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The City of Sioux Falls is set to vote on a $70,000 taxpayer-funded fence near the Bishop Dudley House. Officials claim it’s about public safety. They claim it will reduce emergency calls.But after Monday’s informational meeting, it’s clearer than ever:
🔹 No data, no real justification. City leaders have no solid evidence that a fence will improve safety or reduce emergency calls.
🔹 Community voices are being ignored. Despite overwhelming public concern, officials are pushing their own narrative.
🔹 The city is not being upfront. The administration continues to frame this as a safety measure, but their actions suggest otherwise. This isn’t about public safety—it’s about optics.
Meanwhile, residents, advocates, and community leaders have stepped up with real solutions, solutions the city refuses to implement:
✅ Housing First, Not Fences – Because walls don’t solve homelessness—housing does.
✅ Public Restrooms – Because no one should be criminalized for a basic human need.
✅ Safe, Reliable Fixed Transit – Because survival shouldn’t depend on how far you can walk.
✅ 24/7 Drop-in Spaces – Because prevention is cheaper than emergency response.
This week, community members hosted their own homelessness forum because the city refused to.
The message was clear: Sioux Falls needs solutions, not barricades.
This Fence Is Not About Safety—It’s About Gentrification
We’ve seen this before:
1️⃣ Concentrate services in one neighborhood. Let it deteriorate.
2️⃣ Manufacture a crisis. Declare it unsafe.
3️⃣ Push people out. Criminalize survival. Build a fence.
4️⃣ Rebrand & redevelop. Make way for investors, not the people who actually need housing.
📢 What Can You Do?
SHOW UP. SPEAK UP. BUILD UP.
✅ Show up on Tuesday, March 4 at 6 PM. City Hall. Public comment is allowed. Fill the room.
✅ Make your own statement. Post on your social media. Write a letter. Share your perspective.
✅ Email City Council NOW. Let them know we need solutions, not walls.
✅ Reach out to people with influence. Email business owners, religious leaders, nonprofits—anyone who can pressure the city to change course.
✅ Make your own content. Videos, flyers, art, zines, spoken word, however you express yourself, use it to amplify the truth.
✅ Ask your community: What would make Sioux Falls safer? Get people thinking beyond the fence.
✅ Promote attending council on your own platforms. Post. Share. Talk about it.
✅ Show up however you can. If you can’t attend in person, send an email, make a call, support those who are going.
📩 City Council Emails:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sioux Falls doesn’t have a public safety problem. It has a leadership problem.
Real safety is built with investment, not exclusion.
Show up. Speak up. Demand better. See you on Tuesday.
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