The best part of the public testimony was when the owner of Ten Thousand Villages called Huether out on a campaign lie about building the EC downtown and he denied it, then she told him not to ‘Thank Her’ and he did as she walked away, and she turned around and told him again, ‘Don’t thank me.’ Dave Billion Jr. also spoke and said that Billion Auto would not be a business sponsor of the EC if built at the Arena site. This is kinda a blow, considering Billion is one of the largest car dealerships in the country, and the fact the Billion family shits quarters – and makes really bad TV commercials 
VOTE for DT: Jamison, Erpenbach, Aguliar, Brown
VOTE for Arena: Entenman, Rolfing, Karsky, Anderson, Mayor Huether
I watched part of the meeting. The Mayor’s kid implored the council to vote her daddy’s way so they could all get their name etched on the side of the ec. I don’t trust this credit card shark.
Could not believe it when Huether’s kid got up and made a fool of herself and her dad. What a joke that was.
Was she in her tennis skirt and holding a racket? Puhleese….he is so shameless. I only hope this thing makes it to a public vote so we can bury it.
Wow. I loved how she read a prepared speech by her dad, sounded just like him. And to add insult to injury he thanks her like he didn’t know her. What a weird outfit.
The family, not her skirt. She is totally hot, in a naive sort of way.
He did thank her like he didn’t know her. LOL. The Sioux Falls mayor sucks even worse than the Rapid City mayor. Seriously, how could the people of Sioux Falls not see that this guy was a major tool? He’s just too slick.
Rex – the city of Sioux Falls knew he was a major tool when they voted for him in the run-off….The only reason he run was that he wasn’t Kermit.
Right or wrong, good or bad, they looked out and saw two choices and took the one that was (in there opinion) the lesser of two evils. If someone with a pulse (who wasn’t Kermit Staggers) was running against him, he would have lost.
wow – typing early – the only reason he won…not run
in their opinion, not there…
I need a proof reader
you and l3wis
it will be a lot easier to vote no now. let’s vote this november so we can get this over with.
Hos, you beat me to it. Too funny.
I also agree with scott. Put it to a vote and shoot the thing down. It was doomed at either location. Once the voters find out how badly they are going to be bent over bankrolling this piece of shit idea, it will be shot down faster than Phillips to the Falls…. oh wait… FUCK!
Given the preceding post about his high poll numbers, it will be interesting to see if he has politcal capital to burn with a controversial issue like this. His timing might have been perfect to take a position that can’t help but agitate some signifcant numbers of people and interests. Heck, even gas pump prices came down a few pennies! Things might be aligned just right for him, at least for now.
City home rule charter is unconstitutional and the council has no power. Had they all voted for downtown, Huether could have overruled and proceeded with the arena. Further, there’s doubt this will go to a public vote. Huether may just proceed with construction stating he had the council’s authority. Yes, there must legally be a vote but the mayor can proceed as he wishes. There’s nothing in city ordinances to stop him. A mayor cannot be recalled and the city (legally) excludes itself from being sued. Folks, you voted in this nazi form of government. Those who served or died for democracy sacrificed but you gave away your freedom.
Rolfing is a complete disgrace. To berate people that have served a heck of alot more hours and time in this city about their view for this location is embarrassing. If they don’t want to vote for the arena location – they don’t have to. DOn’t lecturte people on voting for a bad, bad plan for the future. Let’s also remember that when the finance package is released and there isn’t 1 private donor – there are private donors for the downtown location and one of those people stated so last night. I am also very aware that one of the “arena” city council supporters was also advised that there is the possibility for a LARGE private donor for downtown and he ignored it to thank Entenman for getting him on the city council. I am actively shopping for new candidates for the Mayor, Northwest District, and the At-Large seats.
In my mind, this whole debate boils down to this: does Sioux Falls want to be a 21st century city, or a 20th century city? Suburbanism, shopping malls, and parking lots defined the 20th century model. The 21st century city is going to be more integrated, more urban, and more people-oriented (as opposed to car-oriented).
You can already see the debate dividing along these lines. Young and progressive people support the downtown location, while suburbanites, rural folks and out-of-towners support the Arena. Changes are coming whether we want them to or not. Embracing the new paradigm will bring the prosperity we so badly want.
http://www.strongtowns.org
I watched the whole damm thing last night. LOOOONG. I will say I was impressed with the DT supporters. Compelling arguements…IF I truly believed we needed one. Which at this point I do not. I guess the only real issue I have with DT is the parking. If it were down there it would be just like it was last week in Sioux City to see McGraw. Pay $15 a car to park in private lots. That I don’t like. But that’s how people choose to make money.
I wondered what huether, entenman, rolfing, karsky, and Anderson looked like when they were being grilled. Prolly like this.
http://www.aspencountry.com/assets/product_images/product_lib/34000-34999/34513.jpg
AG and Hos: Grammar Snobs
I liked the part where the old dude rattled off my talking points from the BID site and then went on to name every business around the Arena like they were all wondrous gems yet to be discovered.
I also seriously thought you guys were joking about the Mayor’s daughter as I left right after the DT vote.
There simply are no words.
I think that old guy was Patrick Lalley’s dad. Funny.
Yeah, the Kylie testimony was very bizarre. Totally scripted by her father. This is a guy that controls every aspect of his life, and apparently it includes his daughter. Pretty sad. We will be talking about it today in our podcast.
It was just bizarre, even by Huether’s standards.
I was there for some of the testimony. I thought it was pretty gutsy of Casey Murschel to stand up and announce that she was wrong as a council member to vote for the convention center at the Arena site. Beyond that, watching Mayor Hubris and his Arena “Gang of Four” ignore testimony from several prominent speakers, any one of whom alone have done more for the city than these jokers combined, was sickening. BTW, interesting to remember that Karsky was appointed, not elected, to his seat. Bet that’s a vote a couple of council members would like to have again.
I like this blog. No one on here called me an idiot (yet) for telling off Rolfing and the Arena/wasteland supporters after Huether’s daughter spoke. I just couldn’t let her have the last word or speak for “her generation” without jumping in.
Most entertaining was Huether’s calling sweet owner of 10,000 Villages a liar.
Strangest…already been identified.
Strongest is a tie between Billion saying he ain’t givin’ a penny, Metli saying it was a mistake when HE built the last one and Nyberg telling them all they’ve got no business acumen.
I get the award for most pissed off. Yes, I get to give myself an award because the Mayor gets to give himself his own arena.
Andy – I will criticize you on one thing you said last night. Terri Ellis ‘Doesn’t Know’ Schmidt, IS NOT an expert on anything. Sorry.
Wait til Huether rolls out the funding and the actual cost. I suspect he will borrow the full amount with bonds backed up by the 2nd penny. A 20-30 year bond. What you won’t see is all of the services that will suffer in the CIP because of it. If you think the location selection was painful, wait for this debate. I also see the pricetag jumped from $99 to $100 to $110 to $115 to now $120.
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110615/NEWS/106150316/With-site-settled-city-turns-100-million-question?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
“The final project is expected to cost between $100 million and $120 million. Dan Mehls of Mortenson Construction told councilors that the price of steel is on the rise – up 4 percent this year and an expected 6 percent next year. The specter of inflation has been one reason why Huether and other supporters of an events center say it’s important to get the project finished soon.”
Steel costs going up, suuuurrrreeeee . . .
DJ –
“watching Mayor Hubris and his Arena “Gang of Four†ignore testimony from several prominent speakers”
Really? This has been going on for years. I remember the last time a similiar dog and pony show went one. The poor, poor, poor developers in SF needed the taxpayer’s to pony up the full 2 pennies for roads. And they cried and cried and the council and mayor decided that it was a great idea. But the deal was they would ‘Match’ the taxpayer’s contribution. We warned the mayor and city council that the match would never happen, that the economy was tanking, and the development is years away (outside of TEA, SD). Guess what? The economy tanked shortly after the vote, the developers have yet to contribute matching funds and have yet to develop in that area. My point. certain councilors have an agenda, they don’t give a shit about your opinion, even if it is based on facts.
People actually believe that if we build this thing in the current site, that we are going to add all of this new revenue, when in reality – all we have added is four walls in an industrial park. We will still continue to lose business to Omaha, Des Moines, and Lincoln because we are not offering them anything new. We will lose to these other cities because they will always be able to offer a more complete and enjoyable package while we offer an industrial park. It will never be about the full package and that’s what many people lack to see that just want this built for good sight lines, a new building, new suites, etc. This site is a bad plan for now and more importantly the future and I will not vote for it.
So very true, Alice15!
This decision is an embarrasment to our City. Rolfing truly out did himself and could have easily lost his spot on the council for how he attacked the citizens that went up and spoke. Maybe I’m too young, but has anything been done to fight this Home-Rule crap? It seems like a complete mess and almost completely unconstitutional.
It is unconstitutional. Where is Pathloss when we need him?
What I have seen – a lot of the “Build it at the Arena” people really just don’t want it downtown. Personally, I think both have strong bad points and very little as far a good points. I think if there was a “Build It Someplace Else” group – they would win the vote.
The Arena site is dumb…but let’s be honest – for 6+ months of the year, people are not going to park 3-4 blocks away from the arena to walk to a restaurant/bar, to then walk to the arena, to then walk to the same/different restaurant/bar to then walk to their cars. It’s too cold, or too hot, or raining, or windy, we have too much crappy weather. Would I do it, sure. Would some of my friends, yes. Would my wife? Nope, she would drive to where she wanted to eat, eat, then drive to the EC, then drive to where she wanted to after-party. People are not used to walking, much less walking in cold/hot/rainy/windy weather. If there isn’t parking near the place they want to eat/drink, they will go someplace else.
Why do downtown centers work in Lincoln/Omaha/Des Moines? They are bigger cities. While the percentage of people who will walk is around the same, they have a larger pool of people to pull from.
Of course, this is all my opinion, I could be wrong…
Yeah, let’s stop this nonsense that we’re going to steal events from Des Moines, Omaha, and Lincoln. Besides the population difference, they’re too far away to be true competition. We actually have a better shot at getting a show if they hit those markets.
We’re not going to steal events from them – we’re just not going to get them. The minute these conventions start doing a comparison – we lose everytime, and if for some reason we do get them – they do not come back. Conventions are about the whole experience from flying in, hotels, shopping, entertainment etc. Do their spouses, kids, staff members, themselves have things to do/visit within walking distance when they are here? Answer everywhere else – yes, the answer here – a big no. This isn’t rocket science – it is what every reasonable convention that we have gotten has told us – “we will not return – there is nothing to do.” They are not too far away – the rest of the country looks at all of us together as the Midwest and I can tell you with the current situation – Sioux Falls would be 4th on this list and it looks like we will remain there after Monday night.
I don’t think it will pass by a vote of the people.
I think it will fail to, but I also think it will be close. Don’t underestimate Mike. He was a virtual nobody when he started to run for mayor. Worked his butt off and spent oodles of money and won.
How do (either) of these two get in management positions?
http://www.argusleader.com/article/99999999/MULTIMEDIA/100802034&Ref=AR&template=livestream