government employees using our tax money fighting our messages.

So yes, let’s have a spirited debate Mr. Pfeifle. You as a private citizen, not using the power and money of your office. We are just average Americans of Sioux Falls, SD who wish to form opinions based on the facts debated in open forums. Once the people put forth their petitions for public acceptance, debate and then legal votes recorded, the government is the impartial observer with no voice in the debate.

Referendums and initiatives are designed to be the people’s equilibrium to entrenched power. Fellow citizens of Sioux Falls have placed four issues before their neighbors and we now start a fifth. We would not have considered this latest effort had city officials not spent so much money, time and power to shut down our Constitutional right for a fair and open debate.

So quote our founding fathers to cloud the debates. For every cute, out of context quote, another could be added. Let’s have a real discussion.