LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We should be concerned about Pat Starr’s criticism
I am concerned about school board candidate and—soon to be term-limited Sioux Falls City Councilor—Pat Starr’s criticism of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Sioux Falls School District and the Sioux Falls Education Association. As an experienced Council member, Starr knows that processes and procedures are followed when boards work with employee groups. Rather than publicly attacking the process, it would have been helpful if Councilor Starr had talked with school district officials or current school board members to gain understanding of requirements and why the Good News report was the appropriate place to inform the public.
Collaboration is the key to making good decisions that impact the education of all our children. We need Board members who ask questions and make decisions based on sound practice. Gail Swenson is the most qualified leader in this race and deserves your vote.
Elaine Roberts, Sioux Falls
Not all development is progress; not all growth is good
South Dakota is open for business, I guess, to anybody and anything. Thank goodness we didn’t decide to pick and choose what kind of business, or who owned it, or where they came from. We might have given someone the impression that we could be unfriendly to certain things. And thank goodness we’ve shown the world that if they come here they won’t have to worry about silly things like public safety, government regulation, or individual property rights. We’ll just change or stifle our government entities to accommodate their every whim. And don’t worry about a “few noisy people” here and there, we won’t listen to them because their quality of life is not important. We’ll just grab the bucks as fast as we can, without a thought as to where or what they come from, and the fact that 90% of our residents will never see any of the money, and instead will pay their “fair share” to insure the success of these businesses.
One thing they can’t do though, is buy our land. But that would be an unnecessary expense anyway because we’ll be happy to arrange for them to have the right to just USE our land for perpetuity, forever, or they can sell that right or lease it to anyone they want. That surely should attract the right kind of businesses. By the way, don’t waste money on a lawyer to read those contracts before you sign them, to see what YOUR rights are, you don’t have any. There seems to be a wide inconsistency in policy here. On one hand the State say’s if they own the land, they can do anything they want with it and county residents and taxpayers have no right to question it. On the other hand if you or I own our land, the state says a privately owned out of state entity can use our land for its own personal gain, and again, we have nothing to say about it.
I suppose I’m just an old curmudgeon yearning for the good old days, but I have good reason. I love South Dakota and have had an idyllic life here up until recently; and hope for the same for my grandchildren.
And I’ve learned a few things over the years, not all development is progress, not all growth is good, and not everyone that you invite here will be the type of person or business that you will want for a neighbor.
Tom Eiesland, Canton
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