(Part two)

          This lengthy meeting included the first reading of the budget and included interviews with candidates for the Alcester City Ward II opening.

Moving on with the agenda:

• 202 Broad street issue:
  • Non receipt of documents promised by Ives representative. City Attorney to      contact Ives representative.
• Police academy agreements-no action.
• Executive Session-legal counsel 1-25-2-3 FAILED to state specific purpose beyond legal.
  • In closed session at     6:15 p.m.
  • Out closed session at  6:24 p.m.  NO Action
  • City Attorney dismissed!  6:24 p.m.
• Presentation on Tae Kwan Do class – seeking permission to hold classes in the auditorium. Mayor Glas turned to Finance Officer with a confused look on his face and asked the question,

“Do we need a motion?”

D-uh, the council needs to give its formal approval.

Motion/ Councilman Lance Johnson-2nd/ Councilman David Larsen

Unanimous approval of the quorum present  (David Larsen, Audri Carlson, Lance Johnson & Mark Dykstra)

• Ward II candidate interviews and appointment.  Mayor Glas lost again. He had been told that the council had to accept Mike Burke’s resignation formally several meetings ago, but forgot and had to be reminded! One has to wonder who does the agenda? It is the Mayor’s job!

Motion/Audri Carlson to accept Burke resignation-2nd/Dykstra

Unanimous approval of the quorum present (David Larsen, Audri Carlson, Lance Johnson & Mark Dykstra)

• Executive session called to interview Ward II Candidates of: Dan Haeder, Trudy Hedden and Ron Manning.

In closed session at     6:46 p.m.

Out closed session at  7:31 p.m.

Motion/David Larsen to confirm Mayor appointment of Dan Haeder* to Ward II position for one year term-2nd/ Lance Johnson

Unanimous approval of the quorum present (David Larsen, Audri Carlson, Lance Johnson & Mark Dykstra)

 *a note-Mr. Haeder is the only Ward II candidate who lives in Ward II, Alcester city but it appears he is doesn’t own property in Alcester. Candidate Trudy Hedden and Candidate Ron Manning both live and own property and Mr. Manning was a former councilmember.

• Mayor Glas administered the oath of office to Mr. Haeder and Mr. Haeder was seated at the council table.
• Meagen Fischer-registered a dog complaint
• Updates

 »$16,500.00 Patching machine purchased two years ago wasn’t such a good buy after all. Hot mix is preferred using a rent-a-roller     ($1100/month?) Councilman Dykstra opined,

“…get rid of the patching machine…”

»Alcester Bar repair-Mayor finally decided the brick were just cosmetic, after he and Mark talked, thought better of the $8400 low bid  ‘facial’ decided with a ‘few volunteers’ they could DYI back-plaster (low- brow parging) the lower portion of Madam’s wailing wall.

»Now, Madam Deem needs a bottle cooler. Evidently her bottles are warm and that just simply won’t do. So she contacted Everist (?) for a  quote on a machine to cool her bottles. The quote for an ABC95 bottle cooler? $3263.30

H-m-m       ALCOM Distributing, Fargo, ND sale $2456.00 Difference-$807.30

So do we like Jack, always take the first hand-full of mystery beans we are quoted?

»Madam’s rent is budgeted to go UP to $1300.00 per month!   Councilman Dykstra commented,

“it is time!”

  »In the CBDG budget portion of the reading, it was noted that Madam Deem was ahead with her loan payment. Really? It is my understanding the CDBG loan was made Madam Deem to cover her liquor inventory and in MY opinion should never have been allowed. Folks, 3+years later she is still paying on an inventory long guzzled away!

                 »Newly seated Councilmember Dan Haeder asked,

“will I get a copy of the ordinance book?”

            The answer to his question, Yes, we will provide you one.

SO where is the public’s access to the code book?

Oh, yeah. that is right. We have public access Monday through Friday, 8 p.m.-5 p.m. at the city offices with EXCEPTIONS (see below):

 

On Friday at 10:57 a.m. I was at the city office to contact Police Chief Doty on a safety issue, I did not find him in his office and assumed he was patrolling.  I noted the city finance office door was closed and lights were off. So just how does the Working Joe have access to city records? Does the finance office stagger their lunch hours so the office is open over the lunch hour? We have two in the finance office with the rationale, the office is covered at all published times of operation.

• Budget for Legal in 2017 remains the same (we get a bargain but some think our legal is too high. Maybe if rules were followed, our city attorney would be obliged to clean up their messes.)

YET

the MAYOR gets a raise to $100.00 per month and $50.00 per meeting with the council members getting $50.00 per month and $30.00 per meeting.

NOTE: On the mandatory garbage-can purchase, why do we have to purchase a huge garbage receptacle when we could purchase transparent green, bio friendly, garbage bags, so much per 100 pcs., hire a part-time city worker to collect the garbage with a trailer or mobile pull behind dumpster, off loading the garbage into a roll off that Mr. Fischer could come in and pick up without running his garbage truck up and down the streets of Alcester eliminating the unsightly army of blue garbage cans sitting on the curb or next to our homes? Each household controls how much they spend on garbage collection by the number of bags they use each week. Just sayin’, ya know!

 

Vickie Larsen

08/16/2016 A Voice From the Gallery

The August 10, 2016, Alcester city council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Tom Glas with council members Lance Johnson, Audri Carlson, Kama Johnson, Mark Dykstra and David Larsen present. Conspicuously absent was councilman Mike Burke. Anybody keeping track?

During public input I asked the question why does Alcester not have a city website, why is Mayor Glas so intent on spending some $10K on cosmetics for the south bar wall which faces the alley and why does Mayor Glas’ obdurately persist in parking on state right-of-way impeding clear vision for drivers turning off First street onto South Dakota Highway 11? No answer.        .

Union County Attorney Jerry Miller contacted the city about the annexation resolution of FCS Lot D relating to the mapping/platting. Mr. Haugland informed the council an affidavit was sent to the Union County Register of Deeds attaching a map to the certified Resolution of April 2016 and should be recorded on August 11, 2016.

Upon a complaint from Councilman Lance Johnson about fireworks clean-up, an ordinance update was discussed. City Attorney Haugland felt the existing ordinances against littering in a public place was sufficient without enacting a superfluous ordinance.

City Attorney Chuck Haugland was dismissed at 7:36 p.m. by Mayor Glas. Evidently Mayor Glas didn’t feel the need for legal oversight. Imagine that!

The Alcester Bar ‘wailing’ wall came up, once again. Several bids came in with one at $8400.00 and two at $10K+. Discussion took place repeating the brick in question were just cosmetic facing brick and were not structural. Mayor Glas  commented on the 2007 insurance audit, the structural engineer, a 100K+ price which (according to Mayor Glas) was why the city didn’t fix the wall and that $10K+ was a bargain (Mayor Glas’ words). Gotta wonder what Glas was smokin’ because the engineer found the brick were cosmetic, his report was submitted to the city’s insurance company, the insurance company accepted the report and insured the building with no further action needed by the council. It was mentioned Jesse Duncan had been consulted and he affirmed the brick were cosmetic. Once more the brick wall was tabled. Dang—the ‘Wall’ is started to weigh heavy on that there ole table. Mayor Glas sure does want to waste tax dollars on an alley view!

Ward II needs  a councilman and the council is entertaining volunteers. Mike Burke decided that being a councilman was not working with his job schedule.

Councilman Mark Dykstra resigned from the Union County Fairboard and according to Councilman Dykstra, “he just could not in good conscience put up with dumping grain on city ground”. He finally ‘got it’ that Mayor Pete Larsen was acting responsibly by forcing the Union County Commissioners to get city permission to sublet the city ground and bar any grain dumping on city property. After Mayor Larsen’s visit with the commissioners, they did run the city ‘fairground’ land sub-leases past the city council. But alas when Mayor Rick Johnson and Mayor Tom Glas took office it appears the commissioners no longer felt the need to get Alcester city approval anymore and with no one to hold their collective feet to the fire the commissioners got away without city approval.

Gotta wonder about good ole Beck Drive. It seems the first interest payment is due sometime in the near future and it doesn’t appear any lots have been sold to make the payment. So how much of the HRC fund is remaining to cover regular wear and tear maintenance of the four-plex AND Beck Drive construction cost. Whose hobby-horse was Beck Drive?—Mayor Glas and Councilwoman/finance officer Pat Jurrens and where is Councilman Mark Dykstra in all this. He certainly should have had some input given he sits in the ‘council seat’, he works with loan figures and just who is holding the bank bag if Beck Drive/HRC loan goes south?

Vickie A. Larsen

 

 

 

Mayor Tom Glas called the July 6, 2016, Alcester City council meeting to order at 7:00 pm with Councilwoman Audri Carlson, Councilwoman Kama Johnson and Councilmen David Larsen and  Councilman Mark Dykstra present. Absent were Councilmen Lance Johnson (according to comments he’s baling hay?) and Councilman Mike Burke (according to council comments he should have been off work by 7:00 pm in response to the information, ‘he had to work’)?

The agenda was approved as printed and the minutes for council meetings of June 1, 2016, special meeting and June 6, 2016, regular meeting were approved as presented.

 

NOTE: November 5, 2015, Mayor Tom Glas phizzed and moaned about my formal complaint on Theresa Deem and her violations of code costing the city over $1K.

The June 1, 2016, meeting was to interview police applicants. Really? Mayor Glas allegedly           appointed committees for 2016-2017. Glas appointed Councilwoman Kama Johnson as Chair of the Public Safety Committee with Councilmen Lance Johnson and Mike Burke as committee members. So these three councilpersons could meet with Chief Doty at their convenience to review officer applicants without the cost of a special full council meeting just five days before  a regularly scheduled council meeting. Folks do you care how Mayor Glas is spending your tax dollar? Do you care Councilman Lance Johnson and Mike Burke could not find the time to be present for the June 1, 2016 meeting just after being seated for new terms? Councilman Mike Burke just made the last 28 minutes of the June 6, 2016, meeting? What part of their sworn oath of office don’t they get?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Alcester Union-Hudsonite, June 16,2016, page 9)

Next item up was public input. Alcester Bar was on the agenda again! I presented a document from the 2007 insurance audit which recommended a structural engineer be contacted for inspection and review of the south wall of the Bar building. A structural engineer from Sioux Falls was contacted at the time, the wall was inspected and drilled at several points and concluded the brick were just a façade not structural. The engineer provided a written report to the city which was placed on file and forwarded to the city’s insurance provider. Members of the 2007-2008 Liquor store committee were chair-Tom Kribel and members Jesse Duncan and Pete Larsen. So the only thing at issue is to remove the ‘bricks’. The brick wall faces an alley, so why on earth does the Mayor want to spend $10-$15K unbudgeted tax dollars on cosmetics for the back side of a building that is only worth $25K-$35K at best? Really? Here Glas was phizzing and moaning about my legitimate complaint putting him on notice which he ignored, now he is Hades-bent polishing the back-end of a donkey to make the back wall of the bar look ‘purdy’ for the alley night crawlers. Really?

           Alcester City employee and water systems specialist Dale Pearson received recognitions and award for excellence in his duties but I do not see a photo of Mayor Glas handing Mr. Pearson his award.   I see Mayor Glas and office staff featured front and center in newspaper photos, so where are the photos of our city street, water and wastewater employees when they received awards, where is their public recognition.  I do not mean the behind council doors atta-boys with the Mayor shoving an unframed paper certificate at them, but a full photo-op in the newspaper showing the job well done and the city  appreciates you and your accomplishments!

             202 Broad Street raised its head again. According to a previous statement Mayor Glas must still have wish (?) list plans for a new city offices encased in a Morton style steel building plunked down in a residential neighborhood. One interesting comment made by Mayor Glas was when he referenced the Councilwomen as ‘the girls’. At least I presume he was referencing the councilwomen as ‘the girls’ and not some anatomy part.

            Ward Boundaries have “officially’ and finally been dealt with so the map matches the 2014 Alcester Municipal Ordinances. When one is charged with reviewing a legal document, reasonable care must be taken to prevent the doctrine of unintended consequences from kicking in. In other words, one must anticipate all consequences of semantics and phrasing so one does not castrate the dog when one means to offer it up to stud!

Still no update from Councilman Dykstra on his little chat with the Union County Fair Board and the Union County commissioners about the city land leased to Union County and on which the Union County Commissioners sub-lease to elevator operators/owners to dump corn and soybeans on  and allowing the grain to rot.  Fair time is getting close, Mr. Dykstra and it doesn’t look good for the fairgrounds!  It seems to me, that was a reason Mark Dykstra wanted on the council so he could protect his agri-buddies from mean-ole Mayor Larsen who was trying to protect an Alcester City asset.  Say Councilman Dykstra you mentioned in your March 31, 2016, statement in the Alcester Union-Hudsonite,

“I have work yet to do.  I came on with an agenda and I am not finished doing it. “

Mark Dykstra

Yo Mr. Dykstra, what exactly is the work you have yet to do?   What exactly was the rest of your agenda, I mean besides prop up Madam Woolworth? Economics Czar you are Councilman Dysktra, I have trouble with your apparent economic agenda of continuing to prop up a money pit with no redeeming value throwing good tax dollars after bad.  Why do you refuse to cut losses and sell the building.  Explain what sound business and commercial economic doctrine supports that part of your agenda, Mr. Dykstra?

One last item of interest. Mayor Glas and members of the council are taking another field trip to visit community buildings. Seems to me these trips AFTER architects have presented ideas and costs are silly and wasteful. How much money, time and effort has the new community building committee spent without reviewing and understanding the findings of the old community building committee. Seems like a re-run of “Ground-Hog Day“! By the way, has the VFW and Legion been consulted for their ideas on this remodel delusion?

Vickie A. Larsen

 

 

 

There is a tired old saw quoted by Mayor Tom Glas last night during the council meeting,

“if you cannot say something good about somebody, then don’t say anything at all.”

Well folks, we have signs on the road warning of danger, we have signs on medicine vials warning of danger, we have signs on electrical devices warning of danger and we have signs on water warning of danger, so we most assuredly, absolutely need to be warned of those two-legged millstones whose mediocre job performance grinds taxpayer wallets to a fine powder which fluffs and stuffs their own consequence.

Mayor Tom Glas opened the Alcester City Council meeting at 6:00 pm with four council members present. Absent were council members Mike Burke and Kama Johnson. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Note: Mayor Glas is responsible for setting the agenda.

Council member Lance Johnson moved the June 6, 2016, meeting agenda be approved as printed, a second from councilwoman Audri Carlson and discussion concerning the Ward Map Update began. In the May 2, 2016, meeting Councilman David Larsen moved to update the Alcester Ward Boundary Map to agree with the 2014 Revised Alcester Municipal Ordinances with a second from Councilman Lance Johnson. Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland began the discussion by indicating the need for a resolution to update the Ward Boundary Map to agree with the 2014 Revised Alcester Municipal Ordinances. Acting on this advice, the council agreed unanimously (Dykstra, Larsen, L. Johnson, K. Johnson and Carlson) to table the question until the next regular meeting to allow the city attorney time to draft the resolution document. This tabled old business did not appear on the June 6, 2016, agenda nor was it discussed in the motion to accept the June 6, 2016, agenda. The motion to accept the June 6, 2016, agenda initiated by Councilman Lance Johnson and seconded by Councilwoman Audri Carlson made no mention of the exclusion of the agenda item of the updated ward boundary map until discussion began. I do believe the amendment motion which is a secondary motion must be dealt with 1) a motion to amend, 2) a second, 3) discussion on the amendment and 4) a majority vote on the amendment and then the amended primary motion is made, seconded, discussed and voted on. This did not happen on the motion to approve the June 6, 2016, agenda. Also missing from the June 6, 2016, agenda was a report on the discussion with FCS and Union County disposition of the May 2, 2016, agenda item involving the Fairgrounds property cleanup and grass re-seed of this City of Alcester asset. Mayor Glas?

Technically there is no approved agenda and a tabled resolution is missing from the proposed June 6, 2016, agenda.

The next bootleg agenda item is the Approval of the minutes of the May 2, 2016, city council meeting. Councilman David Larsen moved to approve the minutes with a second coming from Councilman Mark Dykstra. On discussion, an error was discovered in the May 2, 2016, minutes that involved the reporting of $16.00 per hour wage for Landon Nygaard instead of the $16,000 salary for his position at the Alcester Golf Course. Once again there was no secondary motion to amend, second, discussion and vote to amend the record and then the primary motion. In addition, there was no correction to the published record which inaccurately reported the postponement of the Ward Boundary Map Resolution to the next regular Alcester city council meeting. It is important to note apparently the council had not received packet of information prior to the council meeting. At 5:40 PM when I sat down in the gallery, I watched the collating of pages for the council to ‘peruse’ before they voted on those issues.

Next bootleg agenda item was Alcester Fire Chief Pat Kast advising Mayor Glas and the Council of dispatch problems sending Alcester Fire and Ambulance crews to wrong locations. Fire Chief Kast frustrated with the lack of response from Union county in curing this defect asked for assistance. I called point of information to share my experience of bringing 911 addressing errors to the county’s attention early on the 911 addressing process. Mayor Glas got smarmy about the information I shared culminating in a sharp discussion of Robert’s Rules of Order and my receipt once again of the proverbial, “pat on the head and rap on the knuckles” ideology.

Loren Fischer was present to discuss providing 95 gallon garbage containers at a cost of $1.25 per month to each resident in Alcester. In retrospect it ‘appears’ Mr. Fischer was there in response to a request from the city administration? Wanda Halverson offered up an opinion and amazingly Mayor Glas had no problem with her interaction. It was suggested the question be opened to those residents present seeking their opinions on the issue. Opinions received dealt with storing the larger size container, smaller households do not generate that much garbage per week and pick-up procedure. Mr. Fischer expressed a down-the-road plan to use automated pick up to collect the 95 gallon containers but it would require two passes on each street. Then a suggestion was made, residents could tote those ol’ 95 gallon containers to one side of the street. Folks, I would not tolerate having 95 gallon containers lined up on my property like a legion of 95 gallon garbage troops. Glory! The weed picking, grass measuring property maintenance dictators apparently are OK with picket lines of 95 gallon plastic garbage containers.

 

 

 

Bootleg agenda item Knutson Masonry Bid on the south ‘wall’ of what-else? the Alcester Bar. Mayor Glas’ ‘opinion’ go for option #1 which is parging south wall of liquor store and replacing loose and bad brick. Minimum of 1 control joint to be cut in to prevent cracking in the future and WOW colored mud of owner’s choice.

According to past insurance-prompted engineering opinion, these are facing brick on a concrete block wall and not structural. Since this is an exterior wall tucked away in an alley, aesthetics is not worth the $10K+ price tag. Parging is a process best compared to trying to cover age wrinkles with a highly expensive and largely ineffective cream. Comforting to the eye only. Parging is multiple applications of mortar or sand mix depending on function by trowel, but over large areas such as the south exterior bar wall even coats cannot be achieved without attaching sheets of galvanized mesh to the wall to help hold the mortar in place. (www.ehow.com/way_5900975_way-parge-brick-walls_.html) Since there was only one bid, the council is going to secure a second bid. Let Mayor Glas and the Council know how you feel about this. Best remedy, sell the bar, get it back on the tax rolls, get the brick monkey off the taxpayers backs and stop throwing good tax dollars after bad. Oh by-the-bye, this $10K plus is NOT in the budget!  Councilman Mike Burke presented himself at 7:34 pm for council duty.

Oh yes one last item on the agenda worth mentioning. Mayor Glas’ comments! Glory, venting of his spleen no less! Seems I touched a nerve. Ranting on about falsehoods and half-truths, really? I was right about the Ward Boundary Map and pointed this error out not once but twice to the council and proved it. Mayor Glas got caught with his Union suit unbuttoned with the flap down around his ankles.

Folks when liberties are taken with procedure, not only can the city be legally exposed, each and every action can be referred and council members can be held accountable jointly and severally if the error was previously identified and they ignored it.

 

A Voice from the Gallery

04/27/2016

 

Human Error

def. “person’s mistake rather than on the failure of a machine…”

(“Human Error.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web 27 April 2016)

Mayor Tom Glas convened the April 18, 2016, meeting of the Alcester City Council at 7:00 p.m. for the purpose of canvassing the April 12, 2016, vote.

Canvas of the votes began for the council person position 107 ballots were cast for councilperson, Mark Dykstra received 91 votes while Vickie Larsen received 16 votes. Keep in mind the number-16 votes. It is to be noted that 10-15 households would have lost their Ward III vote had I given up and let the council “make their decision” as Mayor Glas indicated in the April 4th meeting. It was determined on Friday, April 8th the map the Finance Officer sent to the Union County Auditor was incorrect and did not match the written description of the Ward III boundaries set out in Revised Municipal Ordinances of August 6, 2014. On Saturday, April 9th, I made contact with as many residents on East Park Avenue as I could find home, to let them know that they were indeed in Ward III with confirming telephone calls from the Alcester Finance Office on Monday, April 11, 2016. It is unknown if all East Park Avenue residents were home to be notified by the Finance Office. Mayor Glas and the Alcester City Council were wrong and failed to correct their defect! It is unknown how many absentee ballots may have been affected!

Canvas of the curbside recycling vote began with an announcement by Finance Officer Pat Jurrens. It is important to note here that the City Finance Officer is in charge of the municipal election. As I understand it, the Election Board works during the day at the polling locations and the Finance Officer would need to be available to offer assistance with any issues that would arise. Such as any questions concerning the boundary issues. And all election materials are to be delivered to the Finance Officer after the election. Remember those 16 votes. As the council began the canvas of curbside recycle count, Alcester Finance Officer Jurrens announced there was a 16 vote discrepancy and the 16 votes were not counted due to “Human Error”!   The 16 votes were clipped together and were not counted when the curbside vote ballot box was opened. The ballots were returned to the ballot box and it was sealed. Remember those 16 ballots? Yeah, well those 16 ballots that were clipped together? They failed to make it into the ballot box, were not sealed in the ballot box and went unsecured and vulnerable over night in the finance office and consequently were rendered invalid. Human error? These materials would have been handed to the Alcester Finance Officer per protocols and who ultimately should have noticed those orphan clipped together ballots outside of the ballot box. H-m-m

Human Error- Harmless Error… synonymous? Harmless error is a legal doctrine found in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 61. Simply explained an error made during a trial which upon appeal is examined to determine if harm has been done. Begs the question, did the uncounted ballots affect the outcome of the curbside recycling question? The spread was 98 against curbside recycling to 83 for curbside recycling, with 16 votes invalidated. Was harm attached to 16 uncounted votes?

How important is your vote? Is this how we reward those who fought and died for our Constitutional freedoms? If the job is worth doing, it most assuredly is worth doing completely and correctly. Was it harmless error East Park Avenue voters were close to losing their vote? No it was not! Alcester Mayor Tom Glas and the Alcester City Council were told not once but twice the boundary was incorrect and they did nothing to correct the error prior to election day. Councilman Mark Dykstra most certainly, “had his butt in his council chair” when the council was told of the error, he failed his sworn duty to his constituents in Ward III and threw them under the bus with his failure to act!

   Only time… will bear out the truth!

 

A Voice from the Gallery

04/13/2016

 I was confronted with a choice when I discovered after I turned in my petition late February, there was an error in the Ward lines between Ward II and Ward III, on March 21, 2016, when I brought the issue to the Alcester City Council the Mayor blew me off and again when I pushed on the issue of Ward boundary error on April 4, 2016, Mayor Glas made the statement, “they (the council) had discussed the issue, Councilwoman Kama Johnson commented they were going to go by the map and Mayor Glas stated, “THAT is what we (the council)decided!” Amazing because there was no agenda item involving that ‘decision’, there was not a motion, nor a second, discussion or vote in open session. It must have happened in one of ‘those‘ illegal executive sessions I have been complaining about. Any vote in executive session is illegal and invalid.

My choice, do I create a dust-up and force the issue or do I sit back, do nothing , allowing voters be denied their right to vote for Ward III council person? If I did nothing to cure an error I knew about, I could strengthen any invalidation of election suit but it would cost some 15 ± households their right to vote and taxpayers for another election. The choice was easy…Do the right thing!

Unfortunately by the time I realized Mayor Glas through his obduracy was going to create an invalid election situation, time was short. I visited the Union County Auditor Friday afternoon, April 8, 2016, in an effort to restore East Park Avenue voters to their rightful ward, Ward III. So the Union County Auditor, with consults with the South Dakota Secretary of State, Alcester City Finance Officer and I believe the Union County Attorney’s office, corrected the Ward III poll list and ultimately sent it to the Alcester City Finance Officer on Monday.

Today I verified East Park Avenue voters had no Ward boundary issues and voted Ward III. I was told by an East Park Avenue resident, the Alcester City Finance Office had contacted them by telephone on Monday validating their Ward III status.

The map? In my FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) I asked for a true copy of the Alcester Municipal Code including the Alcester Property Maintenance Code and I paid for that copy. Later I learned the copy I received was not a true and complete copy of the municipal code because under

Chapter 2.01-Boundaries.

(Revised Municipal Ordinances, City of Alcester, South Dakota… Ordinance No. 2014-2, Effective date August 6, 2014)

“The corporate limits of the City are declared to be such as have been legally established and amended by law and ordinances of the City show on the official map on file in the office of the Finance Officer. Such map shall be incorporated in this ordinance (Revised Municipal Ordinances City of Alcester, South Dakota, Ordinance No. 2014-2, Effective date August 6, 2014) by reference and adopted as the official map showing the boundaries and limits of the City. (SDCL 9-3-2, SDCL 9-4-1)”

 Folks no such map was attached or included. Please note this section only established corporate city limits and boundaries NOT Wards and voting precincts. Those were established in:

 “2.0201 Wards

1. Ward Three shall include all of that part of the City east of the line defined by Park Avenue, the boundary between lots 32 and 36 of the Morningside Addition, the boundary between Lots 1 and 2 of Block 1 of the Hyden Heights Addition, Hyden Drive and Church Street.”

 

Chapter 2.02-Wards and Voting Precincts

(Revised Municipal Ordinances, City of Alcester, South Dakota…Ordinance No. 2014-2, Effective date August 6, 2014)

2012 Map sent to the Union County Auditor as a Ward Map

• There is no certification or authentication! Incorrect map which miss-stated the Ward boundaries.
• Precinct maps are usually re-drawn each census year (every 10 years), last census year was 2010.
• 2012 Ward map is not work product of SECOG (South Eastern Council of Government) nor SDML (South Dakota Municipal League) per representatives of SECOG and SDML.

 

Map source Beacon-Schneider Corporation, http://www.beacon-schneidercorp.com*, boundary marked according to the boundaries set out in Chapter 2.02-Wards and Voting Precincts:

• “2.0201     Wards
• 2.0201 C “Ward Three shall include…east of the line defined by Park Avenue, …boundary between lots 32 and 36 Morningside Add…” Revised Municipal Ordinances…Effective August 6, 2014.

*map purpose is illustrative of ordinance description 2.0201″C” not intended as certification for legal purposes.“

Voters on East Park Avenue came very close to be denied the vote for their Ward III representative because uncertified, erroneous Ward maps were supplied to the Union County Auditor by the city, the Ward map did not match the revised 2014 written ordinance, and erroneous application of 2.0101 Boundaries which dealt specifically with corporate city limits NOT ward boundaries. It was close, too close! There is still the issue of absentee ballot and the question whether someone on East Park Avenue wanted to run for Ward III alderman.  Simply because Mayor Glas refused to listen to me, could not apparently read for himself and making a seat-of-the-pants “decision”.

A Voice from the Gallery

04/12/2016

 Looking back I can honestly say running for office and campaigning was interesting, educational and at times entertaining.   I visited with neighbors I knew, met other neighbors for the first time and listened to their stories and concerns.

The election is over, I did not win. The issues are still there, sadly I do not see any foreseeable change in attitudes and practices of the mayor and certain members of the council. I take comfort in the words:

 

“There are worse things than losing an election; the worst thing is to lose one’s convictions and not tell the people the truth.”

Adlai Stevenson

 

As a council member I would have had all the power of a single vote of six, but now I will continue to be content to use the power of the pen, truth, my gallery voice and now few tricks I have learned along the way. So I will continue to attend meetings, I will continue working for city website, open Alcester City government, I will work to curtail their penchant for inappropriate executive sessions in which no business ever comes of them. I will listen to the words of:

 

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”

Mahatma Gandhi

and

“You may have to fight a battle more than once two win it.”

Margaret Thatcher

Giving up makes a temporary defeat permanent. So if I have to fight a battle twice, then so be it. What is not acceptable to me is quitting, so I shall not quit!

A Voice from the Gallery

“The pessimist is the man who believes things couldn’t possibly be worse, to which the optimist replies: ‘Oh yes they could!'”

Madeleine Urban, Fish & Chips (Cut & Run#3)

Running for office in a small community is an experience! When I first took out my petition, I asked how many signatures I needed. The finance officer told me, “well, if you have 10-12 you should have plenty”. That is not what I asked. I let it go. I called the Union County Auditor and asked, “how many signatures do I need for city council petition? ” I was told that, “you need to contact your finance officer, she has the formula.” This is wrong, I should have been given a definite number. Not a ‘well-if-you-have’ number.

I turned my petition in ahead of the due date. After the petition turn-in deadline, I asked look at the authenticated petitions. I was told there was a problem with the boundaries and that the Alcester Finance Office was waiting for the Union County Auditor to get back to them. I asked to see my petition and noted that some signatures were marked as invalid because they were allegedly in Ward II not Ward III, my ward. I told the Finance Officer that was incorrect. I continued to watch the situation and was ultimately told the situation had been “resolved”. Since I had a 2010 Ward map and it matched the current Municipal Ordinances which set out the Ward III boundaries effective date August 6, 2014, I was confident I was correct and good-to-go.

Still there was that niggling thought that people were going to be disenfranchised from voting in their own ward. On March 21, 2016, the council met for the purpose of acting as Board of Equalization and during Public Input I asked Mayor Glas and the council about the Ward III boundaries, again questioning the Ward III boundaries. Referencing the ordinances which stated:

 “C. Ward Three shall include all of that part of the City east of the line defined by Park Avenue, the secondary between Lots 32 and 36 of the Morningside Addition, the boundary between Lots 1 and 2 of Block 1 of the Hyden Heights Addition, Hyden Drive, and Church Street.”

Revised Municipal Ordinances City of Alcester, South Dakota

Ordinance 2014-2,

Effective date August 6, 2014, Page 4,,Chapter 2.02-WARDS AND VOTING PRECINCTS, 2.020 Wards,, item C. Ward 3.

 

No response, no ‘we’ll check into it’, nothing, just a blank, Phzzed look from Mayor Glas! Finance Officer Pat Jurrens responded the language was a little vague but the invalidated names were in Ward II not Ward III. I want to note here that Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland was not present in the meeting.

At the April 4, 2016, regular meeting of the Alcester City Council during Public Input I asked what the council had found out about my question of Ward III boundaries, figuring they had asked City Attorney Haugland. Mayor Glas with a lost sideways look, stated, “I am going to have Pat (Alcester Finance Officer) answer that.” Once again I was told East Park Avenue was in Ward II not Ward III. I pressed that the Revised Municipal Ordinances City of Alcester, South Dakota 2014, clearly and specifically described the boundaries of Ward III and East Park was definitely in Ward III. Councilman Mike Burke stated, “I talked to Mike (Mike Kezar, former Alcester City Finance Officer) and I believe him and not YOU! I continue to argue that the Revised Municipal Ordinances City of Alcester, South Dakota 2014 was very clear and written, out- weighs any map.  Councilwoman Kama Johnson commented that they were going by the map. At which point Mayor Glas lifted his chin, stating, “That is what we decided,” with several council voices in assent. I stated, “You are wrong!”

Again I want to point out Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland was not present at the April 4, 2016, meeting. But, two city employees were present and witnessed the exchange. Oh, by-the-way there was no vote in open session to affirm Mayor Glas’ assertion, “That is what we decided“.

On April 8, 2016, still feeling members of Ward III were going to be denied their right to vote, I went to the Union County Auditor Offices in Elk Point. I presented my concerns to the Union County Auditor Klumper. She asked questions, I answered them and she showed me the map the City of Alcester had presented to her office in 2012 which showed a non-existent road east of Park Avenue as the west boundary of Ward III. After calls to the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office and the Alcester City Finance Officer, it was determined I was correct and the line down the middle of Park Avenue was the correct western boundary as set forth by the Revised Municipal Ordinances City of Alcester, South Dakota 2014. Now there was the problem of how to fix error at 4:00 p.m. Friday before Tuesday April 12, vote. Auditor Klumper made a comment, “maybe the council meant to wait until after the election to fix the error”. I pointed out that people would be denied their vote and it was already too late for absentee voters to vote, they had already been denied their vote. Auditor Klumper said she was going to try to get a legal opinion from the Union County Attorney and she would call me to let me know. I left my telephone number. At 4:47 p.m. Friday afternoon,  Union County Auditor Klumper called to let me know they were going to update the Ward lists. This still leaves a problem of voter disenfranchisement.

“‘OH YES THEY CAN”

                                                                               Vickie Larsen

WARD III, ALCESTER BE SURE TO VOTE TUESDAY, APRIL 12!