Can’t wait to hear the deets on this one;

Sen. Scott Heidepriem at this hour is discussing a plan to build a casino in Sioux Falls to compete with a casino and resort complex now under construction in Lyon County, Iowa.

UPDATE: Is it just me, or is it blatantly obvious that Heidi-Scott has some clients pressuring him about this?

“I simply can’t condone their efforts to pickpocket their neighbors,” said Arndt, who originally is from Iowa.

Pickpocket? C’mon! Arndt and Heidi-Scott are so clearly out of touch with voters on this issue. If you polled Sioux Falls residents, most of them would probably agree that the (Lyon county) casino is a positive thing. I don’t want a governor who is concerned about SD VL casino owner’ profits. I want a governor that is concerned about jobs, sales tax revenue and affordable entertainment, all of these things will be provided by the Iowa casino. Grow a brain. Your press conference borders on the ridiculous.

19 Thoughts on “Combat gambling with more gambling? Stupid is as stupid does.

  1. Nope, even better! He’s going to fight gambling in Iowa with… wait for it…. a government task force!

    Brilliant! Gotta love a guy that has all of the solutions.

    http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=102975

  2. Hmmm…. funny how KELO didn’t even mention that Heidepriem’s plan is to open up an events center and casino in Sioux Falls and only mention the task force…

    “The money folks in Iowa think they can walk all over South Dakota by building a casino five miles from our border, taking our citizens money while they hire only Iowa-based companies to build and service the casino. They are wrong. They want a fight with South Dakota, they got one. My message to Iowa is this, Don’t mess with South Dakota, you wont win not on my watch, Heidepriem said.”

    I wonder if he’ll send in the National Guard to keep people from driving into Iowa?

  3. I do like the whole “podium in the ditch” move. I think he should do that for all of his press conferences.

  4. l3wis on July 28, 2010 at 12:34 pm said:

    Didn’t know Iowa was fighting us? The Lyon County Casino will boost sales tax revenue on the eastside of town, they will supply jobs and as I understand it, the ‘Iowa First’ law only means they must hire a Iowa contractor first, but if none are available in the region they can use SD contractors. There is also nothing preventing an Iowa contractor from buying materials from SD or hiring SD subcontractors. We have been taking sales tax revenue from Iowa residents for years in SF. I am suspicious of Heidi-Scott’s intentions. Is this about his clients or about the state’s tax revenue?

  5. I think it’s more about political grandstanding.

    I think it’s a pretty brilliant move by the people in Iowa. They see a need for a nice casino in the Sioux Falls area and they are going to fill that need. You can’t blame them for doing it.

  6. Heidi is looking & acting desperate, and while I applaud his vision he’s off the reservation on this one.

    Iowa is simply once again handing us our ass when it comes to being progress minded. They didn’t fuck around for a decade wringing their hands over the Tyson Center, they saw a need and exploited to their benefit. Just like they are doing in Lyon County.

    I do appreciate it that at least one guberatorial candidate sees the importance of Sioux Falls getting a new facility, but to tie it into a casino is moronic. It will take years to get that project off the ground, becasue to do it correctly we should change State Law to be more like Iowa’s. Otherwise, we partner with the Flandreau tribe and they have shown what a piss poor operation they run, hence the new competition from IA.

  7. Ghost of Dude on July 28, 2010 at 2:24 pm said:

    Didn’t he try this once already?

    Still stuck on stupid. What he doesn’t seem to realize is that Lyon county is effectively part of the SF metro. Jobs there mean jobs and money here. The only people who will suffer are the people running the casino in Flandreau.

  8. Plaintiff Guy on July 28, 2010 at 2:34 pm said:

    It’s to late. The resort will be built by next year on plentiful cheap real estate. At our expense, we’re building bypass access (east loop, Dawley Farm area). With non-union labor and cooperative government there’ll be lots of surrounding commercial/retail.

    Iowa labor built the 41st Street bridge 3 weeks ahead of time and under budget. They’ll build this ahead of schedule and be working on RV parks and service workers apartments.

    Start looking there.

  9. Plaintiff Guy on July 28, 2010 at 2:38 pm said:

    We need a dozen or so task forces and consultants before the city decides it can’t decide. A casino here is a dream Janoct will finally abandon when he’s elected in 2018.

  10. Costner on July 28, 2010 at 6:31 pm said:

    i suspect what he’s worried about is the $15 or 16M dollars in tax revenue that will be leaving south dakota according to the figure cited on television. obviously we’ll get some of that back with Iowa residents shopping in South Dakota just as they have always done… but it is still a substantial amount of lost revenue.

  11. CCFlyer on July 28, 2010 at 7:43 pm said:

    What I don’t understand is why he would tie the Casino with the Events Center. The Lyon County Casino (apparently “Grand Falls Resort & Casino”?) is literally less than 10 Minutes from the East Side, and like Ghost said, Lyon County is pretty much apart of the Metro. You can see Larchwood from the East Side of SF. I don’t think we need to build a Casino here, we need to build an Entertainment Center (Events Center) and possible Resort/Hotel along with that Downtown, not a Casino.

    With the “Grand Falls Casino Resort” just southeast of the City, it will give developers more reason to sell off the East Side of Sioux Falls not only to residential, but to retail. With the hundreds of jobs that this Casino will add in northwestern Iowa, will create more people visiting that facility. The more people visiting that facility, the more people likely will visit Sioux Falls for shopping. If Developers use this huge opportunity to sell the East Side to retailers and possibly put an Open Air Mall that was planned back on track, we could definitely use this as a way to make this thing be good for us as well. With more retail and attractions for visitors to the Casino on the East Side of the city, wouldn’t that mean more Sales Tax Revenue for the city, more building permits in larger value, and that money going towards road improvements to make traveling between the Casino and the East Side easier as well and just for South and East siders in general once SD100 is finished.

    This also gives us a prime opportunity to move ahead with a Downtown Events Center, as we can market our Downtown and Entertainment District off to those visitors since it would be an easy 20-25 Minutes to Drive into Downtown Sioux Falls to see a Concert, enjoy Bars and Restaurants, head back to the Casino and Gamble and go to the Spa. I’m not endorsing that, but it is easily an example.

  12. l3wis on July 28, 2010 at 8:34 pm said:

    Heidi-Scott is blowing smoke.

  13. l3wis on July 28, 2010 at 9:07 pm said:

    The name is very clever;

    http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=103002

    Oh, and fuck, imagine that, they are using SD contractors;

    http://www.keloland.com/videoarchive/index.cfm?VideoFile=072810nb

  14. Ghost of Dude on July 29, 2010 at 8:29 am said:

    With the hundreds of jobs that this Casino will add in northwestern Iowa, will create more people visiting that facility. The more people visiting that facility, the more people likely will visit Sioux Falls for shopping. If Developers use this huge opportunity to sell the East Side to retailers and possibly put an Open Air Mall that was planned back on track, we could definitely use this as a way to make this thing be good for us as well.

    Exactly. SF seems to be in pretty good postition to benefit from the new facilities in Larchwood. With a new Target, a new Kohl’s, a new Movie theatre, a Wal-Mart, and several other planned commercial projects on the est side of town, there’s no reason a good amount of that money won’t come right back to SF.

  15. Plaintiff Guy on July 29, 2010 at 8:59 am said:

    Development in South Dakota will be focused outside and east from SF city limits to avoid the maze of permits and corruption. Rural townships will grow but they must defend from annexation.

    There’ll be jobs for Sioux Falls residents but employees will later move closer to the Iowa boom area where taxes are lower and there’s democracy.

    Huether sees what’s coming. He gave himself a $56,000 bonus for 6 weeks work because there’ll be no future bonuses. He’s an expensive dictator. What if there were 2 of him?

  16. Ghost of Dude on July 29, 2010 at 1:24 pm said:

    There’ll be jobs for Sioux Falls residents but employees will later move closer to the Iowa boom area where taxes are lower and there’s democracy.

    People base their decisions on where to live based on more factors than taxes and what you’ve called either socialism or dictatorship (which is really just a few relatively minor problems with city procedure).

    Sioux Falls will continue to grow east, south, and west. Businesses will locate where the customers are, which for this area happens to be Sioux Falls.

  17. l3wis on July 29, 2010 at 9:12 pm said:

    Two things are blantantly obvious;

    1) The Casino will have a positive economic impact on SF

    2) Heidi-Scott has different motives when it comes to his plan. When he first proposed the plan in the legislator, he claimed that he didn’t want to build a casino, just have the option to combat Lyon county. Now all of sudden he wants to build a casino. Ever notice that lawyers don’t know shit about finances?

  18. rufusx on July 30, 2010 at 9:06 pm said:

    Just to clrify a few details.

    1. The casino is not “5 miles from our border”. It is literally ON our border. The North side of the complex bounds 57th street extended East. Cross the road, and you’re oin SD.

    2. The casino is not “In – or really even “near” Larchwood. It’s mailing address may be Larchwood, but it’s really just a mile from Rowena, SD.

    3. Eventually, the most direct access to the place will be 57th Street extended East. The plans are already drawn up. Scheduled to be built (including bridge over river) by 2015.

    4. Sioux Falls city limits already extend East to the river. Development will NOT be allowed between the river and the Casino by either Minnehaha or Lyon counties. The 1 house per 40 acres will be strictly enforced. In addition, much of that area has a VERY shallow underlayment of solid QUARTZITE – VERY difficult to build on.

  19. l3wis on July 31, 2010 at 12:10 am said:

    Oh, don’t be such a party pooper.

Post Navigation