So they do a long story about the homeless count and provide some stats, but NOT the actual count. If I had to guess it is around 650 a number the mayor threw out there recently. So was the number provided to the media and they decided to not include it? Or did the city not give the number? You can probably get it from the Feds so I am guessing the news org decided to self-censor that number, but why?
I think telling folks what the actual number is helps with awareness. If the public doesn’t know how many, are they aware we have a problem? Not sure, because the media has decided to sugar coat the problem. I live DTSF and ride my bike all over downtown, the entire DTSF area has become a gigantic campground, and it is dangerous because when you tell them ‘NO’ they come after you.
There has been a rumor floating around that the SFPD has said fixing the transient problem is NOT their job. Not sure if this is true, but your literal job description is ‘Public Safety’. That means making sure the transients have a safe place to stay, but it also means protecting the public from those who threaten our safety which I see DAILY!!!! The SFPD have one job, keeping it’s housed and UN housed residents safe. Not sure they get it, the local media certainly does not.
I have received the comments from the NCS. The city provided them. I have to reformat them before I post, but after a quick review I was surprised by how many people commented about the transient problem DTSF, this is just one of many;
I am not typically insensitive to such things or unthoughtful about the words I choose but it must be said. Bums have taken over downtown. I have lived here most of my 41 years and have not seen anything like it before. Covid hit and it’s like we now tolerate vagrancy. Even as folks are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into making this the showpiece of our city, we are just overrun with bums. Sure there’s mental health and addiction issues but a lot of it is just bums. I saw someone sleeping on Phillips Ave in front of the old Visnu Bunny space at 9am on a weekday. Why do they feel comfortable doing that? There should be a multi-pronged effort to squash this immediately. Make laws that empower police to push back against panhandling. Offer transients bus tickets to leave the city. Put constant pressure on those who haunt DT and litter and generally degrade our quality of life. Why would the behavior of a couple hundred people be allowed to ruin the heart of a city that hundreds of thousands of people.
A multi-prong approach would require multiple agencies working together within the city. I know, laughable.
Not a lot of solutions offered but it was most certainly the NUMBER one topic in the comment section.
UPDATE:Here is the entire survey. You will see that they did not include any citizen comments on the survey, they have in the past. This tells me, there probably wasn’t too many positive comments. They also went the BIGOTRY route by filtering out Hispanics on the race question. Not sure why they did that because we have several immigrant communities in Sioux Falls. Weird.
I will do a deeper dive tonight after the presentation but there were a few stats I wanted to point out.
It seems the council is hestitant to fund childcare services or transient management but the citizens seem to be ok with it;
• 80% support funding for transient issues and housing
• 70% support funding for childcare
• 70% support funding for airport
Where the survey takes a bad turn is government services and transparency, many failing grades, but this one surprised me;
I’m sure there will be more details at the meeting today, but it will be interesting to see how the council addresses the transparency issues. I was surprised by these stats because I have been telling folks for 20 years the lack of transparency in city government and how bad it has gotten over the past 12 years but just figured no one notices because when you don’t inform people they tend to not be involved or care. If only 50% trust the government in Sioux Falls, yah got problems.
UPDATE: Speaking of the homeless, last night a DTSF business owner who has been frustrated with the city’s response to homelessness spoke at the council meeting (FF: 34:10). She explained to the council she did a FOIA request with the city and her findings were astonishing. Basically the city has spent millions over the past few years putting transients in this cycle of citations without providing assistance. If we simply housed these folks with housing first initiatives we could actually save taxpayers money while addressing the issue and providing housing.
Her biggest suggestion? Have a coalition of services, in other words TALK TO EACH OTHER and coordinate those services thru different non-profits, the city administration and the Police Department. I have often said managing this issue isn’t rocket science, it just takes a conversation, transparency and the will to spend the money (or should I say ‘re-direct’ the money). I have even suggested such housing programs could be sponsored by local business donations. As far as I am concerned, it has gotten so bad, anything at this point is improvement.
Screenshot of some of the ‘citations’ our SFPD is wasting our time with;
Screenshot
A few weeks back the homeless coordinator for the city was at a public meeting. She was asked how the new ordinance is working out. After a brief pause she admitted that they haven’t implemented it yet because they are working out logistics. But you could tell from her nervousness she was probably making up an excuse.
What I found baffling about her answer is that when they pressured the city councilors to pass this there was a sense of ‘urgency’. So did that urgency go away? Not at all. I rode to all 4 corners of the city on Sunday, and while there is more transients in the downtown area, I saw groups of them (6 or more) wandering the sidewalks, bike trail, etc. all over town. I counted at least 10 different groups and many individuals.
If the city has realized this wasn’t the best solution, then why not rescind the ordinance?
So today, Jordan Deffenbaugh was on a city government rant, and there was a sentence in his rant that caught my attention;
Repeal the encampment ordinance – a failed policy making vulnerable residents surveillance targets.
Jordan was talking about the Feds accessing out extensive camera system in Sioux Falls to catch homeless immigrants and his concern.
Was this ordinance sponsored by the Police Department and the Mayor’s office just a pass thru with pressure from the Governor, AG and Feds?
It just seems odd to me this ordinance was needed just around the time of Prairie Thunder then never implemented after ICE was finished harassing us. So now we have the White House influencing our local laws and policies. Nice 🙁
As I have said in the past, I don’t post about 70% of what is fed to me because I can either NOT get another source or it is so personal, I just avoid it. But sometimes I get a rumor sent to me, and this person was just as inquisitive as I was, so he asked me to do some digging. I couldn’t find anything from internet searches, which doesn’t surprise me, because this would be a ‘word of mouth’ kind of personal security firm. Supposedly there is a NEW private security firm specializing in protecting high-end residents and businesses in downtown, so anonymity would not surprise me to protect their clients. I am not sure if any SFPOs are moonlighting with this business or even investing in it, which I think would present HUGE union conflicts. But let’s just pretend for a moment that indeed this was cooked up by either current or retired officers, it makes you wonder if the transient problem DTSF is being ignored on purpose? It’s good bizzo for private security.
I knew it was only a matter of time, and wouldn’t be surprised something like this is already in operation or in the works. Minneapolis has had similar firms in their downtown and there main objective is knocking transient heads together, and they seem to do it with impunity. I have seen them in action. Let’s just say that I saw several transients quickly walk the other direction when they saw them.
What a sad state of affairs. This is what happens when a problem is ignored. The minions suffer while the wealthy buy their way out of it.
l3wis 
