There are many things we did not learn from 9/11 and the wars we started based on lies. How is Trump’s misadventure any different?
On 9/11 about 2,977 Americans died that day. We were attacked by extremist terrorists who mostly originated from Saudi Arabia, yet instead of putting sanctions on that country we attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan and Iraq. Over 7,000 American soldiers have died and as of 2019 we have spent $6.4 trillion.
It seems we have been down this path before; lies & miscalculations are costing Americans lives and capital, and what do we have to show for it? Millions unemployed, without healthcare, around 200K dead and millions infected, yet we keep steaming down the Sadaam Hussein path. When will we learn from history? When we lie to the public it costs us, dearly.
It was another lively night at the city council meeting. During public input, once again the Municipal Band was brought up to be saved, and once again you could hear the mayor audibly sighing into his microphone. Hey you brought this on yourself. Probably one of the stupidest things I have ever seen a mayor do.
Bob Kolbe (I think it was him, hard to tell with a mask on). Ripped into the council a bit about ethics and drop boxes for voting. Another citizen also piped up about ballot drop boxes, I think her best line was, “In case you haven’t noticed we are the middle of a Covid Pandemic.†AND “If you are telling us it is unsafe to vote in person, unsafe to vote by mail, and unsafe to vote by drop boxes, it is pretty evident you are trying to suppress our votes .†(paraphrasing).
Sierra also appeared to remind the council that legitimate and legal massage therapists are sick of the prostitution and men harassing them because of the illegitimate therapists. I’ll tell you why it is taking so long for these places to be shut down, because a lot of elite individuals in town frequent these places, and we certainly can’t have their extracurricular activities shut down. I also don’t think Mayor Stoneless understands the gravity of the situation, neither does our Chief of Police who last night was more concerned about building his $52 million dollar training center (which we will bond for instead trying to acquire some Federal Dollars – now that’s leadership folks).
It also appears another apartment building will be pushed through though the neighbors (homeowners) don’t want it since it was originally zoned as office. Of course the accolades for how great developers are were ensued by the RS6.
Greg Nutzert’s ethics challenge was also read into the record, and now the city has to spend another $5,000 for legal representation on the matter and had to hire a law firm. Greg, you can stop this circus before it turns into a 3 ring extravaganza, admit guilt and apologize so we can all move on. I might even buy you a jug of hand sanitizer . . . nevermind . . . you should probably pay for that yourself 😊
As we have known for several years, Amazon was looking to put a distribution site in our area, it was only a matter of time. We also know, like most businesses that move here, they want handouts, and if there is one thing we love in Sioux Falls and South Dakota is giving out massive amounts of corporate welfare. Flopdation Park has already received around $50 million for infrastructure from the taxpayers. Amazon has received a Federal Grant and now the SF Development Foundation pretty much wants an open ended TIF to attract more businesses. Their argument is always the same, growth for growth’s sake (which I have never understood, because growth only drives up the prices of affordable housing due to infrastructure and public education costs) and JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!
So let’s look at the kind of jobs Amazon supplies. Most workers will be pickers that make around $15 to start. So where will Amazon get these workers? I have argued that they will suck from other businesses in town that pay less (and there is quite a few of them) and once that bleeding is done, people will start moving here. I also believe many workers at Smithfield will try to move over to Amazon. So in essence, Amazon will not be depending solely on our current workforce, they will have to do a lot of transfers.
Another reason I think it will be hard for Amazon to fulfill their worker needs is because of a very difficult qualification process, like background checks, drug tests and physical fitness. It will also be interesting to hear what Amazon’s policy on marijuana use (outside of the work place) will be if it becomes legal in our state.
But all of those things aside I think there are a few benefits to bringing Amazon here. First off, they will support many other businesses in town, maybe even create some new ones. I also believe once they start stealing workers from local businesses, it may force some of them to raise their wages to keep people.
Amazon coming to town will have some benefits, but I often am confused by Sioux Falls’ mantra ‘Growth for Growth’s Sake’. Which just ends up costing taxpayers more in infrastructure and public safety and public education while the fat cats get their TIF’s, tax breaks and government grants. Let’s face it, Sioux Falls has just turned into a welfare state for the rich, which is no surprise when it is so cheap for them to buy the city council and mayor’s office.
As we all know by now, Councilor Greg Neitzert is in the center of an ethics challenge. Let’s recap;
• While Greg was at a partisan political event in Texas he decided to email the entire council about the trip. Mind you, he did this WHILE attending the event, NOT before. He also didn’t ask his colleagues in advance if they thought it was OK to attend an event paid for by the event sponsor. And here is the kicker, he still has NOT given a written or oral report to the entire council of what he learned.
• A citizen, John Cunningham obtained a copy of the email Greg sent. Which, BTW, was not marked confidential and sent to the councilors official email addresses. In other words, public property. Anyone had a right to read or obtain a copy of the email.
• As understand the situation, Mr. Cunningham was so upset about the blatant ethics and code violation, he filed a complaint to the Board of Ethics. Unfortunately, he filed the complaint siting the chapter in ordinance that pertains to city employees and NOT elected officials. Instead of the BOE correcting the chapter mistake at the first hearing by simply making a motion, they threw it out, so John had to refile it with the correct reference.
• Neitzert asked for confidentiality in the matter from the beginning, I assume because he was running for re-election. Since the City attorney had a conflict, they used outside independent counsel. Which has cost the taxpayers around $7,000 and maybe more before this is all done.
• After the correct chapter was referenced, the hearing began behind closed doors. The BOE met three separate dates in private before rendering a letter that basically said that Greg was in violation, but it wasn’t a big deal. Saying it was common practice. This part in the letter continues to confuse me. I’m trying to figure out what other councilor or elected official has done this (not asking permission and taking partisan money). I could find only ONE official that has done this for the past two years on repeated occasions; Mayor TenHaken.
• After the city council received the letter they claimed to be confused about what to do with it, Council Erraktison said it was ‘clear as mud’. I will admit, the first time I read it, it was pretty murky, but after a couple of times, it was clear to me that Greg was in violation of city ordinance. They returned it to the BOE for clarification, which didn’t sit well with them and they said to re-read it.
• Days before the BOE thru the letter back at the Council, Nietzert stupidly sent a letter to the BOE asking for it to be thrown out, without the advice of his attorneys. He also went on The Greg Belfrage show and spewed all kinds of things like suggesting that Cunningham (a private citizen) colluded with other councilors to do a political hit job on him before an election. As far as I know, Mr. Cunningham had nothing to do with Greg’s opponent’s campaign, and further more John is a retired municipal employee who has worked for several cities across the country. He simply was concerned about integrity and ethics. That’s it.
So where does it go from here? My understanding is that there will be a pre-hearing to give Neitzert the opportunity to call witnesses and for Mr. Cunningham to do the same. Than a hearing will proceed.
If I was still giving Greg advice, which I have not in several years, I would tell him he could end this circus and make this less expensive and less painful for all involved. If I was Greg I would do this next week;
• Admit guilt and apologize to the citizens, fellow councilors and especially Mr. Cunningham for trying to lay the guilt on them.
• As part of the punishment, I would pay back the partisan group for the trip and resign as council chair.
• And lastly, I would tell the council who the others were that attended the trip with him. We already know the mayor was one of these people, but who was the city staffer that Greg mentions in the Belfrage interview?
• Oh, and give us a report already of what you ‘learned’ at this event.
Ultimately, I think Greg will fight this to the bitter end, which will be a sad episode in our city’s history. And he will lose, big time.
As we have heard since Friday, there are many more chapters to be written about the investigation into Denny Sanford. At this point, we really don’t know what will happen. But one thing is clear, and something I have been concerned about for a very long time, depending on one big donor in our community to sponsor almost everything has put us in quite the pickle. We need to spread it around more.
Let’s face it, even if this wasn’t currently going on, we have already sold our souls to one person. Drive around this town, how many things have Denny’s name written all over it? Even if Denny would have made his money curing Cancer, would it still make it right? I have often argued we need to spread the philanthropy around. Recently we saw that with the Triage Center and the Kirby Dog Park. To that, I say bravo.
Even if Denny gets out of this unscathed, we can’t go back. It will cost the hospital and the taxpayers of this community millions to erase his name from our town. It will have economic impacts, political impacts, reputation and business impacts, city budget repercussions and many more things if he is indicted. We must prepare NOW for things to come.
Like you, I’m deeply concerned about these reports.
Yah think Kelby!? This tells me that those on the top probably know how deep this investigation goes. To put out a letter like this before any indictments should all make us step back and think a little bit.
I knew there was going to come a day of reckoning in our community because we put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to charitable giving. Hopefully we learn from this, because it will end up costing us a lot of dough.
And if the sign on the Denty needs to be removed, may I suggest a name I had from the beginning, The Citizen’s Center, why not name it after the folks who are paying the mortgage on this dented up tin can?
l3wis 