So Pitty Pat decided to chime in on Alex Jensen’s fundraiser last night. Like I have said before, I don’t really have an opinion on Alex, because he really has NO political resume. His time in the legislature was minimal and he usually voted with the GOP majority. That aside, I did enjoy a couple of tidbits from the event;
You might have even caught a glimpse of a city councilor or two.
I heard that Marshall Selberg and Greg Neitzert showed up, (correction, Erica Beck WAS NOT in attendance). This of course is 2nd hand information since I wasn’t there. But this part of Pitty’s assessment had me rolling in the aisles
You did hear business people note they were weary of being considered an enemy as opposed to a valued parter in the future of the city.
UPDATE: So it’s funny how this was being ‘spinned’. I was told by a person in attendance that the REAL frustration business owners were having is the problems in the 8th Street & Fairfax area with homeless. And apparently that frustration (I’m guessing) is the city partnering with the business owners for a solution. For the record, this really is an administration and police issue, BUT, Stehly did hold a meeting to hear their concerns. So if the business owners are frustrated, it certainly has nothing to do with the Stehly OR Jensen.
So business owners feel like the city is making them the enemy and not partnering with them? That’s hilarious. Well, the biggest partnership in the history of the city went down the tubes, the Bunker Ramp and the RR Redevelopment isn’t looking much better. Other then that the city has consistently given handouts to some of the biggest developers in this city. For almost two decades they have gotten millions in TIF’s, Tax reductions, infrastructure upgrades, worker training programs, etc. and in return citizens have gotten pallet humper jobs and low wages. We also have gotten higher property taxes to pay for these ‘partnerships’ and in return we must beg the city for a low interest loan to fix our furnaces (Community Development Loans). The working class has gotten the shaft due to these ‘Partnerships’. Any business that complains that the city is treating them like ‘the enemy’ is either blind, ignorant, naïve, stupid or just flat out lying. The greed is insurmountable.
The business community is upset because Stehly can’t be bought with a tiny $250 donation. For the first time since Kermit Staggers, the people have a voice with Stehly, she fights for them, because as taxpayers we are the REAL partners driving the economy in this town and we are tired of feeling like the ENEMY. We saw this with the Tornado cleanup last week where citizens helped each other while the city fiddle-F’ckd around with their FB messaging.
Yes. . . . the disdain the business owners are enduring. Oh, the humanity! Those tear-soaked rounds of golf and dinners at the country club. The lonely rides home in their Escalades to their somber taupe McMansions. Your heart just goes out to them in their suffering. Forced to flee to Palm Springs for respite from the rampant scorn.
I will defend the ‘small’ ‘small’ business owners, like citizens they usually get the shaft to. I know a lot of small fry contractors that won’t do work within the city limits anymore because building services makes their lives a living Hell which drives up their costs. They just prefer to work on the fringes or remodel indoors under the radar.
That this sentiment (“woe is us, the downtrodden business owners of Sioux Falls. You should be partnering with us more, not considering us ‘the enemy'”) emerged at this gathering of cake-eaters is not surprising given this reader post @SD War College:
“That ramp is still an economic opportunity to generate jobs and property taxes. What have you done to create economic opportunity?”
A ‘glass half full’ viewpoint?
Or simply delusional?
Stehly has to run!…. I don’t agree with all of her positions or tactics, but at least I know she is not bought.
City government should partner more with business…
Recognizing that city government is supposed to be non-partisan and that ‘registered as Repub’ (esp in Sioux Falls!) does not equal conservative, but …
WTF kind of conservatism is that?
“WTF kind of conservatism is that?”
Well, it’s an example of a new political species, which has just recently been discovered. They are known as a ‘fundamentalistrinonarcissist.’
“fundamentalistrinonarcissist”
Recognizing that etymology was cleverly applied to the Linnean classification system in applying the root word, ‘rino’ in naming the species.
Bravo!