Rapid City residents are voting on a new Civic Center today, I have a feeling it will fail, but honestly I haven’t seen any polling so who knows.

But I really got a kick out of what mayor Allender said yesterday;

“Our economy can only grow with outside money, and that’s a significant source of outside money. Communities today also need to make sure they are paying attention to the quality of life issues. Large employers know this. And that is that they have trouble keeping, retaining and attracting young employee talent. That is only done through the amenities that the city has to offer,” Allender said.

Yeah, that was the song and dance we heard from our former mayor about the Denty. While it has been popular and operating well, it hasn’t made a dent in our economy. In fact I would argue it has been a vacuum. Since it’s inception our sales tax revenue has been down and the BID room tax has declined. Why? Well most of the revenue generated from the Denty goes to SMG, promoters and artists (out of town) while the rest of us foot the mortgage which gets ZERO offset from revenue.

I encourage RC voters to vote it down and don’t believe the hype. It will never ever pay for itself in NEW growth.

5 Thoughts on “Rapid City Mayor trying to sell his citizens on an empty promise

  1. D@ily Spin on June 5, 2018 at 9:46 am said:

    What happened in Sioux Falls was a unique result of Strong Mayor Charter and emperor Huether. If Rapid builds a convention center, there will be less corruption and more control of money leaving the state into SMG or (preferably) someone else. In Rapid, voters decide. The location, contract, and bonds are not shoved down their throat. They’re more conscious. There are checks and balances. If they vote for a convention center, they’ll get what they expect. Sioux Falls must live with faulty construction, inflated repairs, overfunded bonds, and general justification. Not only for the Denty but for anything Huether.

  2. l3wis on June 5, 2018 at 9:53 am said:

    DS- As I understand it SMG would run the new facility in RC, which means more money funneling out of state to SMG, Promoters and artists and very little getting recirculated in RC. I hope if they do vote this down it goes down by 30/70 to send a clear message – it’s NOT government’s job to entertain us.

  3. I would be shocked if RC approves this new facility. The only reason they have the current one is because the Feds paid for it due to the ’72 flood.

  4. Message from Sioux Falls taxpayers to Rapid City:

    Now that we have all our shiny new entertainment facilities here in Sioux Falls, it appears road maintenance has now dropped down on community’s list of priorities!

    Next time you visit, travel one of our main streets downtown, Phillips Avenue, and you will see what happens when Quality of Life projects become the priority!

  5. D@ily Spin on June 5, 2018 at 4:11 pm said:

    Huether painted some roads without properly repairing or repaving them. It impressed some. A quarter inch of black penaprime seals a driveway annually for one car not a thousand cars and heavy trucks daily. Sioux Falls is great for hovercraft or skateboarder jumps. It’s expensive for tires and shock absorber struts.

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