I found these two items interesting on the Planning Commission Agenda from Wednesday. Good luck watching the video though, I have noticed that it takes a few days for the Planning Commission Meetings to be posted on SIRE. Not sure why? Maybe it has something to do with Personnel matters 
As a South DaCola foot soldier pointed out to me this morning, City Councilor Jim Entenman has served as a board trustee for Sanford Health-Merit Care since at least 2009. Besides the obvious conflicts of voting on zoning issues with Sanford Health and missing council meetings to attend the Sanford board meetings (which he has), one wonders what Mr. Entenman knew about the Skyforce moving to the Pentagon before the EC vote? He comments on the Skyforce leaving the Arena in the informational meeting (FF: 18:00). Councilor Jamison asks who knew what after Entenman’s comments:
Councilor Greg Jamison said he wants to know whether members of the administration knew the Skyforce would be leaving before the events center vote.
“I think that’s a big piece of information we should have known,†he said. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t.â€
This is starting to stink more and more everyday. And as far as I am concerned Mr. Entenman needs to make a choice, does he work for the taxpayers of Sioux Falls or Sanford Health?
I had a reader send me his comments on what he thinks of Sanford lending a hand in Ghana.
South Dakota has 9 Sioux Indian reservations. I sure don’t need to tell you or the Senator that these are among the most impoverished, desperate venues in the entire USA. Diabetes is rampant, as are alcoholism, suicide, violent crime, domestic violence. Â Sky-high unemployment, hopelessness and despair are pervasive.
In the face of all this need, Sanford is exporting its energies, its income and expertise to locations far-flung from the Dakotas.
ALL of the gross revenues of Sanford Health are generated in the Dakotas. These are direct and indirect taxpayer funds consisting of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, third party health plans, and even include Sanford’s own health insurance company from which it generates premium dollars and subsidizes its own health care system. To my knowledge, all of the real properties owned by Sanford are exempt from real property taxes. All of the net revenues of Sanford are excluded from federal income tax. Sanford receives police and fire protection, the services of state and local governments, and the protections of the laws at the federal, state and local levels. Sanford contributes nothing directly for the benefits it receives.
During the Guilded Age, those who set the historical background for true philanthropy in the USA first accumulated their assets through private efforts and private intitiative. Here, with Sanford Health, we have a “non-profit†corporate enterprise that is directly and indirectly subsidized and funded by the taxpayers.  If Sanford has this kind of largesse at its disposal, the citizens of South Dakota deserve to have it spent here to benefit the citizens who have sacrificed to make it possible.
I dare say that Sanford could either eradicate or greatly reduce the effects of diabetes in the Native American population of South Dakota if only it had the mind to do so. The public must demand it. A non-profit corporation is not a private business to be exploited by its owners with no public accountability – ‘by Atticus’
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I quickly combed over the 42 page Sanford gift agreement with the city and some things stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m no lawyer, so if anyone out there is reading this and wants to correct my evaluation, please do. I just found some terms of the agreement unusual, but typical of how things are done at city hall. First I will start with a graphic of the last page.
Notice that Sanford’s gift is only about 20% of the land being used, yet they want the entire complex named after them
But where I get confused is the cost estimates above. Is Sanford paying the $1.9 million? This is where the agreement gets confusing;
While it seems Sanford will pay for the construction of the complex, I am not sure what else they are ponying up for. It seems all the costs involved with building (besides the construction itself) will be in the laps of the taxpayers. It kind of sounds like a gift with strings attached. Sanford wants the prestige but not the responsibility. Maybe I’m wrong, but that is how I see it. Remember, this will be a model if Sanford decides to give us land for the new Howard Wood.
While I think Sanford Health’s gift to the city of land and facilities for the new Jr. Football fields is appreciated by many, one wonders what their real intentions are. I am still working on putting up a review of the provisions Sanford put into place, I have to comb through that paperwork yet and grab the juicy info. So is it really a gift if they control what we do with that gift? It would be like your grandma giving you a Wii for Christmas but telling you can only play it one hour a day. I am not naive, I know that is how these things work these days, but how many ‘gifts’ are we going to name after Sanford? It is pretty obvious that if Sanford donates the land for the new Howard Wood field, it won’t be called Howard Wood.
You have to realize that the Jr. Football gift will be a model for how Sanford will negotiate the ‘gift’ for the new Howard Wood field. This gift has to be watched and scrutinized.
As I have been telling people lately, I am all for changing the name of Sioux Falls to Sanford Falls, as long as T. Denny wants to pay my taxes. Otherwise, enough with the naming rights, YOU BIG DUMMY.
l3wis