June 2010

Get your Repeal Home Rule T-Shirts FREE!

Home Rule T-shirts (100) wil be distributed free in Sioux Falls tomorrow (Thursday, July 1) between noon and 2PM at the city hall street corner (224 W. 9th).  They’re red-white-blue and in XL only.  Please wear them at city 4th of July events if you support 5th Amendment and SD Civil Procedures constitutional guarrantees Sioux Falls citizens are denied.

Another 10,000 will be perfected and sold on Ebay.  They’ll be $10 + SH for US residents (except South Dakota, free plus shipping & handling).  Proceeds go to Daily VS. City of Sioux Falls (Civ. 08-2478) legal expenses and state supreme court appeal.  Imperfect shirts will be distributed to homeless in Sioux Falls.

Seems Ironic Johnny is trying to steal Darrin Smith’s Thunder

Hey, isn’t this Darrin’s new job as Director of Lower Airport Fees and Parking Lots.

U.S. Sen. John Thune says he has urged Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to improve service and cut fares for flights at Sioux Falls Regional Airport.

Thune says officials from both airlines have agreed to evaluate ways to lower prices and make flights more convenient.

Thune says up to 45 percent of air travelers from Sioux Falls drive to Omaha or Minneapolis to catch flights because of the high prices charged for flights from Sioux Falls.

The Republican senator says airlines also do not offer enough direct flights from Sioux Falls to other cities.

Do you think there is a little Rep vs. Dem thing going on here? Berry, Berry, Interesting.

Vanderlinde and Kirschman better hold on to their hats in District 15

Because it will be a wild ride – because of this young lady, Jenna Haggar.

Jenna is running for House in District 15 as an Indy, but make no mistake, she is very conservative in her views. If I lived in District 15, she would not get my vote, BUT that doesn’t mean she won’t have a good following. As Pitty Patt Powwers points out;

She’s razor sharp, and has a winning attitude

I have had the pleasure of meeting Jenna several times (and we disagree more then we agree on several issues), but Pat is right, she will be a formidable candidate, even in a strong Democratic district. You have to remember, Kirschman is also pro-life, like Haggar, so it should make for an interesting debate.

Yeah, let’s throw another cool million at an Events Center plan

It seems the only economic impact an Events Center is having on our community is in a consultant’s bank account;

Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether on Monday unveiled his five-year capital spending plan, which includes $1 million for planning and designing a new events center . . .

Holy Shit! Greg Jamison, the voice of reason?!

The events center expense surprised City Councilor Greg Jamison. “I don’t know if at this moment it’s a good idea to spend a million dollars on something that we don’t have a solid plan on financing,” he said.

EXACTLY! FINALLY A CITY COUNCILOR GETS IT! Secure the funding then talk plans. How many times do we have to let this thing fail before we get it? The public will not support this until we have a solid funding source. I find it a little odd that a mayor who is concerned about cell phone usage and office printers would throw another million into the Events Center burn barrel. We have enough studies already. Put a funding source on the ballot and move forward already.

What’s the best way to win a mayoral race? Spend lot’s of money.

This comes as no surprise, Huether spent 2.4x more then Staggers. As I have said all along, this election was bought and paid for;

In total, Huether spent more than $240,000 for his campaign. Pat Costello followed with $166,000. Kermit Staggers spending more than $100,000, according to campaign finance disclosure statements.

While these numbers are not surprising, this one is;

Huether, a newcomer to the political arena, had more than $97,000 in in-kind contributions, according to city of Sioux Falls campaign finance disclosure statements. It was a hefty amount compared with Costello’s $15,000 and Staggers’ $1,750.

It shows the only real person financially supporting Mike was Mike. Of course he puts his best spin on it;

Huether, who spent $128,000 of his own money on his campaign, said contributing a fair amount of his own money was done in the “spirit of stewardship.”

That’s the biggest line of bullshit I have heard from him in a long time. Allowing you to be our mayor is hardly ‘stewardship’. You hate losing, so you spent as much as possible so that would not happen. It just goes to show how money has destroyed politics.

And this number is a little fuzzy also;

In total, Huether spent more than $37,000 for consulting during his campaign.

That’s interesting, because when I add up all the ‘consulting fees’ it comes close to $74,000. But who knows. Things are often listed twice on the financial reports. Heck, he could have paid Hildebrand a cool $100,000 and we would never know.