by Dave Baumeister
County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – Toward the end of the Tuesday, Oct. 15 Minnehaha County Commission meeting, a shouting match developed between members of the South Dakota Canvassing Group and commissioners over comments specifically made by group president Jessica Pollema accusing commissioners of “treason” for what she said was their inaction on some of her voter fraud claims.
During discussion on non-action commission business, Commission Chair Dean Karsky took offense to being accused of treason.
Karsky, who himself is a veteran of the US Air Force, said, “I am being told we should do something, but no one tells me what we should do. Commissioners, are you aware of anything we can do for all of these allegations?”
Commissioner Jean Bender said that information she was given on these voting matters had been forwarded to state legislators, as well as the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office.
Commissioner Joe Kippley pointed out that much of what the Canvassing Group complained about at this meeting, people using campgrounds, hotels, and addresses of mailbox services to have a South Dakota address, are things allowed by South Dakota state law, which the county cannot supersede.
“I think the correct forum for this is the state legislature,” Kippley said.
He also went on to point out that there are valid reasons for people using these types of addresses, and none of those had been addressed.
During public comment at a June meeting, two people did step up and say they were lifelong South Dakota residents, and now they traveled much of the year and were often not in the area for election days.
Because of their travels they used one of the above methods. They both said they felt their right to vote was being questioned, and they were worried it might be taken away from them.
Money coming in
Noting there was a short agenda, Commissioner Jean Bender was very pleased with what was accomplished during the regular meeting.
“Almost everything we’ve done today has been to approve funds we’ve received from other governmental and non-profit entities, but none of that comes off without a lot of background effort…I really appreciate that (work from staff). And then there’s work that goes into complying with all of that.”
Although there were only six items on the agenda, and four of them dealt with public safety grants, the sixth and final one, when Bender made her comments, was to accept a grant of $30,000 from the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation.
As Human Services Director Kari Benz explained, these funds were to invest in the future for having a unified effort to care for community members, to invest in supporting on-going education, networking with others, and to facilitate staff empowerment.
Envision 2045
Planning and Zoning Director Scott Anderson told commissioners about three public meetings his office was planning for November to outline the Envision 2045 plan to the public.
This is the comprehensive plan for the future of Minnehaha County, and it will be discussed at three meetings on Nov. 7 in Dell Rapids, Nov. 14 in Brandon, and Nov. 21 in Hartford.
All meetings will be held at the at 7 p.m. at each municipality’s city hall.
Anderson explained that after the public meetings, the final plan would be discussed at the Nov. 25 Planning and Zoning meeting.
Because next Tuesday is the fifth Tuesday of October, a county commission meeting is not scheduled. Also, as the first Tuesday in November is Election Day, the next commission meeting is not until Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 9 a.m. on the third floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
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