South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

November 2013

Developers Development Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

Hotel at the Elmwood site

l3wis 18Comments

I guess there is several ways to look at this, so here we go.

This is what we know so far, the city is going to put out an RFP for a Hotel on the Elmwood Golf Course property, the contract deals are not final, but the city is looking at leasing the land and maybe profit sharing with the hotel.

Some questions;

• Why doesn’t the city just sell the property to a potential hotel and stay out of a private/public partnership?

• This is a precedent because the city has never, as I can recall, gotten involved with a partnership with a private lodging business. Why now?

• Our recent track record of providing lodging DT resulted in millions in river landscaping and even more $$$ in property tax cuts. How is the taxpayer going to benefit from this,

• And how much investment will the city make with a private entity that provides lodging?

There are some positives here. The EC task force said that another hotel would have to be in that area to support lodging for the new EC. But why not closer to the EC? And what about David Graham’s empty lot that he has been trying to sell for lodging? The city has harassed him several times when it comes to code enforcement of his property, why not encourage him to build a hotel?

Is the city doing this to prove they have potential prospects when it comes to building more hotels in the area?

While I am all for more hotels in the area, I am a bit leery about us partnering with a private business for lodging. It is not in the taxpayer’s best interest to make sure visitors have a place to stay. Hotels are private enterprises, they should stay that way.

Event Center SF City Council Sioux Falls

Will the Events Center be expandable to 15,000 seats once completed?

l3wis 26Comments

ec

Note: This image is from an early recommendation of the EC task force when they were suggesting to eliminate Howard Wood Field.

I guess I haven’t really thought about this much (because I really don’t think we will use the 12,000 seats that will exist when the EC opens, let alone 15,000). But I vaguely recall it being sold to us that way.

I could find only one news story from KSFY talking about the expansion;

“We’re excited to be at this point. We’re excited people voted for this and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with the city on it,” Dethlefs said.

The next step is for architectural firms to finalize the plans. The plans will then go to the city for approval.

There’s room to grow with this facility. Crews are designing it to add another 3,000 seats if it’s needed in the future.

So why am I questioning this now? For one, I think it was one of BID’s campaign promises, I also think the EC task force recommended it, and I believe the voter’s were sold on this concept, even after the victorious vote.

And, you can’t seem to get a little suspicious when the mayor says the project is ahead of schedule and under budget.

As I understand it, there can be ‘geological and rock’ issues after surveying the land, and this can change the foundation and footprint plans of a project, which ultimately changes the entire building. The First Phase of the River Greenway had to have a change order after they found too much of the elusive Sioux Quartzite.

So I ask the city, is the EC being built to be expandable to 15,000 seats? And if not, when were you going to inform us? If ever? And if it is being built for expansion, will you show us the proof and plans?

Just curious, for now.

Jim Entenman SF City Council Sioux Falls

Surprise! Surprise! Diamond Jim got what he wanted, see yah later.

l3wis 10Comments

tequilajim

And he says it himself;

In his time on the council, he said he’s proud to have been instrumental in building the Events Center and keeping the project within budget. He said he also worked hard to promote the tax on hotel room stays to fund the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It’s good to have goals Jim.

Sioux Falls City Councilor Jim Entenmen will not seek re-election next year and instead wants to focus on his business.

“My business is requiring a lot more of my personal time,” he told The Argus Leader on Monday, adding that J&L Harley-Davidson, which he opened in 1975, is in expansion mode.

Entenmen said serving on the city council has been a great experience, but doing it the right way is very time consuming.

Well, if you didn’t spend a month in Mexico, you might have time for your bizzo, I am just saying.

SD Attorney General

SD Dems have finally awaken from their deep sleep on the EB-5 Investigation

l3wis 7Comments

Wondering when they were going to get off the facebooks and twitters and say something about this;

SIOUX FALLS, SD - South Dakota Democrats are calling on Attorney General Marty Jackley to recuse himself from the state investigation into the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

Last month, Governor Dennis Daugaard confirmed a state and federal investigation into alleged financial misconduct was underway in the office. Daugaard said the allegations took place prior to his administration.

South Dakota Democrats say Jackley, who was appointed by former Governor Mike Rounds, has a conflict of interest and can not conduct a ‘real investigation’ into that administration.

Jackley says because the alleged financial misconduct did not relate to the Attorney General’s Office there is no direct or indirect conflict. He also adds that the allegations do not relate to Rounds, so there is no conflict there either.

Jackley says the federal government has jurisdiction over the EB-5 immigration program that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office has said is the target of an FBI investigation.

Kind of reminds me of when Jackboots investigated the BK brothers in the SOS’s office for a crime he knew they would be innocent of, stealing from the state. Heck, a three-legged Corgi dog could have told you they weren’t stealing anything.

Even if Jackboots doesn’t think he has a conflict on the economic portion of the investigation, he certainly shouldn’t be looking into Benda’s death. BTW, how is that going . . .

Developers Development Sioux Falls

More taxpayer incentives for the DT Hilton?

l3wis 22Comments

hilton

Just when you thought the incentives for the DT Hilton couldn’t be anymore, in steps Dakota Business Finance, (look at the board of directors.)

There is a sign outside the Hilton that says basically says this;

Financing Provided By
Dakota Business Finance
SBA 504 Financing
20 Year Fixed Rate
Low Interest Rates
So not only did the Hilton get taxpayer subsidized landscaping and bulkheads, property tax cuts in the form of TIF’s, they also received SBA funding?! All for a ‘luxury’ hotel. Folks, I wish I was making this shit up.

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