Second reading for the revised Vision Fund ordinance was postponed to get more community input
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - It has been two weeks since the first reading for the ordinance regarding the Vision Fund account was passed and on Monday the Rapid City community had their voices heard with the second reading for the reworded ordinance being postponed until June.
The reworded Vision Fund ordinance mainly changes procedural aspects of the current ordinance, and according to the city, it would make it faster for projects to get passed, taking away the citizen committee. That is what some people who attended the meeting felt was the issue with the rewording.
Some felt this would take away the voice of the public and leave it all up to the council.
“I can foresee a path where the amendment ultimately results in the council being even less accountable to the desires of the citizenry and a small number of key interests controlling the fund in hush meetings behind closed doors,” Rapid City resident Joshua Simpson said. “Let’s be honest, we are gutting the citizen project portion of the Vision Fund, and even if the council chooses to utilize the citizen committee, they can entirely ignore it and change the project allocation on a rolling basis.”
Public comments on the ordinance ended with most people at the meeting wanting more time and information given to them by the city.
Some on the council felt the same way, saying they would still vote for the ordinance to pass, but that the citizens deserve to know all the specifics of the changes.
“I’m not pushing this out with any kind of narrative that I am not going to support this. I do believe that the citizens of Rapid City deserve to have information and deserve to know what’s being done with this and what our hope is, and certainly wish to retain the public input process so that this truly remains a beneficiary to the citizens of Rapid City,” Rapid City Ward 2 council member Lindsey Seachris explained.
The requirement that the city take public input on any proposed plan or amendment will still be in place and will need to happen at a public meeting before any action is taken on any Vision Fund proposal.
As for the vote on the second reading of the ordinance, that is set to happen June 17.
“I just don’t believe the citizens have had input on this or enough input,” Rapid City Ward 5 council member Rod Pettigrew expressed. “I just do believe it is being rushed; it is being pushed through really quickly. I don’t know what the hurry is; I don’t know if there’s a deadline we have to meet, and I don’t know if June 17 is long enough, but I believe we should slow it down and have much more citizen input.”
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