Transcript 0:00 We could have saved the three bears a lot of time. Just Right mattresses built by mattress nerds with a lifetime comfort commitment. We build them by hand and deliver with love. 0:10 Juno Sleep Systems in Sioux Falls and online at junosleep.com. If you want to understand what's really happening in South Dakota, start with the Dakota Scout, South Dakota's leading journal of politics and culture. 0:25 Locally owned and printed in Sioux Falls. 0:28 Founded in 2022 by veteran reporters Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve, the Scout brings more than 40 years of combined experience and a reputation for relentless, fair-minded reporting. 0:41 From Sioux Falls City Hall to the state capitol in Pierre, the Dakota Scout delivers breaking news, investigative reporting, and serious political coverage without the spin. 0:51 Its Lewis and Clark inspired logo reflects its mission, charting new territory in a new era of South Dakota journalism. 0:59 Subscribe today for full access to stories delivered straight to your inbox, plus the Scouting Lounge podcast. $7 a month at thedakotascout.com. The Dakota Scout, stay informed. 1:15 Come on alone, head for the mountains of Bush Beer. Head for the mountains. It's cold and it's smooth. And it's waiting for you. Come on, head for the mountains of Bush Beer. 1:31 Head for the mountains of Bush. Head for the mountains of Bush like me. screens are responsible. Copyright 2023 Union Sports Bros and Design View. Extremely specific. Beale Distributing, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 1:53 [rock music] Welcome to Scouting Lounge, a weekly program of the Dakota Scout newspaper based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We are in too far to turn back now. 2:03 I'm Joe Sneve with my good friend, companion, uh, ride or die till the wheels fall off, Jonathan Ellis. Uh- Welcome... 2:13 opening a Beale Distri- Distributed product after he slept on a Juno Sleep System mattress last night, and we've paid the bills. We're moving on. But that's, but those are true stories. They are. They are. 2:24 Counselor Miranda Basye. Don't ask me to spell it without double-checking. Uh- Is it- B-A- S-Y-E... S-Y-E. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. All right. Yeah. North East City Councilor. Two for two. Holy shit. 2:39 I like it. That Sturgis brain shaking it off. I like it. I'm gonna cheers to that. [laughs] To that right. A Beale Distributed product, Bush Latte. Hey, welcome back. It's only been 28 months. 2:50 I thought that you were, just didn't like anything that I said and didn't wanna invite me back. So when you called me, I was like, "Whoa." Well, we have to protect the patriarchy. [laughs] Hmm. 3:04 I feel like if that's how we're gonna start, like maybe I need another beer or something. [laughs] Yeah. We should, we should say that Ben is here too. Yeah, we have Ben Nestelhytt who will be our future guest. 3:13 Don't throw me in right after that comment. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] In no way am I associated with Joe Sneve. I think I like him. At the moment. Yeah. 3:22 [laughs] I, I, I will say, I got back from Sturgis a couple days ago, and I was look- I was at a vendor thing, and these two ladies were talking and like, "We gotta stick together. We should do..." 3:31 They were talking about something like some female only thing, and I'm like, "We don't do that to you." [laughs] And, and then they're like, "Well, maybe not you." And then I kinda like Homer Simpson-ed into the bushes. 3:41 [laughs] Uh, anyway, uh, like I said, I'm shaking off the Sturgis. Um, welcome back in though. Thanks. So you're, you're like you were a candidate for office when you were on before, if I'm not mistaken. 3:55 Yeah, it's been over two years. Now you're like a veteran. You're seasoned. Something. So you, um, you came on in the same class as Richard Thomason and Jennifer Sigeati. Say that right? Yep. Okay, I got... 4:12 I'm doing well. You are. I'm doing well here. Uh, you guys have sort of... A- and you were with the mayor, Mayor Paul TenHaken his last two years. And Ryan Spellberg came in too, all four of us. Oh, yeah. Right. 4:21 That's right. Yeah. So I'm gonna forget about Ryan. He's got his own little podcast, like a Hot Ones type thing- Hot, yeah. Yeah... where he's eating wings instead of drinking beer. You guys could do a mashup. 4:29 Yeah, we should have Ryan in and kinda do a... You know, when they have like the sitcoms that blend- Yeah... like two different sitcoms. You should. Mm-hmm. So crossovers, I guess is what you call those. 4:38 But you're, you're kind of... You've, you've, uh, carved out a role as, I would say the, the one who's asking the tough questions along the way, and I bet sometimes the administration doesn't like that. 4:53 But I appreciate it because, well, in a personal interest, like I'm there to get a story, and I need information, and you ask a lot of questions that I had the question about too. 5:03 So I don't have to go pull Shawn Pritchett aside at the end because you got him to answer that at the mic. So, thanks. You helped my job, but would you agree with that assessment? Uh, you know, I... 5:14 My intention isn't to specifically ask the hard question. Um, my intention is to seek to understand. I feel like if I don't know the cause and effect or the why, there's no way that I can expect constituents to. 5:32 Um, sometimes those are hard questions, I suppose, but I think I always... I try to ask questions in a way that are, they're curious questions. 5:41 Sometimes I know that they don't always strike right, and I know that there are sometimes folks that don't necessarily appreciate the vol- uh, maybe the volume of questions or sometimes there's been some certain issues where I'm, you know, I'm a dog on a bone on certain things, so. 5:55 Well, that's healthy though. I mean, every council needs that. I think you do a better job at it than, um- 6:03 Maybe like a Teresa Staley, where she was good at asking those kind of questions and being contrarian in some ways, but she, she did it in a way that it kind of offended people as like, oh you... 6:12 Like, people, the tact wasn't there. Like you start to call- She- It can feel like you're being attacked if you're being questioned. 6:20 You, I don't, I don't feel like I would come off that way if you're asking me those questions. I, I don't want to be adversarial. 6:28 I mean, there's a lot of times where I'm asking questions and I'm like, I don't, I don't necessarily want to. 6:34 I think, generally speaking, I think that the people that we have in our city staff and city government have good intentions and want to do really great things for the city, and I think they do really great work. 6:46 Um, but I also think that then they, like, that's what they do every day, and that's not what I do every day. I have an entirely other full-time job. Um, and- Right... 6:54 so does my husband, and we have, you know, lives outside of city government. And that's the lens that I take when I ask questions. I want to be collaborative and communicative. 7:06 Um, and that's one of the things, I, I'm sure we're gonna bounce around, but that's one of the things that I'm hopeful and optimistic for with Christine in office, is that so- like some of the questions or some of the, you know, hard questions that people perceive that I'm asking maybe could have been addressed or combated earlier- Yeah... 7:28 had I been part of maybe the brainstorming of it or had it been briefed or brought in earlier. Mm-hmm. 7:34 Versus sometimes the information that we get the first time that we're hearing of something is when the agenda comes out and when that's in that meeting. 7:41 And well, I'm gonna take that forum as an opportunity to try to seek to understand. Well, it's like a- This is, it, yeah. 7:48 Go, as, to me it's like the same problem that, that, that the councils have always had, where they're not getting enough information on the front end and then being asked to cast votes and things of that nature. 7:58 I mean, that's just part of this f- It plays, it's that play of- It seems like this, this form of government. 8:02 It seems like it's this, this form of government, you know, that you have the strong mayor, the administration. 8:07 And this is not, I'm not trying to single out any mayor, 'cause if, I think it's all, they've all been like this. It's built this way or what? Yeah, it's just the structure of it. 8:13 And then, oh yeah, we need those eight people that'll vote on this. Otherwise we just, to get this done. 8:18 Then, like, you know, bring in the city council, limited information, ask your, uh, ask your, ask the council to vote on something, and you have people like saying, "Well, wait a second here. 8:27 We got, we got questions about this." Well, with Christine being a former counselor maybe there'll be a new approach. We wrote that she's kind of the first into modern politics. 8:37 Um, and she falls to, to sort of break through that as a former counselor, um, under this form of government. Uh- Well- You know, I wonder if... Well, like 12 or 13. How, the count? That tried. Candidates. 8:51 Uh, I, I feel like I had 15 or 16. I was trying to remember what the, the total count was on former or the, the current city councilors who- It was over a dozen... it was over a dozen who had run to, run for mayor. 9:02 Do you count, how many times did you count Greg? He got counted each time. Each time? I think so. [laughs] But- The, uh, 9:11 I just, I think Christine could bring a f- breath of fresh air, or after a couple go-rounds of that she might go back to the way it is because you guys are a pain in the ass. Mm. You know? 9:19 Uh, it- I've been called that before. [laughs] So, but I do find it very like, I don't know, like the universe operates in weird ways because you have a, you kinda have this blue collar perspective a bit, you know? 9:30 Um, uh, Barney's on the hill, North Cliff there. Mm-hmm. Um, the, you're on the council at this time when we're about to tr- see everything that's below Barney's on the hill- Yeah... 9:41 transform with the Smithfield relocation. Um, to have somebody that's had that view, I mean, you don't get a better view f- of that space over, over a lifetime unless you're doing a lifetime on the hill. 9:55 It's either Barney's or The Pin, right? Those are the two good views there. Uh- I'm taking that home. So- "Dad, you spent a lifetime on the hill." 10:03 [laughs] So, but that's, that could either be very advantageous to this, right? Depending on how collaborative the- Mm... the movers and shakers wanna be. Or you could be a nightmare for them, right? 10:15 Because you have this blue collar background, you wanna see some preservation. It can't be gentrified to the Nth degree, right? I mean- Mm-hmm... 10:23 what do you wanna see there, and what do you expect from the administration when it comes to s- council collaboration? Yeah. Um, I, I'm opt- I'm really optimistic about how Christine might engage with council early on. 10:40 Um, when she was a counselor she served under two different mayors and got to see how those different mayors kind of interacted with counselors and did or didn't use counselors. 10:50 There's certainly some strategy of if you have some baked in support by a counselor or two up front on something, you know, then a counselor can try to persuade or influence their other colleagues. 11:02 Um, for me personally, I'm, I ask a lot of detailed questions typically when I don't, when I don't understand the why or I'm really struggling to connect the dots of, of the story that's being told and I'm like, "I'm not, I'm not seeing how we got to this vision," that's when I end up asking the really detailed questions. 11:22 And so there's some times where I've had to have conversations with even some of my city council colleagues of like, "Look, I don't want to be swimming in the weeds. Like, that's not really where my personal skillset is. 11:33 I'm a lot more of the, like, connector, brainstormer idea. Like, 'Ooh, what about this? We could do this,' and, 'Have you talked to so-and-so?'" 11:40 That's a lot, I swim there naturally when I'm struggling to connect those dots of the, like, the need or the presentation. And, and I mean, it, that played out in the Frank Olson conversations, right? Yeah. 11:52 I mean, I was a no vote on that schematic design and tried to paint why. That's an, a great example of that. 11:58 I didn't wanna be in the details of how many square footage we had on the play space, but I was there because- And that's-... I was struggling to connect those dots. 12:06 That's 'cause they rolled out a plan that had way too much like-... fitness training or stuff like that in it right away? Yeah, in part A lot of thoughts around here, but- Yeah, in part. 12:18 Um, I mean, I think, too, looking at neighborhood engagement and, you know, what do people in the area need and want for that kind of facility versus h- and how does that compare to the city as a, as a whole survey? 12:32 And if we're gonna build something in a certain neighborhood, shouldn't we be thoughtful about the people ar- around it? 12:37 And I think that's kind of what you're getting at, you know, thinking about what's happening below The Hill- Yeah... um, in the next handful of years. 12:44 And, um, when leading up to the quarry announcement with the Bezos Earth Foundation, that was one of the very first things out of my mouth in some of those meetings was like, "Hey, this is all exciting. 12:55 I wanna remind you that we've got this project going on. Um, we've got the Sanford District. We've got the Whittier Middle School construction and, and redevelopment with all those houses. 13:06 We still have the RiverLine property. 13:08 That's all happening right next to this really important cornerstone neighborhood in our city, and what have we communicated to that neighborhood and to the people who live there of what they could expect and their part in all of this?" 13:23 Because they're caught in the middle of all this change that's happening to them, and how are we making sure- Well, surely they won't exist. [laughs] Are we, are we just gonna end there? No. 13:35 Well, how do you have co- I mean, if they're gonna transform that, how do you... Are there gonna be 150-year-old houses in the middle of all that? 'Cause I envision something shiny. 13:44 I, I think that it's a s- I think it's a huge detriment to the city of Sioux Falls if we bulldoze all those houses down. 13:49 Um, I- where are those people gonna be able to find a home that in any way, shape, or form compares to what they have at a price they can afford? 13:59 And I was being facetious, obviously, but we've seen- Is that Sturgis brain? We, no, no. [laughs] I guess maybe- Smartass brain... maybe it's just c- maybe it's jaded journalist brain. 14:09 Uh, because I've seen what, you know, not... I mean, Sanford, uh, I'm glad we have Sanford Health in our community, but we've seen them buy up those low-income, uh, homes and affordable houses. 14:21 And it's just, I don't know if, if you have any examples or where we've seen this sort of a massive redevelopment happen and coexist with, with, you know, existing residential that's that sort of aged. Um, I don't know. 14:37 Ben, you've b- probably been to more places in the world than I have. Uh, feel free to weigh in if you can think of any examples where they've done that. Um, I don't know, maybe Wrigleyville. 14:47 I'm going to Wrigley this weekend. But, uh, what do you wanna see down there, though? Like, the city committed to park space. That's good, right? In the Sanford District? Down in the S- in the Sanford District. 14:57 Um, well, I don't, I don't think that it's 100% park space. I mean, if you're referring to that 2.5 million- Oh, yeah, the money for the-... in the budget... public space... it's public space. Yeah. 15:09 I mean, presumably it'll be park space, but is it all park space, or is it, is there some sort of other public facility? I think a lot of that is to be determined. Yeah. Well, what would you do if you were queen? 15:24 [laughs] If I was queen. [laughs] Um, uh, you know, I, 15:29 I don't know if this is right economically, but, I mean, throwing the idea out there is that if we really do need a downtown convention center, does it go in that space? Yeah. 15:38 Um, I mean, that opens up a whole nother can of worms of do we need that, and what would that look like? Um, but to me that seems more natural. Um, I- Than, than the RiverLine District. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 15:50 It'd be all right, connect Russell finally, Russell and Rice, more east-west thoroughfares that aren't so jacked up. 15:59 I'm sure the, the walkability people won't like that, but I'd like to run a few freeways right through the middle of it. [laughs] Well, we don't have... Like, the, the country clubs, 16:10 you know, they're, 26th Street doesn't go through. That's why I'm an east-sider. That's ridiculous. That's why I'm a northeast-sider. Yeah. Well, um, you guys had a fire. Can you talk about that at all? Do you want to? 16:23 I can cut- Uh-... this part out. It's okay... at Barneys? Yeah. Um, yeah, that was about a year ago. Um, it was actually on my husband's birthday, fun fact. Man. Um- That sucks... and so I don't know. 16:37 There's the bike trail, and there's, what is it, Lean Park. Lean Park, yeah. Um, that, I mean, the Barneys property goes all the way back, like, to the river and there, and basically butts up to the bike trail. 16:50 Um, it's not all actively used space. 16:54 Um, over the number, over the years and years that my family has owned and managed the property, they've, you know, consistently had conversations with parks on, like, "Hey," like, "we want help with people not trespassing," or, "You should put up a sign or a fence," you know, just kind of the, the way those conversations ebb and flow. 17:12 Um, and so the best that they know about the fire is that it started below The Hill. Um, and it, my dad literally, like, radioed. 17:23 Um, he was up at the front office and radioed back to one of his guys that's like, "Please tell me that that's not our property." And he's like, "Yeah, it's coming up over The Hill." Um- Oh, yeah... 17:33 and so, I mean- Was there like a grass fire or something- Mm-hmm... come up the hill? Yeah. Yep. Yeah. 17:39 And then once it, I mean, once you start, I mean, I- like in the movies, I mean, once cars start catching on fire, that just literally fuels it, and so- Oh... 17:49 um, I mean, the fire department was really responsive and really helpful, but, um, also Barneys was running loaders and basically almost, like, trenching, right? Moving and piling and, like, trenching. And so- Yeah... 18:01 um, unfortunately there's not... Like, the only way for them to really recoup anything would be a, an insurance claim. 18:09 Um, there isn't, there isn't a pathway to try to seek any sort of, um, I don't know, I guess I'll use the word justice- Yeah... if you will. So, mm-hmm. Well, that sucks. Mm-hmm. The, uh- So I don't know. 18:23 I bet that was quite the scene though. Yeah. You guys have cameras? Do you watch video? Yeah. 18:28 Um, and then there were also, like, other businesses and, you know, it's a big thing, and so then people were, like, taking footage and stuff like that. Yeah. 18:35 And, um, my parents also own rental property up on top of the hill, right? Right next to I-229 and Benson. Um, and there's other, there's lots, like that's Norton Froelich and everything- Yeah... is up there too. 18:46 Um, and so that was the other thing that then they're like, "We have to make sure this doesn't then run up the other side of the bluff and get into all these houses." Yeah. So. 18:55 Well, sounds like that was a while back, I guess. You guys all... That's sort of behind you- Yeah... now. Yeah. That's good. 19:03 I mean, it, it's one of those things I think that even though generally speaking it's, like, behind the business, it still sits there really heavy of you can only... 19:14 I mean, really, if you think about small businesses, you can only really survive so many catastrophic events. Yeah. Um, so I mean, it was really painful. Sure. 19:23 And I think it's the kind of pain that you don't really start to realize until somebody wants to buy that part that was inventoried. Yeah. And you're like, "Oh, can't sell that." 19:33 Because we don't have it- "That was out back."... anymore. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, that sucks. Yeah. Um. Thanks for asking. 19:38 [laughs] Yeah, sorry to bring up like depressing- I mean, I put, I, I appreciate, like, the care and concern and the- Yeah... connection though. Well, I felt horrible. 19:45 Um, I'm not sure if I texted you or not 'cause I feel like you're probably getting bombarded, but, um- I mean, I will say that [laughs] I appreciated that that happened while I was a city councilor because, um, you know, actually Chief Thumm and Chief McElravy were like, "Hey, Miranda, like we just wanna let you know we've got this handled." 20:04 I mean, they, it was just- Yeah... it was really cool, um, to see that care and concern just, like, extended. I mean, our- Yeah... 20:11 public safety is really great I think in caring for people anyway, but, like, to have that- To see that... personal step was kinda nice. Yeah, and to see that, like, have that perspective of it now. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right? 20:21 So. Yeah. Um, I saw US Marshal Satterly out at Sturgis. Dan Satterly? Yeah. Do you know, um, that he's a very good family friend- Really?... of ours? 20:34 Um, him and Tammy live behind my parents, and when I was in high school and I paged in the Senate, um, Dan, they had a second house out in Pierre they had to relocate for- Yeah... his DCI promotion. Yeah. 20:47 And I stayed with them, um, while I was out there and, um, [laughs] I think Dan liked it when I was sarcastic back. Yeah. 20:55 Um, but any time I see a picture I, like, screenshot and I'm like, "Ooh, Dan, what are you doing wearing a suit? You look great." So. He, he looked like a biker. Oh, I love it. He, he was riding. I, no, he was working. 21:06 Was he working? Yeah, but, um, you wouldn't have been able to tell, you know? Mm-hmm. But he, I chatted with him a little bit, but, um- He does, he's a, does instruction, instruction I think too, motorcycle- Maybe... 21:19 m- motorcycle safety instruction I believe. It was a different neighbor that lives across the street from him that did my motorcycle safety instruction when I got my motorcycle license. [laughs] Hmm. Cool. The, uh... 21:30 I should take that class sometime. I, I think- [laughs] You need some safety. [laughs] No. I just, I've heard people, like even if you're experienced, you should take it over and over. 21:39 He said, Dan actually suggested he, that- Yeah... and I, yeah, you should take it again. I mean, they have a, an advanced class too for cornering and braking and things like that. Yeah. 21:49 The beginning class you wouldn't like, the, maybe the advanced class would be. Well, truthfully, I failed my motorcycle test- [gasps]... the first time I took it when I was- Whoa... when I was 15. Wow. When you were 15. 21:59 Uh- That's why you hit a rabbit. [laughs] No. I will say I'll test, I'll put my riding abilities next to anybody now, but at that time I thought my shit didn't stink, you know? 22:11 And I had been riding dirt bikes since I was seven. Mm. Right? I've been riding for a whole eight years. I passed the first time I took my test and had never before. [laughs] Did you read the book first? 22:20 No, I just did the class. See, I didn't do anything. I just thought I was gonna be able to go down there and pass it, right? 22:25 And I ended up not even getting to do the riding part because I didn't know how much your front brake stop or your pow- stopping power is in your front brake. 80%. 22:35 I didn't know the stuff about the left lane, uh, when it rains. You know, there's a lot of things I didn't know. What's that? And I... Well, after it, are you serious? Yeah. What's the left lane after it rains? 22:45 Af- well, it ra- right when it starts to rain- Well, that's when it's the most slippery... is the most slippery. Right. The left lane is the one you wanna be in. Okay. I think. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. 22:55 So I remember stuff like that, but, um, no, it was, uh, I almost hit... Well, I saw, like, 20-some wild animals all in, like, the half hour. It was poor planning. I was riding near Custer at, like, dusk. 23:10 When you were taking your test? No. Or when you did the rabbit thing where you- Oh, yeah. After, hit the rabbit. Oh, okay. Okay. Well, I took the test anyway. I failed and I had to, like, call my dad. 23:18 And I had rode his, um, like XL 185 dirt bike that had a headlight and stuff. It was street legal. And he's like, "What are you... You failed?" And I was so, like, embarrassed, you know? 23:31 Uh, so I took it again as soon as I could and I actually read the book and I, I passed, but, um, I had some, some challenges in Sturgis that tested my abilities- Okay... and I'm here, so. 23:41 So when, where you saw, was Dan, he was working? Dan was working, uh, right outside of the Sturgis liquor store. What, he, like, looking for some felons or something? I don't know. I didn't ask too many questions. 23:54 Uh- Probably wise. Probably wise. Yeah. But he told me that, a little bit about what was going on, like how many fatals there were that day and stuff like that. I was gonna leave that night though, so, um, but 24:07 it was, it's interesting who you see out there. If you've ever been to the rally, during the rally, you went camping out there. We, we were camping out there during the rally, but we didn't go to the rally. 24:15 Was it peaceful? It was, it was nice. Lot of bikes. I did a lot of running. Um- Running? Yeah, literal running. Like on hikes? Yeah. Or from bears? I'm training for the Sioux Falls Marathon. Oh, no. 24:27 So I did a lot of literal running, so. So you've, you've gotta be, what- Getting close to peaking I hired a coach and I just do what he tells me, and he gives me one week at a time. [laughs] Okay. 24:38 So- The, the marathon is coming, is a- So-... a month away, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Six weeks I think. That's 26 miles, or kilometers. 26 miles. Mm-hmm. What do you... 24:48 So how, what's the furthest now that you've gone? I'm running for time, and I'm really slow right now. [laughs] You're running for time. Yeah. 24:55 So instead of having a set number of miles that I'm supposed to run, I have a duration. Um, and so I ran a half marathon in May, um, ran it faster than I expected. I was really happy about that. 25:10 And then I, as the summer's gone on, my easy runs have gotten slower. [laughs] Yeah. Like I f- am so slow now, um, because I'm trying, I have to keep my heart rate low, right? So- Well, it's so hot. 25:20 It's been so hot out too. Yeah. Um, so I ran this last Sunday when we were out in Rapid, I ran on the Rapid Bike Trail, um, for an hour and 50 minutes, and I w- got about nine and a half miles in. 25:33 Um, but like I'm not gassed at the end of it. Mm-hmm. Like I could keep running, but I- Yeah... 'cause I'm supposed to run at like w- like- Yeah... zone three or whatever, so. Wow. Um, I'm guesstimating. 25:45 I've n- I mean, I've never done this before and I'm not... I'm a runner now, but I'm not a runner. 25:50 I'm guesstimating that it'd probably take me like five, maybe five, five and a half hours to do my marathon, but- I bet it would take you- Hell or high water... longer. I'm gonna finish. It'll be fine. Yeah. 26:00 That's, that's a quite the feat. Mm-hmm. I don't think I could do that. Uh, it'd take me about that long to be like 100 miles sometimes on my motorcycle 'cause I'll just pull off every exit. 26:12 But the, uh, okay, so let's talk about, um, council stuff. And I don't know if this is really something you guys are talking about, but, um, I could see this coming on your plate here soon, and it's flock cameras. Mm. 26:27 Right? Everybody's talking about flock cameras right now. Uh, we have them, you know? It's hard, it's a tough spot to be in 'cause anybody... Cops say it's a tool in the toolbox, hard to go against public safety, right? 26:40 What's coming on that? Or is there... Jackley says he's gonna be bringing some legislative reforms for that. Do you just wait for the state or is there a role for the city to govern itself here a little bit? Um, I mean, 26:54 for folks that like to get their local news and politics on social media, I mean, there's a lot on social media, 27:04 um, I try not to spend a lot of time there because things, I mean, and not just on flock cameras, but on anything. Yeah. That's right. 27:14 I mean, things snowball pretty quickly and you don't really know what's fact or fiction. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't get a ton of constituent emails about it. I get a couple here and there. 27:25 Um, I think the emails that I get are more people wanting to know or understand what are, like, where is the information and why do we have these cameras. Um- Yeah... 27:36 so I don't, it, it's not something that has really come up a lot in terms of polidy- policy discussions thus far with fellow counselors or even some of the administration. 27:48 Um, my tactical background is in marketing and advertising, and so my brain immediately goes to, like, data privacy. Yeah. 27:56 Um, and so I think if there were anything to dig into, like if, if this was something that I woke up and decided I was really passionate about this and wanted to work on it, I think my brain goes to trying to understand, okay, just like, you know, at the law firm we talk about what can, what information can or can you not put into Claude or ChatGPT or whatever AI tool, um, what information on your phone for your location services can people actually tap? 28:24 Like that same idea with the footage on the cameras. Yeah. Um, like where does that information go and what kind of privacy regulations are there? Um, 28:34 but the other part of, the other side of that, and we all carry these cell phones around, right- Mm-hmm... 28:41 that have all, I mean, that have so much data that we're volunteering and that we're giving away all the time and don't even really realize it. 28:50 Um, so I think that sometimes the people maybe gravitate towards things that are a little bit more visible for them, like the flock cameras, it's more visible. 28:59 Like, oh, well, they're sur- surveilling and seeing things, but- Yeah... didn't think about all the information you're volunteering on your phone or your security cameras or all of your neighbors- Or your car. Yeah. 29:09 Your OnStar. If you, if you got a new car- Your car diagnostics... newer, a newer car, you know, it's- Yeah... yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 29:15 The, what the, I think what the catalyst for every, the crescendo of conversation around this is there was a, a law enforcement officer in another community, not in South Dakota, but was using it to like stalk his ex. 29:30 Right. You know, things like that. There, there, there have been more than one, one of those stories. Yeah. 29:34 I mean, I, I mean, I, I think that with any tool, with any new technology and any tool, there's always some bad actor that uses it in a way that it's not intended for. 29:45 I mean, you can even think something as simple, like I think about, you know, my husband's a teacher and, you know, there's only so many ways that you're really supposed to use a pencil, but man, kids really like to figure out how they're gonna use an object for a way that it's not intended. 29:58 Yeah. So I think that's with anything. Um, I, my brain also goes towards, we have this conversation every budget year of how do we get more police? Like, how do we have more officers? 30:12 I hear from constituents in my district, but also across the entire city, of they want more public safety presence in their community. They want more traffic cops. They- Yeah... 30:22 like, they want more of that public safety policing. We only have so much manpower, and manpower comes also at a cost. Yeah. So there, I mean, there's a tool to try to help that. Yeah. 30:34 There's efficiencies that come with technology. Mm-hmm. And it's, I mean, it's probably just- Every time there's a new tool, 30:44 the government just has to find, I mean, makes laws to protect the individual rights or whatever, and that's what's gonna happen here. But, um- I think it's important to ask those questions and to raise those concerns. 30:54 I mean, I think that that's the natural- Yeah... process and evolution of those kinds of tools and technologies. The thing that does scare me though, um, 31:04 with AI coming and being able to process, I mean, it's just advanced processing- What do you mean AI coming? It's already here. Well, I know, but it's gonna evolve, right? 31:11 Um, if there's a system where you have so many cameras out there, you're gonna be able to solve any crime, which is great. Mm-hmm. It'll be like Minority Report kinda. Mm-hmm. I've never seen that. Well, you should. 31:21 The- [laughs] But you could say, you know, "Show me a time when there was movement of any kind from a human being anywhere in the city between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00." 31:33 And then within a second it's gonna be able to sift through all that data. It's gonna be able to f- filter through that. And that's all great, 31:41 but there's also a time when, you know, it, it can be abused, and that seems- Mm-hmm... that's a little bit freaky. You know? I mean, it's a boiling... It's a pot with a frog in it. It's boiling. 31:52 We're gonna get there anyway. But it's kinda like, uh, the NSA, uh, surveillance been gathering data forever, and the, the saving grace to that was there's so much of it they couldn't even possibly sift through it all. 32:05 You just couldn't, you just can't. Mm-hmm. It's humanly impossible. But with AI's, m- you know, super- Yes... 32:11 computing, now they can do that, and they'll be able to find a phone call that you and I had four years ago, um, and, and say, "You wanna run for president? 32:21 Ha, we have this video of you, you know, staring at your phone in, in the middle of the night, staring at a website you shouldn't have been looking at." You know, like anything, they're gonna be able to... 32:30 I mean, it's, it's, it's Minority Report, it's, uh, Manchurian Candidate, and it's, it's sort of, it's conspiracy theory, but it's, it's not implausible, and it's like, it's natural progress, um, progressive thing. 32:44 So we need people to sorta stand in the way of history and say, like, at least think twice about it. Mm-hmm. You know? So, uh, it's a Friday. It's a second beer day. 32:53 Uh, we had the weed guy in here earlier, but that's not why I'm feeling so philosophical. Uh, anyway- I thought that was just your natural state. Yeah, it is. It is really. It is. 33:03 I'm going, uh, like I said, we're going to see the Cubs. Do you like baseball? I do. My husband coaches high school baseball. Yeah. Mm-hmm. How's, how did they do this year? 33:11 Um, first ever Junior Legion state title for Brandon Valley. Sweet. So the Brandon Valley newspaper, um, did a fun little writeup on them, so that was nice. Speaking of fires, what happened there? Yeah. Um, they, 33:27 the- That was arson, had to be. Yeah. Yeah, they have... They reported out that they had a juvenile in custody for it. Okay. So, um, but it, I mean, like, everything's a total loss. I mean, even, like, the uniforms. 33:40 That's- And so, I mean, everything was- Mm... stored in the grandstand, so. But- Silly. Yeah. Stupid. Yeah. You know, that's not, like, filling out fake candidate forms or anything, you know? That's real fire. 33:53 Let me grab my car keys and we'll roll. Are we still going to that new bar downtown? Yeah. It's supposed to be fun. Lexi, give me driving directions from home to downtown bar district. Autocorrect. Suggest Uber. 34:05 Pick up home. Drop off downtown bar district. No, I'm driving. Suggest the Metro Bus departing in 12 minutes. Huh. Point taken, Lexi. We'll grab a ride. If you drink, don't drive. 34:16 Decide to ride, brought to you in partnership by Anheuser-Busch, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Uber. This message brought to you by Beal Distributing of Sioux Falls. 34:24 My grandpa was one of my favorite all-time people growing up. I remember going to the Tulip Festival with him. I remember his blue jacket was always full of Starburst. 34:34 I remember a lot about my grandfather, but I also remember a lot about what he instilled in me and some of the values he dropped along the way, things like I could never afford to buy cheap. 34:46 Now what that means to me is that in the industry that I'm in, mattresses don't last through their warranty, and those big box brands really don't have your best interests in mind. 34:55 They'd rather have you buy a bed and it break down prematurely, and you'd have to buy a new bed again. 35:00 But at June Sleep Systems, we value our commitment to our customers and their satisfaction long-term, which is why we only use the best quality ingredients, and we're there for you anytime you wanna make a change to the mattress, even per side. 35:12 At June, 1950s values are still alive. We're only as good as the quality products we turn out at the end of the day, and our word is our bond. Come on down and check us out today, 41st and Grange in Sioux Falls. 35:23 Thanks again to Beal Distributing and June Sleep System. Support them 'cause they support local, independent South Dakota journalism. Thanks to Ben Nesselhauf for his brief appearance. 35:34 That's a little foreshadowing of a future episode. We have an interview with him in the can. We'll hold it. He, he's a can- Oh, good interview. Yeah, it was. He's a cannabis guy. 35:44 People who lis- like old-timey politicos will recognize the name. He was in the, he was in the state legislature. He ran the Democratic Party at a very difficult time, I would add, that that's- Not as difficult as now. 35:58 No, I, I think it was probably more difficult because there's nothing... 36:01 You know, you're trying to r- y- you, you had a foot in a period where Democrats in the legislature had some power because, as he says, and we'll talk about this, but he, they, at one point they had 15 members, and you're the chairman of a party then who you were just a few years earlier had 15 mem- now you have, like, three, right? 36:21 And you're trying to pull a stick up on the plane that's go, hurtling to the ground, and that was very difficult. And he just, whatever they tried, they just could not reverse 36:30 what we've become in political- For a fact, the National Party didn't help. The National Party didn't- The end with all that... the National Party was not gonna... So anyway. 36:38 Anyway, but thanks to, uh, thanks to Ben, and thanks to Counselor Bassey for s- sticking with us even though we're kind of all over the place. As usual. Yeah. I think that's just-- I accepted that. Yeah. I loved it. 36:50 It's so hot, you know. People keep saying they're listening, but... Did your viewer data tell you how many times that people are like, "Oh, let me skip through this"? You know what? I'm not sure. 37:04 I quit looking at detailed analytics, um, right, a while ago. But, uh, I don't know. You-- There's a lot of change on council. We've got three new members. Yeah. Brand new members. 37:18 Um, we've got a new mayor who's, you know, she's a coun- she's on the council, I suppose. You know, she serves there, holds the gavel. Uh, 37:29 and then what didn't change though is leadership, who's holding these leadership positions. Uh, 37:36 as is usually it's in May, but now we had, we did it in August, I believe, um, maybe late July, picking who's chair, vice chair. 37:45 Uh, these positions tend to, on the council, they tend to change every year and, um, they're not just symbolic positions either. At first I thought they were just symbolic, but the chair and the vice chair, they pick, 38:02 you know, the order in which stuff goes on the agenda, who gets to have a time at informational meetings. You know, they, they're also on the operations committee. Clear role structure. And unusually, um, 38:18 I think maybe it started a little bit under Kurt Sill, 'cause he doubled, doubled up a couple times, didn't he? Like he, he didn't do it consecutively, but he was on it more than once, uh, during his time. 38:29 This time, Councilor Rich McCorus, who was incoming, uh, chair, maintained his chairmanship, and then Vice Chair Siggity, uh, S- Siggity, um, she's continues to be vice chair. 38:45 And that, that's kind of out of tradition, I think. And you didn't seem to... You very politely pointed out that that shit ain't normal. Um, yeah. I, I did. 39:00 Um- 'Cause I thought you were gonna be vice chair going into the night. You know, I, I wanna reiterate that I'm a team sport gal a lot of times to a fault. Um, 39:13 I mean, so titles and certain positions and stuff don't mean a ton to me. I kind of have a way of when I'm really passionate about something and kinda weasel my way in. Um, somet- I, I can be hard to ignore sometimes. 39:28 Um, and I, 39:32 I believe that because of the structure that exists for chair and vice chair, I mean, there, there's very significant detail if you read the council operations manual and even the city ordinances that support that. 39:45 There's a structure in place that naturally more deeply engage the chair and the vice chair with the rest of the administration and the city staff. 39:54 Um, and those are, those are relationships and conversations that are, that are like baked in. 40:01 And so sure, you could have a really great relationship with the mayor's office or another city director as a councilor and be really involved and engaged with them, but it doesn't expose you to the same things or the same decisions or the same conversations that the structure of the chair and the vice chair do. 40:19 So my stance and my perspective is that the more councilors that we can move through that and get exposed to that, the stronger of a council we are and the more, I d- cohesive isn't the word that I wanna use, but I think like collaborative or communicative with each other that we are, because that structure gives you 40:41 e- essentially like a baked in relationship or baked in understanding of the clerks, the chief administrative officer, the mayor's office, the city directors, and it pushes you into all of that in a way that as a regular councilor, regardless of how involved you are, that you're not actually ingrained in those things. 40:58 So everybody would have that perspective. That perspective. You-- I could see that, like if our whole team has been through the same thing, then the next time we can all do it better together. I don't know. Yeah. 41:16 It makes sense. And I, and I think too that there's... I mean, once you know something or get exposed to something, it changes your perception or it changes the way that you think about something. 41:27 When you're exposed to, um, when you have an experience, then your brain goes to, "What else can I ask?" Or, "What's different?" 41:36 Or I mean, I like even this is my third budget cycle and I'm thinking about it way differently and have a way better understanding of certain things and my questions are different than they've been in the past. 41:46 And I think, I think that the chair and the vice chair roles are, are that exactly. Right now on council, Rich and Jen have already only people that have ever sat in those seats. 41:56 Not a single one of us other councilors have. And so I think that we have, we have a detriment of that experience, that exposure, that relationship development in the structure of the chair and the vice chair. 42:11 The, uh, uh... You know, to be fair, Councilor McCorus, he tried to, I guess, address 42:21 why the change in the norm the night that the votes happened and his justification was we have all this change, time of change on the council with the mayor, kind of everything I said. 42:31 Uh, Jim David, longtime, uh, administrative assistant to the council, now working, transitioning over to the mayor. 42:38 You know, McCorus said he wanted to be-- He thought it merited a change, a deviation from the norm so somebody who's been in that role could help guide the creation of, or of that position and find somebody to fill Jim David's position. 42:51 So just to point that out, I don't, I don't know if- I mean, you knew, you, you knew Jim well. I mean, what do you make of that argument? Was that necessary to maintain? 43:01 I mean, obviously you don't agree with the decision, so. Yeah. I, I mean, look, I, I talk to Rich and Jennifer a lot, um, and I'd like to think that the three of us are, are pretty close and communicate a lot. 43:12 I mean, going into that night, they knew that I was like, "You know, guys, I just, I don't like this." 43:18 I mean, so, so that, that shouldn't have been a surprise to them, and I try really hard to make sure that when I am on the opposite end of a perspective from somebody, that it's not a surprise to them. 43:32 Um, and I mean, that same night after council, I was telling them, "Hey, here's what I think about who could be on operations and who could be on these committees." 43:40 And so, you know, I'm the gal that's just like, "Hey, I didn't like it. Well, let me lean right back in and let's have a conversation." Um, so I, so I just think that that's really important to acknowledge. 43:49 Just because I disagreed with that doesn't mean that, um, you know, that I don't have high hopes or expectations that Rich and Jennifer are do- are gonna do a great job in that seat. But 43:59 I, I think from my perspective, I think that that mentality, um, 44:06 probably fuels my argument a little bit more because if you're saying that, "Hey, those seats are that important that you need a say in them," well, why wouldn't we want to, to be able to pay it forward on the council? 44:19 Why wouldn't we want somebody else to be in that seat? Because by the way, you already have the exposure of the system. 44:26 You already are, as a past chair, you know, as everybody kinda keeps moving on, it's written such that the past chair sits on the operations committee. 44:35 And if you already have the exposure, the awareness, the, the know-how of that structure that's in place, who's to say that you can't still be involved? 44:46 Which is essentially the same argument, you know, that they're making of, well, just because you're not in one of these seats, you can still be involved. Um, so, so I mean, that argument works both ways. Um- Makes sense. 44:57 The, uh... So what do you-- I mean, how's that going, though, finding a replacement for Jim? 'Cause that is a pretty big institutional knowledge loss. Um, where do you look for that? 45:09 Are you guys going, um, outside of city government to find that person? Or how is that- So, so it's posted online. I mean, it's posted on the city website. 45:19 It's posted on, you know, Indeed and whatever other job finder stuff. So if there's anybody who thinks they wanna be the city, Sioux Falls City Council's chief administrative officer, go, go apply. SiouxFallsHasJobs.com. 45:32 Sioux Falls Has a Job, it's like, oh, yeah, do their thing. Yep. So we, uh, it'll be open for two weeks, and so I think we're, we're a little, maybe a week into that. 45:44 Um, and then we'll assess initial applicants, um, and kind of do a, like, first round of review of the applications and see is there anything that we want to adjust. 45:55 We knew going into this, um, you know, from the operations committee discussion, we knew going into this we might need to be willing to adjust the salary range. 46:05 Um, so we're, we're aware of and potentially prepared for that. But really, I think it's, uh, we n- there's a cert- I personally feel a certain sense of urgency to try to hire for this position. 46:17 At the same time, it's really important that we get it right, and so I'm, I'm a really big proponent of, hey, we have to take each step in the process step by step because a, a rush to fill it with maybe an, an early applicant that doesn't necessarily check all the boxes or feel like the right fit doesn't set... 46:39 A- again, that same conversation that I had for those leadership seats, that kind of decision doesn't set up the council as a whole up for long-term success. That's a key point. 46:49 I haven't, I haven't reviewed the pool yet, so I guess I'll let you know. Okay. I don't think I would qualify. I don't. Like- They will have rejected Sam. 47:00 Yeah, well, they don't wanna, they don't want a reporter up in their biz, so. I feel like that would be a conflict of interest with the designated newspapers. Yeah. We might have to talk about that. 47:09 It, it definitely would, so. No. You know, when I was-- I did apply at the city once when I was a young recruiter. I applied at the city once. It was- W- w- what? A d- like a digital communications position. Yeah. 47:21 Didn't get it. During Ken Haken days? Yeah, mine was during the Huether days, which is hilarious that I thought I could even get that job, but I did have an interview. It was in the planning office. 47:32 But I didn't, I never told you about this? No, I think I vaguely remember. Yeah. I was, I was a young father. I'm like, "Ah, I don't make enough money," and- And, and that was true. That was true. 47:42 And I applied, and I got in there, and I think it was, uh, Ron Bill was the chief building inspector. He's like, he literally comes in and throws paper down, and he's like, "Well, you don't want this job. 47:54 Why do you want this job?" And he's like, "Your job's exciting." I'm like, "Yeah, it doesn't pay anything." And, and then, uh, Jane, Jane in HR, she came in and they told me-- Then I realized, like, public work, 48:12 I don't know, because you had to work at the city for 30 years to get as much vacation time as I was getting at The Artist. And like, there's something to that, you know? And 48:22 I didn't s- like withdraw my candidacy, but I never got a call back. So, uh, anyway, I... Huether, uh, I believe this was fact. We could, I think we could have reported this. Forgive me. 48:37 Allegedly, though, I'll just throw that in there, every hire the city would make would go across his desk. Isn't that wild? I've been told that many things went across his desk. Yeah. So, oh. Many things? Many things. 48:53 Tomatoes motto, that's what I've been told. Yeah, well, I kinda, kinda wish you would've got in the race. That would've been a fun, interesting cycle. Jonathan's shaking his head. 49:05 So, uh, well, I'll see you guys will have... So on the Jim David replacement though, how does that work? So will the all counselors get to interview this person? How did quorum stuff work? Yeah. 49:16 So the operations committee is more or less the hiring committee. So the operations committee will vet all of the applicants and be the main, like, interview panel folks. 49:27 And then, um, for finalists, I mean, really similar to how we hired, um, our budget analyst position or how we hired our executive support coordinator position. 49:37 So once there's some finalists, um, there'll be a second round interviews or final round interviews with the operations committee. 49:43 And once the operations committee has said like, "Hey, we think this is our person," then there's typically an opportunity to have, um, one-to-one or small group conversations or interviews with some of the other counselors. 49:56 And then it's, and then it's publicly brought forward and recommended, "Hey, this is the person that we would suggest for the position." Well, uh, I guess I don't even know who would, who would get it. Who would get it? 50:09 You got any ideas? No. No, me either. Uh- I mean, it, it, you know, I, I, I feel like the, the city has done in these situations has at times elevated people from within, but also brought in fresh blood too from outside. 50:26 I mean, uh, you know, both have their merits, you know? Uh, but it's all about having the right person at the end of the day, so. Yeah. The, uh... It's probably not a, a easiest job. No. 50:38 You have eight people you're trying to, you know, kind of run their- Yeah... 50:44 their, their project and- It's independently elected contributors that you have to preserve also a certain level of, like, discretion and confidentiality amongst all eight and, um- Yeah... yeah, I mean, it's a tough job. 50:59 It's a tough job. Before they had these, you know, Debra Owen was the city clerk and kind of operated in that capacity and I mean, she got- So- It, you know... yeah, like that's it. 51:09 You had the, you had the h- you had the administration, the Huether administration wanted to get rid of her, and you go back to your, your point about the chair and vice chair, um, who were willing to work to d- to make that happen as well, so. 51:24 Yeah, that's sort of a lot of mastery. You do. Yeah. It's just a lot, a lot going on to be in that position, so. Yeah. Well, good luck as you try to pick the, the right one. Uh, 51:34 I mean, once you pick one, you're kinda stuck with him for a little bit 'cause you can't just fire him. Well, it's an appointed position, so we could if we wanted to. Yeah, but nobody's got any courage. For real. 51:45 But that's a whole public process that you're gonna have to play out, so. Yeah. Well, I'll say to Jim David's credit though, like, um, no- everybody likes Jim. Never heard a ill word about him. He was professional. 51:58 So he'll, he'll be missed both like I- I'd imagine for counselors. Yeah. And then he was, he was great to deal with as a reporter. Uh, just always a friendly guy. 52:07 So mi- we will miss seeing him at council meetings as much or as, as often, but he's only one block to the north there, uh, on the government campus corridor. Another Huether reference. So, well, anyway, 52:26 so. I mean, we didn't even talk about, like, the city budget at all. Thank God. I don't know. [laughs] Thank... [laughs] And let me guess, it's gonna be bigger. No, it is bigger. 52:36 It is bigger, but it's only- Only slightly... it's less than the pace of inflation of what Christina's proposed, so. Yeah. Yeah. You know? I used to write every year, like, the biggest- The biggest in the history... 52:46 the mayor has proposed the largest budget in city history. It's the- And then TJ Nelson when he was PR guy for Paul TenHaken would say, "Duh." [laughs] Like, it's never gonna go down. Yeah. 52:56 [laughs] And I would say, "Well, it could." But that's not- And actually one year it did. It did. Yep. Yeah. Last year. Yeah. So. Yeah. Uh. Uh, I... 53:06 One of the conversations that, I mean, it's not as hot this year as it was last year, was the whole property tax- Mm-hmm... you know, reform and how that's impacting city revenues and stuff like that. 53:15 And, um, that's certainly an element of, you know, when you hear Shawn Fridgit up there presenting and, um, I am saying this with a little bit of a smirk on my face 'cause I really appreciate Shawn. 53:26 Um, but sometimes I'm like, "Hey, can we just like simplify this a little bit?" Like, you spoke for an hour on the budget. Um, can we simplify it? But 53:35 I, I think that it's a, it's a different conversation to say, "Hey, our growth is at a slower than expected pace," which is my perception with the whole property tax adjustment and I mean, our sales tax is coming in just fine. 53:52 Mm. Versus, "Hey, we have to have cuts because we're losing money." Yeah. And so I think those narratives are very different. 54:01 Um, and so with some of the new counselors as they're, you know, going through their first budget season, which is cruel and unusual by the way- Mm-hmm... of the timing and when they're elected- Yeah... 54:11 to when they're, um- 'Cause of the ti- uh, election changes and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Right into the deep end. Yeah. Um, 54:19 but I, I think, I think that that's something that is gonna continue to play out in our budget hearings. Um, so those 3:00 PM meetings are probably a lot more interesting than our 6:00 PM meetings right now. 54:29 When I was on the city beat, I'd go to those, and you might not turn a daily out of them, but you get a lot of story ideas. Yeah. And, and then you know what to watch for. 54:38 We don't have the luxury of that right now, but- Plus you, plus you... It helps you understand how the, the government works- Yeah... which is important, so. The minutiae of it. 54:45 I guess I saw some of your colleagues this week talking about moving the election to November. Mm-hmm. Where are you at on that? Um, well, I'm for- We had one on under our belt now on June. 54:57 I first am gonna take this opportunity to say I wish that we would not have to piggyback... on the state and federal elections, and that we could have our own municipal election This feel right to April? I w- yes. 55:09 I, I just wanna take the opportunity to say that I, I do not like that we have to piggyback on that. 55:14 I think it turns non, what is supposed to be non-partisan municipal government into really, really, really high-priced, expensive, partisan local government. Um, and so I think, I think that that's a detriment. 55:27 Um, so I'm gonna take that opportunity to be on that side of this. But- Noted. Make it clear On the record. Yeah. 55:31 Um, so operations committee, we talked in our last meeting, um, that we're gonna flow those conversations through operations committee so that we can have public for- more public forum opportunities for folks to come and share feedback. 55:48 Um, 55:50 I, transparently, like when we voted on it the first time as a city council, my understanding was that then the decision for the voters on the ballot was that the voters were going to decide June versus November, but that's not how the charter amendment items came through- Yeah... 56:09 um, on the ballot. So that's something that I've mentally had to kind of catch up on. But I, 56:16 I think that for this, I mean, we don't have Democratic primaries, and so the majority of the people that go to the polls are in June are Republicans. Yeah. 56:27 Um, also it's the middle of the summer, and we only have however many months out of the year that's good weather. 56:34 Um, so those are kind of the two things that kind of push me right now personally to lean towards November. Um- Well, the budget thing would resolve itself, too. Yeah. Correct. Yeah, it would. Correct. 56:45 So- I mean, it, it would, you know, in theory, handicap, you know, a, a mayor into the budget that's been decided, and have, you know, a year that they then have to kind of execute a plan that's already been laid out. 56:57 But- The governor doesn't do that... in the grand scheme of things- They're kinda doing that anyway. The govern- the governor does that. Yeah. You know, I mean, governor- They can deviate... 57:04 the governor, well, the governor- A supplemental... the governor, the governor comes in halfway into an- an, a budget, and then pr- and then has to propose a budget for the legislative session. 57:13 So I mean, I, it's- Yeah... it's, that would be easier for a mayor, frankly. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Well, why don't we just have a king? We don't have to deal with this. [laughs] So- Patriarchy. King... 57:22 we wouldn't have, we wouldn't have a lot to write about. [laughs] Yeah. What else are we adding to the list? Yeah, no- Those lock cameras... no commies. Mm-hmm. [laughs] What? 57:31 But yeah, I think, um, I empathize for our three new counselors because that's a ton of information to take in and to, and to try to make decisions that they feel good about- Mm-hmm... 57:45 that they can sleep themselves at night, but then serving their constituency. Like that, that's a really big feat, and I don't know how many residents or constituents really recognize that. 57:59 Um, I've had a couple of the newer counselors reach out to me about some of the emails and voicemails that they've gotten, and they're like, "I don't know what to say to this." 58:05 And I'm over here like, "I just wanna remind you that you do not have to respond to everything." Every single thing. 58:12 If somebody is gonna be, you know, combative and, like, just plain out mean or rude or condescending, and there's, like, no actual conversation there, I just want you to know that there's nothing that says that you have to respond to them. 58:27 I would probably come up with some standard two-sentence thing, polite, and then I'd have a nuclear one, too. Oh. [laughs] So I'd be like, "Ah, you're not even in my district, huh?" But, well, thanks for coming in. 58:42 Good luck. Uh, sorry we didn't get to talk about the budget as much as you may have liked. 58:47 [laughs] It's, it's- Well, I just feel like I can't really, like I don't think I would be a good steward of my seat if I came here and did not comment at least about the budget a little bit. Oh, sure. Well, good. 58:57 You're, you're a, you're a fiscal hawk. And then maybe I would wanna talk about it more if I was a Sioux Falls voter, but I think Jonathan represents in that way. So, uh, I guess that'll be all. 59:08 Support bill distributing, June asleep systems. Uh, there's longtime supporters of this program. Counselor Basy, c- thank you for coming in. Yeah. We'll make sure we don't wait as long. 59:20 Um, and we may format a little more next time. Wish me luck. News tips welcome. Thanks. 59:25 [upbeat music]
