Event Center

I don’t know who this Scott Erickson character is, but he was all of over the news last night talking about the new events center

l3wis December 15, 2009 22Comments

Gotta hand it to the KDLT news team, calling me two different names in the same article (screen shot above, article below);

Scott Ehrisman says, “What we’re asking to do is taxing the majority, a lot of people what’ll never attend the place, never afford to use it.”

Well it least STORMLAND TV NEWS and the Gargoyle Leader got it right;

“The state is telling us that they don’t have enough money to increase education funding in this state and we’re going to ask the voters of Sioux Falls to pay an additional one cent tax to build an entertainment facility,” Scott Ehrisman who opposes the events center plan said.

Scott Ehrisman said the people who will use and benefit from the facility should pay for its construction.

“We really need to change it before it goes to the voters in November or it’s not going to fly,” he said.

I didn’t make KSFY, I guess you can only be quoted in 3 different media sources in one night. But KSFY’s story was the most interesting. One of the last person’s to speak told the council that the public doesn’t trust them with their money anymore, inferring that the council always goes back on their word with what they spend the public’s money on.

That did not sit well with Quen Be De Knudson. She said she took offense to the comment because she sits through “Six Hour meetings.” Watching Larry King or the Olympics of course. Last I checked De, you are getting paid to sit their, so please, just for once, STFU!

And Munson pulled another fast one with letting ONLY proponents speak first and having opponents sit for an hour and listen to the suit and ties tell us how important this facility is to the community (and their wallets). Not one single person from the general public came up in support of the facility unless they were a business owner that will be directly impacted by building the facility. Gee, I wonder why? Staggers tried to change Munson’s little plan and said that opponents and proponents should take turns speaking, but King Dave would not allow it. It just goes to show who the Mayor represents.

WATCH THE ENTIRE TESTIMONY HERE (It runs about from oo:10-3:00 )

Get your butt to the SF city council meeting tonight! Speak your mind about opposition to the Event Center funding resolution.

l3wis December 14, 2009 1Comments

Reminder: City Council votes on event center recommendations tonight.
7pm • 10th & Dakota Ave. (not City Hall at 9th & Dakota)

Their resolution says they are accepting all the recommendations of the task force. That means they are asking for new sales tax to pay for it.
It also says the city must have “an accessible, user-friendly program to refund a temporary one cent sales tax to income qualified residents”. (nothing about effectiveness in reaching those who need it)

All this in today’s Argus Leader

The 657 rebate number refers to 5 months, not 3. I am trying to get the latest 3-month figure from the state. The July-Aug-Sept number is 630 households statewide. That’s all! for the whole state! (At the time of the census SD had 94,000 low-income households.) Note that the subtitle “People on food stamps must apply” is wrong. Anyone with food stamps is not eligible.

Here is a great letter to the editor about the issue.
2. a poll question on this
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

I have to work tonight, but am going to try to get off early enough to speak. I’m guessing the only dissenting voice will be Staggers.

Sioux Falls city council to vote on the stupidest funding source for an entertainment facility evah!

l3wis December 9, 2009 0Comments

But according Quen Be De Knudson, the voters will decide, right after the rubberstamp council and rubberstamp legislature decides;

A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 2008–2009 EVENTS CENTER TASK FORCE.

WHEREAS, a task force of citizen volunteers has studied the facility needs of Sioux Falls and arrived at a plan to build a new events center and expand the existing Convention Center;

WHEREAS, funding such a project will require state legislative authorization and will be put to a public vote; and

WHEREAS, the events center project will not be put to a vote unless it includes an accessible, user-friendly program to refund a temporary one cent sales tax to income-qualified residents;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD:

That the Mayor and City Council adopt the recommendations of the 2008–2009 Events Center Task Force.

Funny, no mention of the ONE CENT INCREASE on everything. Nice misleading. Losers. I expect only Staggers to vote against it.

The Gargoyle Leader’s Publisher seems to be either confused or sending misinformation to the voters of Sioux Falls

l3wis December 6, 2009 3Comments

Grumpy-Grumps is back on the beat, oh joy. I guess he stopped crying over Janklow beating him up.

Okay, I don’t expect the average Joe on the street to understand the Event Center circus, but I do expect the publisher of Sioux Falls’ only daily paper to understand it, especially since he is promising he will write his column again;

So beginning this month, I’ll be returning to a regular column rotation, at least monthly.

While I welcome Beck’s column, because #1, I think he is a fantastic writer and I also think he is really funny, sometimes biting, sometimes tragically, but what I do not approve of is spreading bologna about the EC funding;

Public momentum, for example, seems to be solidly behind building an events center in a way that belies the city’s fractured political leadership. As long as we can figure out how to keep Howard Wood Field out of the final solution, locate a donor to provide some seed money and convince Pierre to give us (and other cities) the power to control our own destiny through the BBB tax, we’ll be on our way to making a major investment in the quality of life in Sioux Falls.

First off, let’s clarify something, I do think a large MINORITY supports a new EC, but only if we fund it without taxing the poor and working class more, and secondly, I am not sure who’s ass you pulled the BBB tax funding idea from, but you and I both know that, that is not the proposal.

I will hold back any criticism and give you the opportunity to print a correction, soon, like, tomorrow.

Once again our local newspaper proves how out-of-touch they are with the rest of the community

l3wis November 18, 2009 7Comments

Event Center Task Force Chair, Terry Baloun lays it on thick

We all knew this was coming like a freight train, the Gargoyle Leader endorses the Event Center Task Force’s flawed plan;

The plan, in its broad strokes, deserves the council’s support, subsidy and all.

They conveniently leave their endorsement as the last sentence, so let’s backtrack a bit.

First, what kind of city would Sioux Falls be without government subsidies of certain amenities?

The answer is startling.

We’d have fewer pools and no parks, for one. The Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum probably would be gone. And the bike path? Forget about it. There’d be public safety, roads and sidewalks in Sioux Falls. And that’s about it.

First off, comparing an events center to the bike trail is like comparing apples to oranges. I don’t get charged an admission fee to use the bike trail and the parks. When we pay taxes we expect a service in return, we get that with the bike trail and our parks, we get that with roads, etc. Making the community as a whole pay for a facility that a majority of them will never use is unfair, and my guess will be very unpopular. That is why a BB & B tax combined with an advertising tax is the best way to pay for this facility. It is common sense really; MAKE THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE USING THE FACILITY – PAY FOR THE FACILITY. Not sure how much simpler the concept could be?

A study estimates that an events center and expanded convention center would bring $52 million into Sioux Falls annually. That’s $52 million that might find its way to another city if Sioux Falls flinches at subsidizing an events center. In that light, an estimated annual subsidy of $400,000 shouldn’t be dismissed automatically.

While I can’t deny or prove the $52 million impact, I ask this question, “Who is receiving a majority of this revenue? The common Joe?” Think about it. The Washington Pavilion estimates it generates a $13 million dollar impact every year on Sioux Falls . . . ahem. Let’s ‘pretend’ for just a moment that is true. Has your personal finances and personal wealth grown since the Pavilion and new Convention Center has been built? Probably not. Has a majority of this community grown culturally since the Pavilion been built? I know I have personally benefitted culturally from the Pavilion, but I know I am a very small minority. I don’t think subsidizing these facilities is a bad thing, I just think we need to collect that subsidy fairly – that is what the ED Board leaves out.

The City Council is expected to vote next month on a resolution supporting the events center plan and a temporary 1-cent sales tax to pay for its construction.

Something that will probably get all of the council’s rubber stamp (including maybe even Staggers). But don’t think there won’t be a lot of shit flying before this vote. It already started Monday night. During public input of the city council meeting, only two hours after the task force presented their flawed plan, a citizen urged the council not to approve the funding source for the new events center. The citizen actually sounded like he was in support of the new EC, just not the funding source. But it did not stop Quen Be De Knudson from twisting the responsibility back on the voters. She said, (paraphrasing) “This is really in the hands of the voters to approve this funding source.” Fortunately the citizen wasn’t that stupid to believe De’s bullcrap. He reminded her that the city council is the one that will initiate that process by recommending the flawed funding source to the legislature, to which she didn’t have much of an answer. Also remember, De has ranted and raved every chance she could get at council info meetings about how “she can’t wait to increase retail taxes by 1 cent so this city can build ‘all kinds of wonderful things.'” Make no mistake, this isn’t about letting the voters decide.