October 2018

Governor’s Race a ‘Dead Heat’

While I felt last week that Sutton didn’t have a chance, some things happened this past week which have me believe at this point the race is a tie. If the election were held today I think either one could win by just a few hundred votes.

I have felt that Billie needed certain stars to align in order to win this, here are some important factors;

• Mason Dixon poll puts them at a tie

• Many internal democratic polls and some unscientific online polls have Sutton ahead by 2-5 points

• Voter turnout is predicted at 50%, this helps to close the Dem/Rep voter gap

• Sutton has wide support amongst his party’s voters, Noem, not so much

• Some voters don’t want a woman as governor, and while that doesn’t mean they will vote for Sutton, they may leave it blank

• I think Sutton appeals to indy’s more than Noem, because Noem is taking a hard right conservative approach to the campaign

• Noem’s negative campaigning is NOT working because it is painfully false, unlike her ads against Jackley which were true. This postcard below if further proof of the gutter politics the SD GOP plays, which just piss off voters more than anything. It would be different if Sutton was being negative to, but all he does is show Noem’s true record of nothingness.

• Trump’s rating is way down at 49% in SD. This doesn’t bode well for a Washington Republican like Noem

• Billie performed very well in the last debate, even at one point laughing at Noem’s ridiculous claims about Bernie Sanders.

• Kristi can’t swim (well this isn’t a bad thing, I can’t either).

This is anyone’s game at this point. This next week will be crucial to both campaigns to sway those last handful of undecided.

UPDATE: I found this endorsement ad interesting. Besides the fact that it is very generic and you can tell that Dennis doesn’t really know diddle about Kristi except that she is a fellow Republican (He should have just said that, “Vote for Kristi, because she is a Republican like me”), I found it interesting they would film the commercial in a high rise office in Sioux Falls. If you were the current sitting governor and you were endorsing a governor candidate, wouldn’t you have filmed this commercial at the Capital or at least in front of the Capital instead of in an office building in Sioux Falls? FAIL.

Smithfield Expansion, you don’t know unless you ask

I’ve noticed that Stormland-TV has been trying to get a comment from Smithfield about their expansion and have had little luck. So with the help of Councilor Theresa Stehly and Council Operations Manager, Jim David I had them direct some of my questions to the Planning Department. Here was there response;

I have looked into your request below and have the following information;

  1. A stormwater management report was submitted to the City of Sioux Falls Engineering Department at the beginning of this year for our review prior to a permit being issued for the $12,500,000.00 hog barn expansion.  City Engineering staff reviewed the stormwater management report and found it to meet City requirements;
  2. Smithfield obtains a permit from the State of South Dakota for water discharge into the Big Sioux River because of their onsite treatment facility;
  3. A FRRP (Flood Risk Reduction Project) Alteration request was submitted to the Corps of Engineers (Omaha District) at the end of May 2018.  The request was approved by the Corps and submitted to the Environmental Engineering Team with the City;
  4. In regards to Planning Commission and City Council Review the site is zoned and has been zoned for some time I-2, Heavy industrial.  This zoning district allows a Stockyard/Slaughtering of animals as well as processing.  Therefore, additional approvals by the Planning Commission and City Council are not required.
  5. You are correct it is existing Smithfield land.  It is being constructed on the site of the old holding barn as well as some employee parking spaces.  One aspect I forgot to mention is the new building will have a concrete floor that will be washed down daily.  The old barn had a wood floor and they had to use bedding materials that generated most of the odor. 

Thanks again for your inquiry.  Smithfield met all the requirements of our ordinances; therefore, we were able to issue them a building permit.  If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to email or call.  Thanks.

Jason Bieber

Urban Planner, City of Sioux Falls