Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: Janet Brekke, Christine M. Erickson, Alex Jensen, Rick Kiley, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl Council Members Absent: Pat Starr Council Chair Curt Soehl called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. 2. Committee/Commission Reports A. South Dakota Municipal League Board of Directors: Wednesday, December 8, 2021 (Council Member Erickson) Council Member Christine M. Erickson provided the report. She spoke about the following topics: legislative bills; funding from the SDML; reports on Medicaid expansion and Ranked Choice voting; and the SDML's financials,which included paying off their building and generating rental income. B. Metro Management Council: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 (Council Members Erickson and Kiley) Council Member Rick Kiley provided the report. He spoke about the following: improved staff retention; open positions and recruitment; Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) financial strategy; increase in workload; approval of four hours of Administrative pay; approval of resolutions for Employee Benefits and Non- Bargaining Unit Pay; approved the adoption of Personnel Manual Revisions, some equipment, and the 2022 Minnehaha County Metro PSB Lease Agreement; and the appointment of the Agency Committee to enter into union negotiations. C. Multi-Cultural Center Board of Directors: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 (Council Member Starr) Council Member Pat Starr was absent. Soehl said the report will be given at the next meeting in January. 3. Councilor Remarks  Kiley spoke about the Wreaths Across America ceremony that recently took place at the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Sioux Falls. He said the event was well attended. Council Member Janet Brekke also spoke highly of the Wreaths ceremony. She then thanked the Council for their support following the recent death of her father-in- law. Brekke said he was a veteran of the Korean War and spoke about the military honors he received at his funeral. 4. Presentations A. COVID-19 Update by Dr. Charles Chima, Director of Public Health Presentation: Approximately 15 minutes followed by discussion Chima provided a status update of the pandemic in the Sioux Falls community. He began by providing an overview beginning from March 2020; and noted the surge of active cases and hospitalizations, from November 2020 to January 2021, as being the highest so far. Chima said we are currently seeing the second highest surge since the beginning of the pandemic. Currently the ones that are hospitalized and in the ICUs are people who are primarily unvaccinated. He said that there was a decline in the summer, but that changed with the arrival of the Delta variant. Hospitalizations haved increase over the past two weeks. He spoke about concerns regarding the variants. He noted that Omicron is not nationwide, there is still a lot to learn about it, and it's more transmissible than the Delta variant. In South Dakota, the Delta variant is dominate, but Omicron is expected to take over. He spoke about vaccinations and shared that 164,426 people in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties have received at least one COVID shot; and 62.7% of the population has received any COVID-19 vaccination to date. Chima said that we are not at the levels that we feel comfortable with but are continuing to make progress. He spoke about the partnership with the South Dakota Department of Health regarding vaccinations and vaccination rates. Chima also spoke about the partnership with Sioux Area Metro to help make it easier to get the vaccines to residents. There are events that are held in the evenings, weekends and through working with businesses to go to where the people are to distribute the vaccinations. Chima said they are seeing some success with this program. People are able to go to the City's website and to contact 211 to schedule an appointment with the "Give it a shot, Sioux Falls!" vehicle. BryAnn Becker Knecht, the Mayor's Office Communications Coordinator, spoke about the COVID-19 Communication Campaign. The multi-lingual campaign began in March. There have been more than 4.6 million impressions since March 24, 2021, primarily through digital billboards and social media platforms. Billboards across Sioux Falls have featured their message in five languages, which are the Top 5 languages spoken in the Sioux Falls School District. A recent public service announcement was done in Spanish and was shifted to focus on people taking action. The budget for the 10-month campaign was $100K and the marketing company Fresh Produce helped with it. Chima concluded the presentation by recommending people: get vaccinated and boosted; for people to stay home and get tested if they have symptoms or are exposed; and to limit gatherings and to wear facial coverings. He said COVID is still in the community and encouraged people to not act out of fear, but caution.  Discussion followed regarding: how long after having COVID can you get a booster; COVID conspiracy theories; the view that people don't need to be vaccinated if they have already had COVID; vaccination goals; what the new COVID campaign plan is; what is the best thing to do if you aren't feeling well, to get tested or boosted; variant trends; people's reaction to the COVID shot; determining the variant strain that someone has from COVID; and gratitude for the Health Department's hardwork. B. Election 2022 Update by Tom Greco, City Clerk Presentation: Approximately 10 minutes followed by discussion Greco provided an overview of the 2022 Election. The Regular Election (City/School) will be held on April 12, 2022, with a voter registration deadline of March 28, 2022. If a Runoff Election is needed it will be held on May 3, 2022, with a voter registration deadline of April 18, 2022. Greco said he will back to discuss Absentee ballots and details of Election Day. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. He spoke about the items that could possibly appear on the ballot: five offices (Mayor, At-Large Council Member "A", At-Large Council Member "B", Southeast District Council Member, and Central District Council Member); Charter Amendments; Other Ballot Questions; and School Board. Greco reviewed a list of important dates for people to know. Among the items listed were: Earliest date to Circulate/File Nominating Petitions (January 28th); Deadline for Charter Amendments (February 11th); Deadline for Filing Nominating Petitions/Withdraw Nomination (February 25th); Start of Absentee Voting (March 28th); Deadline to Vote Absentee In-Person (April 11th); and Start of Terms; Installation; Election of Chair/Vice Chair/Ops (May 17th). Runoff dates were also discussed. An ordinance was passed last week, regarding precinct and boundary changes. Greco said there are six new precincts and the western boundary of 1-17 was extended. Campaign Finance deadlines were discussed. For the Election there will be 74 precincts in 52 locations. In regards to Election workers, there will be 67 superintendents and approximately 160 deputies needed. Greco said that they are in a good position and have a database of 1,000 people who have worked elections since 2016. He said the challenge will be making sure the right people are placed in the right spots. Calls will begin in January to hire the workers. He also spoke about the workers needed for the Absentee and Resolution Boards. Greco said that the Auditors received a new tabulation machine and there will be a designated tabulation machine for Absentee ballots on Election Day. He concluded his presentation by speaking about the Elections page on the City's website. Greco said it's a great resource and it continues to be built. Some of the key resources that can be found on the page is the 2022 Municipal Election Handbook and a link to the Secretary of State's Voter Registration portal. Discussion followed regarding draft legislation to change the dates of municipal and school elections. 5. Public Comment Linda Oliver spoke about COVID and the dangers associated with the vaccines. 6. Adjournment Council Chair Curt Soehl adjourned the meeting at 5:14 p.m. Denise D. Tucker, MMC, Assistant City Clerk