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UPDATE II: Sioux Falls City Attorney forgets why he lost the open meetings complaint from the former city clerk

l3wis September 14, 2023 4Comments

UPDATE II (updated): Towards the end of the CRC meeting, chair Hajek mentions they will be discussing emergency appropriations and supplemental appropriations at the next meeting(?), and I am not sure if anyone is bringing a proposal. After I rewatched the meeting it was hard to understand if someone was actually bringing a proposal to the next meeting or not but sounded like there will be a discussion. Sorry about the confusion earlier in the post, THERE IS NOTHING IN WRITING RIGHT NOW, but we will watch for the next agenda. (FF 40:00)

I had a good laugh listening to the CRC meeting today. Mike Zitterich asked a great question about the city attorney and issuing opinions. Lead attorney David P. answered first and basically said the AG has more power. Former AG, Larry Long and CRC member answered next and basically said the AG’s opinion can be thrown out or ignored by the courts.

When former city clerk Owen filed an open meetings violation against the city after she was terminated, David used the defense of an AG’s opinion and the lawyers on the open meetings commission told David then that the opinion is NOT case law and cannot be used as a defense. In fact, I was at the hearing, and they told him TWICE that his defense was flimsy, and he lost.

He learned nothing.

UPDATE: One thing that came to mind when they were having the discussion about litigation transparency, etc., it got me thinking about the Active Transportation Board and why it may have come about. If you look at how it got started there is NO mention of someone nicely asking them to form this board. I have a sneaky feeling the 4,000 ADA violations lawsuit may have something to do with it.

UPDATE III: The Parks board is meeting TWO times on September 20th with a 2 PM meeting with NO agenda or location (I’m sure it is some quasi-executive session about Lenin’s Tomb at the Zoo).

Sioux Falls City Council has the authority to put a dent in the affordable housing crisis

l3wis September 14, 2023 5Comments

During the meeting last night the council and mayor’s office were throwing money at affordable housing like nobody’s business (even though they all know the real problem is low wages).

While there is a lot of pass thru with federal dollars going towards most of this spending you have to ask if some of these issues could be fixed with legislation instead just more handouts to developers and landlords?

The city council could spend ZERO dollars and pass a series of ordinances that address how employment is advertised in the city limits (must list starting pay) having a city minimum wage of $15 per/hr, zoning and development changes to require developers to build a certain percentage of stock as affordable rents.

There are probably hundreds of tax free, cost neutral ordinances the council could pass that would put a huge dent in our housing struggles.

The developers and retailers throw the same red flags everytime ‘We are leaving town, never build here again, closing down my Sioux Falls location!!!’ So you are going to build a $30 million dollar high end apartment complex in Kimball? Or maybe Platte will have you for a $100 million dollar hotel and convention center on the river?

Give me a break! You would adjust to the changes and you would still get all your greedy little tax breaks!

The city council has the power of the pen, but lately all they have been using it for is to sign checks.

Last night after the council passed their $800 million dollar budget I decided to do a little digging.

Sioux Falls, SD with a population of 200K had a 2024 budget of $800 million ($4,000 per person)

Omaha, NE with a population of 500K had a 2023 budget of $1.35 billion ($2,700 per person)

Lincoln, NE with a population of 300K had a 23/24 budget of $253 million ($810 per person)

I find the disparities interesting.

UPDATE: DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in Sioux Falls on Tuesday

l3wis September 11, 2023 7Comments

UPDATE: You learn that maybe the reason there is NO media coverage is because there is nothing to report. I guess the only media event for today will be in Salem as Pete was in Sioux Falls last night meeting with the city’s first responders (which was probably about this). Most mayors, Republican, Democrat or Non-Partisan would have welcomed the DOT Secretary with open arms. Maybe Pete could hold a presser about how taxpayers in Sioux Falls tend to pay double for our infrastructure projects?

I have been following the news of Pete’s visit to South Dakota. I interviewed him in 2018 and would love to see him speak Tuesday. He was in Chamberlain today and will be in Salem and Sioux Falls tomorrow, just don’t know when.

While I understand the news may have difficulty getting an agenda from the Secretary, it would be nice to have a general idea of when he will be here and where so I can hear him speak.

The information may not have been shared with the local media for security reasons, or they really don’t know when he will make it to Sioux Falls after visiting Salem.

I just hope the local media isn’t withholding that information from the public so they would NOT be encouraged to attend, you know, to see an openly gay cabinet member and former mayor and Democratic Candidate for President in a very deep red state and even deeper red media.

I sent this letter to the Secretary last year, wonder if he will have a meeting with Sioux Area Metro?

Dear Secretary Buttigieg,

I am writing you with my concerns about public transportation in our city, Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota (200K+).

We had met in 2018 when you were the guest speaker at the McGovern Day Dinner and I interviewed you before the event about municipal government for my blog, southdacola.com and enjoyed our conversation. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI61OLyHNLw)

My main concerns about public transit in Sioux Falls are;

• Does not cover the entire city

• Inefficient routes

• Only runs limited hours and 6 days a week (no Sunday service)

• Is underfunded and understaffed

• Has decreasing ridership

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people relocating from other urban areas across our country is our poor public transit system (we grew by 7,000 residents in 2021).

It is not that Sioux Falls coffers are destitute. The 5-year Capital Plan will spend $900M with only 1% going towards improving public transit and 43% going towards road maintenance and new roads.

We have the capital to improve it. We have dedicated city employees that can improve it. We just don’t have a workable plan and I am asking for your help in reaching out to our city leaders to help guide them.

Sam Trebilcock is the Public Transit advisor for the City of Sioux Falls. I would appreciate you contacted him with any assistance you may have; (605) 367-8890, strebilcock@siouxfalls.org.

You can also contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Scott L. Ehrisman

Bringing Metro Communications under city umbrella is a good idea . . . but

l3wis September 7, 2023 9Comments

Bringing Metro 911 under city management is a good idea and will help with improving the lives of their employees. But there seems to be some little white lies strewn throughout the presser;

As the Sioux Falls City Council is currently in the process of establishing the city’s 2024 budget, cost is an important factor. TenHaken, however, claims the merger will have almost no financial impact.

“The cost is budget-neutral, we’re just shifting this over. Currently, the city and county both pay into Metro — along with the 911 surcharges and other revenues,” TenHaken explained. “Basically those just move under the city’s budget.”

It’s NOT that simple kids. If you are proposing providing better wages and benefits to the employees and more internal services provided to them, as well as new staff, it is going to cost more, a lot more. So while it is true the funding entities will remain in place it will cost more. You can’t just improve an entire department and think it will cost nothing. Councilors have told me they just recently heard about this and are disappointed they were not brought in at the beginning of this process for input, or better yet, input from the public.

As I have said, when government keeps things from you, they are up to no good. They know this will cost more, and they didn’t want to tell the council, and ultimately the public, because they are trying to avoid having that conversation, because unless they planted money trees at the new Metro offices, this is going to cost us more.

Riverline Baseball Stadium? Maybe? Still?

l3wis September 7, 2023 2Comments

Lalley and I stumbled on to this story the same day. He told me there were some angles he wanted to take it so I agreed to hold off posting about it, and I am glad I did. Besides Lalley being an actual professional journalist (and myself a schlump) he was able to fish a story out of the owner of the Canaries who recently bought land by the Riverline District;

Through one of his many companies – True North SE Real Estate – Slipka purchased a plot of land adjacent to the Riverline District on East 10th Street. The Riverline District is the dreamscape that covers eight acres that the Sioux Falls Development Foundation optioned earlier this year with plans for an as-yet undetermined multi-use space.

In his telling of the story, his staff identified the two pieces of property that are now the Riverline site as a potential space for a “live, work, play” development that could be the new home for the team and a center of year-round recreation and commerce.

“The side of the story that has never been told, which is frustrating to me, is that we’ve only tried to do the right thing every step of the way,” he told me recently. “We stood down. The city said those two parcels, we’d like to pursue, and I said OK.”

Slipka did secure the rights to a third parcel, an irregular plot that currently is the home to Record Keepers, Inc., on South Franklin Avenue and tucked under the 11th Street viaduct.

“The way we see it is, it’s a prudent long-term play as an investor and as a business person. I had the option before the task force was even formed,” he said. “Was there an additional motive around potential future sites (for a stadium)? Absolutely, that was how we initially started the conversation a year or two prior to that.”

The land deals that have been going on are very interesting. I was glad to see Lalley was able to interview him, don’t think he had much luck some of the other players.