Jim Entenman

The Legacy of Councilor Diamond Jim Entenman

l3wis May 15, 2014 5Comments

While I was trying not to gag watching Dean Karsky hand out ‘trophies’ to the outgoing councilors Tuesday night, I thought to myself, Jim certainly wasn’t getting his award for perfect attendance. This got me thinking about Jim’s one and only council term.

I found it a bit ironic that Jim had to vote on the indoor pool Tuesday night at his final meeting because he has been ‘working’ on this project during his term. Remember, it was very important that Jim voted on this, yet his attendance record over the past four years was less than stellar. In fact, just about every year he would miss almost an entire month of meetings for his family vacation stint in Mexico. Apparently there wasn’t anything ‘important’ for him to vote on when he was in Mexico. He also had a habit of skipping many committee meetings. It seemed over the past four years, DJ only showed up when it was ‘important’ to him.

Make no mistake, DJ served on the city council for DJ, his friends and family, and Sanford (which he sits on the board of trustees), NOT for you and me.

In his four years here are some of his ‘accomplishments’

1. Always voting YES on property tax and fee increases
2. Created the BID visitor tax (which goes directly to the CVB for marketing). While I am not opposed to this tax, I can see room for abuse, I also don’t see ‘creating’ a new tax as an accomplishment, but Jim has mentioned publicly several times it was something he was proud of.
3. Pushing for the Events Center and incurring a $180 million/30 year debt on taxpayers instead exploring other funding sources.
4. At his final official meeting, approving spending infrastructure debt repayment money on recreation.

Well, I guess I would be hard pressed to say that DJ hasn’t accomplished anything. He has been very effective at raising taxes and incurring more debt on the citizens of Sioux Falls. Anything for a better quality of life for DJ and his 1%er friends.

I would love to give my own DaCola version of a trophy to DJ, but I couldn’t find any local turd polishers.

Surprise! Surprise! Diamond Jim got what he wanted, see yah later.

l3wis November 18, 2013 10Comments

And he says it himself;

In his time on the council, he said he’s proud to have been instrumental in building the Events Center and keeping the project within budget. He said he also worked hard to promote the tax on hotel room stays to fund the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It’s good to have goals Jim.

Sioux Falls City Councilor Jim Entenmen will not seek re-election next year and instead wants to focus on his business.

“My business is requiring a lot more of my personal time,” he told The Argus Leader on Monday, adding that J&L Harley-Davidson, which he opened in 1975, is in expansion mode.

Entenmen said serving on the city council has been a great experience, but doing it the right way is very time consuming.

Well, if you didn’t spend a month in Mexico, you might have time for your bizzo, I am just saying.