2020-21 Sioux Falls City Council.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — After hours of public input, council testimony and a brief pause and vote to determine if Mayor Paul TenHaken was out of order, the Sioux Falls City Council voted down a proposal to extend a citywide mask mandate.
The proposed extension would have lasted until state health officials announced the vaccination of subgroup 1E, which would include fire service personnel, public-facing workers in essential and critical infrastructure.
During the hourslong meeting opponents of the proposed extension filed in airing their grievances-most of which being similar in nature. TenHaken would eventually interject and take a moment to recap the night’s affairs, this was seen by some council members as unnecessary referring to the mayor’s attempts as out of order. Some took a recap from the mayor as an effort to discourage residents from speaking on the topic at hand, the council would eventually vote in favor of the mayor to continue.
TenHaken would eventually hold the tie-breaking vote, stating that his decision to vote against the proposal wasn’t anything to celebrate.
“We need to start being more kind to people, we need to stop dividing our community over political affiliations, over religious affiliations, over who won the election, over the efficacy of masks, over these wedge issues,” Tenhaken said.
The council voted 5-4 against the proposal.
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