“He really doesn’t talk about issues on his Web site,” Staggers said. “It’s a lot of fluff and no substance. People can see it for themselves. They don’t have to believe me.”
And Vernon ‘Broken Piggybank’ Brown cries “We, we, we all the way home”;
Mayoral candidate Vernon Brown calls Costello’s ads “disappointing.”
“I didn’t think that we would play at that level in Sioux Falls politics,” he said.
You would think a marketing manager would get it?
The AL references ‘DaCola’ in their story;
And if you Google ‘Pat Costello for Mayor’ I come in second place. Maybe Pat should be paying me instead of Lawrence & Schiller, NOT TO POST stuff about him. LMFAO!
In this screenshot of a FB video Jensen posted about the Mexican Beer Flu, absentee voting and yard signs (yup, it was all in there) I noticed a familiar logo on a conference room table, the logo of Lawrence and Schiller. If Count Counciloser is using this firm to help mold his message, no wonder he needs to raise a lot of money, they ain’t cheap, and they certainly don’t scream grassroots. The special interests just keep stacking the deck.
I will commend Alex on one thing in his disjointed message though, it is important to absentee vote.
Sioux Falls’ city election will be held on April 14th, with polls open between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM.
If you are concerned about COVID19, we encourage you to vote absentee in person between March 30th and April 13th. All registered Sioux Falls voters may vote absentee in-person at the Minnehaha County Auditor’s Office (415 N. Dakota Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104).
He was lying 8 years ago, and he keeps lying today.
While things in the EB-5 world are heating up for Rounds (signing off on SDRC’s contract and now the Brown County Commission asking for a banking commission investigation) the stonewalling at Dakota Wuss College continues, and of course the lying (Wadhams claiming Kathy Tyler had a secret meeting with Brendan Johnson when all she said is that she talked to him, kind of like when I waited on him a couple of months ago and I asked him what he would like to drink, does our beverage conversation count as a secret conversation? I think he said something like, “I’ll take a merlot, and did you know, Rounds is guilty as Hell.†(snarc)
The lies get more ridiculous by the day, I hope they are paying BK Jr. good to purport all those lies on his ‘blog’. Pat really should have taken some lessons from the original fake political blogger, Jon Lauck.
But enough of those yahoos.
I wanted to remind everyone of all the other scandals Rounds was involved with while serving as governor, some of you have short memories;
Using his gigantic fleet of state owned airplanes for personal use, then paying the fuel bill from the Governor’s club fund ‘after’ he was busted. It was so scandalous at the time, Professor Reynold Nesiba got it on the ballot to limit Rounds’ travels, and the good people of SD agreed.
Increased the FTE’s by over a thousand during his short tenure, giving many jobs to family members and family members of campaign contributors.
No bid contracts to campaign contributors. Just call Scott Lawrence over at Lawrence and Schiller, he will explain it all to you, or maybe his dad can, you know, Craig Lawrence, the guy running the State GOP now.
Elkpoint / Hyperion fiasco. That has so many layers, don’t even know where to begin. How is that project going by the way? And how much state tax dollars were wasted?
Millions in subsidies to TransCanada, that they didn’t need or ask for.
Taking public education funding in SD back to the stone age (remember, one of Rounds’ objectives is to get rid of the Federal Department of Education as senator).
I could go on, but you get the gist. Why on earth any South Dakotan would want to send this crook to Washington is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have 100% confidence in Weiland or even Pressler as our next Senator, but I will say this about the two gentlemen, one was honored for his integrity and the other wants to fix healthcare by offering a public Medicare option, which is what the ACA should have offered from the freaking beginning.
All we will get with Marion Mike Rounds is more scandals, afterall, this is a guy who doesn’t even use his first name. Even Alice Cooper has more integrity then that.
As South DaCola has reported in the past, Lawrence and Schiller has had their fair share of handouts from SD Republicans in the form of our taxdollars;
No bid contracts for campaign buddies, including the exclusive no-bid contract for $11 million to Lawrence & Schiller; (We also learned that Daugaard’s daughter worked for L&S while the public learned of the under-the-table wheeling and dealing in the Governor’s office.)
Well, it seems the gift’s keep coming (Argusleader);
Gov. Dennis Daugaard has asked a former advertising executive in Sioux Falls to lead the state Republican Party through the 2014 election cycle.
Craig Lawrence is a co-founder of the advertising firm, Lawrence & Schiller.
I guess after years of sucking off the taxpayer’s tit in the form of no-bid contracts, it is time to reward Craig with a job where he can really go out and turn the spin up a notch. Denny Doogard is going to get the ball rolling;
“Right now, our party needs to reinforce the rightness and relevancy of its principles and the record of its performance to new generations of voters,” Daugaard said in a release.
You mean the 35 year iron grip you have had on South Dakotans due to closed government and lack of transparency you have been so good at maintaining? But it doesn’t stop Lawrence from claiming something else;
Lawrence said he hopes comunicate Republican principles of smaller government in a “compelling and alluring” way to both Republicans and independents.
 . . . trying . . . to . . . catch my breath.
Lawrence was receiving some of the largest no-bid advertising contracts in the history of our state from governor Rounds during his administration. Rounds actually expanded government and paid back the people who helped get him elected (Lawrence) with numerous lucrative no-bid contracts. I’m not sure what ‘smaller government’ Lawrence is talking about, but it certainly isn’t the one ran by our state Republicans.
The Argus Leader’s October 19, 2010 cover story dedicated almost half of the Heidepriem-Daugaard Gubernatorial debate story to a 10-second exchange that occurred between our Lt. Governor and myself. Even then, the story failed to get the facts in the correct order. They wrongly reported that I verbally interrupted the Lt. Governor. Watch the clip on my FACEBOOK page and you too will see what actually happened.
SDPB radio news was no better. After the Argus coverage appeared, Gary Ellenbolt of South Dakota Public Radio called me to request a phone interview.  In it, I made it clear that the Argus had inaccurately detailed the timeline of the event. He ignored this. He also ignored the Lt. Governor’s stunning statement that the Valhalla excesses were “not on my watch!â€
“Not on my watch!â€
I admit it. When Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard used these words to defend the policy of the Rounds/Daugaard administration’s management of the Governor’s private Valhalla retreat, I gasped at his audacity.
Lt. Governor Daugaard then pointed at me and asked, “Reynold do you have something to say?†It was then that I said, in answer to a direct question, “I’m sorry. You’ve been Lt. Governor for the last 8 years.â€
That got me escorted out of the debate. Because I am a candidate for Minnehaha County Commission, the Argus Leader put my name on the front page of the paper. Ellenbolt followed and put the story on the top of the news hour that evening.
What I most deeply regret about this event is that my remark drew attention from this important Gubernatorial debate and race. This exchange is part of a longer history.
In 2006 I led the successful ballot issue to stop Gov. Mike Rounds’ abuse of our state airplanes for his family’s and friends’ entertainment.
Back then there was no public reporting of who was on board, why the trip was being made, or how much each trip cost us—the taxpayers. Only through the persistent inquiries and reporting by the Argus Leader and then by our successful Initiated Measure #5 campaign did the Governor change. He finally realized the public would no longer tolerate his using of our assets for his personal benefit. This was not a one-time event. The Rounds/Daugaard administration has a pattern of self-serving behavior.
For instance, for most of the Daugaard and Rounds administration, the press has reported on:
Rounds family members receiving state jobs and contracts;
Special favor legislation given to Rounds’ family members for a vodka distillery;
A new $3 million governor’s mansion funded by a secret list of friends who may or may not be calling for favors;
No bid contracts for campaign buddies, including the exclusive no-bid contract for $11 million to Lawrence & Schiller; (We also learned that Daugaard’s daughter worked for L&S while the public learned of the under-the-table wheeling and dealing in the Governor’s office.)
The Governor’s Club scandal and secret invitation lists for the Governor’s Annual Pheasant Hunt;
Blocking attempts to force state government to open up public records, and allowing only a watered down version of an open government bill to become law;
Rounds/ Daugaard administration’s using of the historic Valhalla retreat as an exclusive get-away for pals and family.
Gov. Peter Norbeck built Valhalla in the Black Hills. It is funded by the State Game Department. The Governor’s decision to remodel it prompted Republican former State Senator, Jerry Apa of Lead, to write a letter to the editor at the Rapid City Journal on Sept. 3. He reported that he and other members of the Appropriations Committee were kept in the dark about Valhalla despite hundreds of thousands of dollars funding it.
At every step of the way, the Rounds/Daugaard administration has conducted itself as an exclusive club designed to benefit family and friends while excluding South Dakota’s taxpayers, citizens and when necessary the Appropriations Committee.
My surprise at Lt. Governor Daugaard’s remark during the debate, then, was well-earned.
All of the events listed above irrefutably occurred on Dennis Daugaard’s watch. He was and still is on the state payroll as our Lt. Governor. His friend and political ally Governor Rounds endorsed Daugaard three years ago at the start of his campaign.
The entire audience was engaged Monday evening during the debate. While I regret that above all other claps and hollers—many of them from Tea Party members themselves—my personal gasp caught the Lt. Governor’s attention. However, I do not apologize for answering a question posed directly to me. I simply reminded our Lt. Governor that he was elected eight years ago to serve the people of South Dakota as the number two man in the Rounds/Daugaard administration. If it weren’t his watch, then what was he doing on our payroll for the last 8 years?
Daugaard can’t have it both ways: he can’t point to his past experience as Lt. Governor as a qualification for his candidacy, and at the same time declare that the troubled politics and policies of the last eight years were “Not on my watch!â€
Rumor has it, he has. With over $75,000 in the bank this should come as no surprise that Pat has chosen Lawrence & Schiller as his ad agency. I predicted this awhile back (well because, Sioux Falls municipal politics are as predictable as Joel Rosenthal’s gripes about liberal bloggers), considering one of the founders, Paul Schiller donated to his campaign and one of the current owners, Scott Lawrence also donated to his campaign. That’s how it works at L & S. You donate to campaigns and you get contracts in return (remember the no-bid tourism contracts with the state after giving money to Rounds’ campaign?)
I will say this, L & S has ran many successful state and national campaigns, they have a proven track record.
But mayor of Sioux Falls? LOL!
I can’t wait to see the flashy, slick stuff they produce for Pat, which will turn voters off in an instance. There is a reason why Huether and Staggers are the leading candidates right now, they have taken a grassroots approach and actually decided to ‘TALK TO VOTERS‘. Image that, what a concept? Sioux Falls is still small enough that people know each other, personally, and if you go out and get to know your fellow man, people appreciate it.
Spend all you want Pat avoiding the Joe-Six Pack, it won’t get you elected, but at least Paul and Scott will make a couple of bucks from your attempt.
While I found the campaign partially clever, I guess I would not have used that particular phrasing. But this is not the first time a government agency has come up with a silly motto. Remember the Downtown parking motto, Look for the Gold ‘P’? And who can forget Kmart’s “I just shipped my pants.”
I challenge my readers to come up with ‘other’ phrases in the comment section that don’t refer to bodily fluids, poop or masturbating. I don’t think it should be too hard.
What I find troubling though is that $100K of tax money was spent on an ad campaign that won’t even be launched. Does that mean we will get a refund? Or will Lawrence and Schiller do a new campaign at no cost?
As you remember, L & S is famously known for getting No-Bid contracts with the state for marketing campaigns, millions of dollars of them. I also find it ironic that one of the founders of the company, Craig Lawrence, a self admitted ultra conservative and chair of the SD Republican party wouldn’t have a little pull in getting L & S to come up with better ad campaigns that don’t reference masturbating, peeing or pooping your pants.
Talk about getting caught with your pants down, but not behind the wheel of course.
I can only cringe to think that Marion Mike Rounds could become our next US Senator. Only in South Dakota would we choose a crooked Republican over a Liberal Democrat. Whether you are Republican, Indy or Democrat, please, I beg you NOT to vote for Rounds. His clear record of corruption make him unfit for office.
There are many reasons NOT to vote for Mike Rounds, and let’s just pretend for a moment that he did nothing wrong in the EB-5 scandal (he’ll lie to you and tell you he hasn’t).
Rounds’ record as governor wasn’t anything less than corrupt.
– Using his gigantic fleet of state owned airplanes for personal use, then paying the fuel bill from the Governor’s club fund ‘after’ he was busted. It was so scandalous at the time, Professor Reynold Nesiba got it on the ballot to limit Rounds’ travels, and the good people of SD agreed.
– Increased the FTE’s by over a thousand during his short tenure, giving many jobs to family members and family members of campaign contributors.
– No bid contracts to campaign contributors. Just call Scott Lawrence over at Lawrence and Schiller, he will explain it all to you, or maybe his brother can, you know, Craig Lawrence, the guy running the State GOP now.Â
– Elkpoint / Hyperion fiasco. That has so many layers, don’t even know where to begin. How is that project going by the way? And how much state tax dollars were wasted?
– Millions in subsidies to TransCanada, that they didn’t need or ask for.
– Taking public education funding in SD back to the stone age (remember, one of Rounds’ objectives is to get rid of the Federal Department of Education as senator).
And let’s move on to EB-5.
While we could discuss all the lying Rounds has done about what he knew, and what he didn’t know, I have often said there are two finer points that stick out, the unknown.
– The FBI has admitted there is an ongoing investigation. That means there is a possibility that Rounds could be indicted after the election. Do we want a newly elected Senator being indicted?
– Richard Benda’s autopsy report NOT being released. I have often told people this is the lynchpin of the entire scandal. It has been determined by several people that suicide by a shotgun blast to the stomach would be an awful way to do yourself in. Candidate for governor, Mike Myers has done several demonstrations showing how difficult it would be to shoot yourself using a branch and a shotgun. Attorney General Jackley has even made the comment that his suicide was suspicious. But what really got me thinking was when former senator Larry Pressler, who has many FBI connections asked the question at the last debate, “Was Richard Benda Murdered?â€
Unlike all the other documents released in this fiasco called EB-5, doesn’t it seem strange that this autopsy report hasn’t? Is it so damning that not even Rounds could attempt to lie his way out of it? I ask, as does Larry Pressler, “Was Richard Benda murdered?â€
With all of this information about Marion Mike Rounds, that we know of, why on earth would any South Dakota voter cast one for him? It baffles my mind.
This Walmart thingy is getting weirder by the day.
Love how all the questions lean towards Walmart and don’t ask any questions about property and citizen rights. BTW, South Dakota’s largest AD agency, Lawrence and Schiller is putting out this poll;
Hello and good afternoon!
Do you have a few minutes to share your opinions with us, this afternoon or evening?  A new survey is available, but the window to participate in this one is pretty short. The poll is regarding current public opinions within the Sioux Falls community, and will only take 2-3 minutes. I will randomly draw a name tomorrow afternoon and send out a $25 Retail Gift Card to the winner.
As always, thank you so much for your time and for participating in the Lawrence & Schiller consumer advisory panel! We greatly appreciate your feedback and opinions.
lucrative state tourism contract as well as a tidy little contract to promote the University of South Dakota in a variety of forms of advertising including billboard advertising.
That all sounds a bit fishy. An advertising firm works for Republican candidates and those candidates, turned elected officials, reward the advertising firm with millions of dollars in state taxpayer funded contracts.
Now throw in this new and even more disturbing wrinkle.
The Daugaard’s political campaign ads, who are now making taxpayer funded ads because of lucrative state contracts including advertising for the University of South Dakota, are now putting Daugaard into their advertising plan to promote the University – free exposure for Daugaard at taxpayer expense from a contract Daugaard’s campaign advertising team got from the state after Daugaard was elected.
A Perfect Example of What Is Wrong With One Party Government.
Lawrence and Schiller is an advertising firm based in Sioux Falls.
Lawrence and Schiller makes political ads for Republican candidates for office – including Dennis Daugaard’s campaign for governor of South Dakota in 2010.
That fishy smell just got downright putrid.
The University of South Dakota has a reported $1.5 million three year contract with Lawrence and Schiller to promote the University. As part of their work for the University, Lawrence and Schiller has designed billboard copy with Daugaard’s smiling face, identified as “Governor Dennis Daugaard BS – 75†and the slogan, “We will serve the people†along with the tag word, “Onward†and a new USD logo – a rather pedestrian, plain and nondescript one designed by Lawrence and Schiller.
What’s wrong with that picture? Everything.
The arrogance of it is offensive. It is as if Daugaard is saying to South Dakotans, “I won. So, I can now reward my campaign buddies with taxpayer funded state contracts, but cynically, those same taxpayer contracts can promote me as well. It’s great being governor of a one party state.â€
The practice should be banned and Democrats in the legislature ought to sponsor legislation in the upcoming session to do just that.
But what is perhaps as offensive with this new billboard campaign is that Daugaard is no friend of the University of South Dakota. His first budget as Governor slashed funding to the University while it raised tuition on every student that attends the U.
So how did Lawrence and Schiller take care of that little public relations problem: spend taxpayer dollars on billboards suggesting Daugaard is a friend of the University of South Dakota. That is just plain wrong.
Pay to play is bullshit, but it is still legal in SD. And apparently the same offenders continue to rear their heads. What is more troubling is that we are paying a private company that much money to promote a public university.
1) What is wrong with their own marketing department that is already receiving taxpayer money?
2) Where did this money come from since the state is broke and cannot spend any money on education?
Maybe we could hire L & S to come up with a focus group to research the topic.
