“Nobody puts baby in a corner.”
If you are still undecided about voting for Dr. Staggers, watch this video of the interview and get back to me. Kermit’s concise, honest, intelligent answers stops the ED board in their tracks. BTW, the black leather jacket is a nice touch.
Kermit rocks!
Go Doc!
Did you watch the interview. He had them reeling. I have to admit though, they ask pretty stupid questions, like, “What directors will you fire.” Do they really think any candidate would answer that question? It’s like these guys wiped their asses with their journalism degrees years ago.
My favorite quote in this whole entire video is, “Lets use the events center as an example”. No shit.
CC- The funny part about it is that Kermit would probably get an EC built during his administration, and it would be the greatest example of private/public partnership this city has ever seen.
kermit has my vote. my question though, is if costello has raised all this money, why is heather the only one running tv ads so far? it’s laughable to think this guy is really walking round the city like a homeless person checking out what he thinks is supposedly wrong.
I saw two or three Costello adds on TV this afternoon and early evening.
Costello and Huether ads were all over TV tonight.
Kermit will run TV ads. I have not seen them yet, but I guarantee they will be good. The Ad agency he hired to produce them has very talented videographers working for them, but more importantly, as Kermit has mentioned in the interview, he has taken a significant role in their production. They will focus on his resume.
The ‘rumor’ is that Mike has dropped $40,000 on TV ads, not sure if that is true, but I wouldn’t say it is far fetched either.
I have seen Mike and Pat’s ads, very ‘fluffy’. While I think this approach works on some people, not sure how it will play out if we have a high voter turnout.
I’ve outdone Heuther with legal expenses trying to restore constitutional democracy. I’ll support his campaign with $1,000. He’s citizen friendly and will change city abusiveness.
I appreciated his complimetns for Police and Fire. I’d include Transit. Once those unions realize the city attorney has installed a tyrannical dictatorship, they’ll join with citizens.
His focus on city departments is right on. As an insider, he’d know. Probably the first person to release is Shawna HouseShouldLandOnHer. She’s been zoning less than a year (no severance). She’s absolutely unqualified and should wear turtlenecks to cover her adam’s apple.
The leather jacket displays South Dakota gentleman as opposed to tweed carpet baggers like Munson and Castillo. He’s ex-military (always a leader), academically educated, and fully mature politically. The city needs him to recover from Munson Madoff Ponzi damage.
Castillo should focus on his alcohol and cholesterol cartel. After yesterday, he’ll have to provide healthcare for his employees. No campaign budgets for him for awhile.
Peterson, he’s the architect of Home Rule constitutional rights and due process abuse. It rendered the council powerless and made the corrupt mayor a dictator.
Correction, I’ll support Staggers with $1,000. As ex-military he took an oath to protect and defend the constitution. Munson took a similar oath when he was sworn in as mayor. He’s a true politician because he lied.
i will say that my local tv viewing is mostley limited to the news when i get up in the am, but other than that it’s all cable. i did see my first costello ad this morning.
I watched the q&A. I am closer to vote for Staggers. It would be fun to watch for the first six months. Then it would be a long 3 1/2 years.
As I tell people, give him at least one term. Why not try ‘the other guy’ for once, someone who doesn’t always kow-tow to the establishment.
Just got done listening to the Kermit Q&A. How the Argus will end up endorsing huether or costello shows the total lack of listening capabilities of the Argus board.
L3wis:
“and it would be the greatest example of private/public partnership this city has ever seen.”
Don’t see any way it can be done under his “no taxes & no subsidy” pledge which I’ll submit he’ll never bend on.
You, CC, Dude & and I have all repeatedly advocated for B&B taxes (which are paltry by comparision) and Entertainment taxes (which could go up .5% and no one would notice) to fund an EC: and obviously those would be DOA under Staggers’ Admin.
So what exactly does he envision as the City’s contribution to the EC equation?
Couldn’t watch the vid here at work, but I did read the AL’s transcript and here’s his answer:
“I offered different funding proposals to an events center task force member that included saving money for the project, user fees on those people who actually use the facility, private donations, and creative financing. Since that time, citizens have given me additional suggestions, including one suggestion allowing people to buy stock in the facility. Ultimately, to successfully finance an events center will require a combination of financial strategies.”
Okay, let’s break it down.
Saving for it: Great in principle, but realistically what do we think we could get? A million or two a year? Inflation will add damn near that much each year we wait, interest rates will eventually go up and we’re even further behind.
User fees: Is this code for B&B & Entertainment taxes? If so, than just fuckin’ say it. If not, what are we talking? A buck or two added on to a ticket? $10 to park? Charge REO Speedwagon $10K for the privilege of playing there? Again, the market will absorb an certain level of fees, but at some point you go backwards and deincentivise both the consumer & the events as they will seek places with lower fees.
Private donations: Again, part of the puzzle, but usually will not exceed 30% of the project cost even in good times. Remember, those people are getting hammered by the current ruling class in DC so their numbers and overall wealth levels are diminishing very quickly. They may want to donate it before it all gets confiscated, but right now there’s no plan nor fund to even donate to.
Creative financing: Again, what the hell are we talking about? Reverse Mortgage? No money down, interest only loan at 79.9%? Revolving Line of Credit? Sell the Falls to the Chinese and lease it back from them? Again, this isn’t the climate where “creative” financing is thriving, it’s the opposite.
It sounds like whatever Kermit is thinking it won’t happen for at least another decade.
At this point in their career, REO Speedwagon couldn’t fill Nutty’s.
As I tell people, give him at least one term. Why not try ‘the other guy’ for once, someone who doesn’t always kow-tow to the establishment.
That logic worked for Minnesota and Jesse the Bod!
If we could see Kermit with his shirt off like Putin maybe that would convince more people to vote for him!
Hey, he wore the leather jacket, what more do you want?
Sy: [i]Saving for it: Great in principle, but realistically what do we think we could get? A million or two a year? Inflation will add damn near that much each year we wait, interest rates will eventually go up and we’re even further behind.[/i]
The real problem with the “save for it” approach is apparently our leaders feel we need it now, and nobody thought about saving for it until yesterday. That equation doesn’t exactly work. We should have been investing a certain amount for the past 10-20 years which could be used now… but that didn’t happen and if we had any money in a secret fund I have the feeling Munson would have found a way to spend it elsewhere anyway.
However, Kermitt has a valid point in general. We need to look towards the future for these types of projects and do our best to plan ahead so when the time comes we have at least part of the funds to make it happen.
Having more debt just isn’t a good idea. The maintenance costs on debt eat up a lot of tax revenue that could otherwise go towards improving the city. Just like buying a car via a loan instead of paying cash for it, your money will never go as far when you are paying interest.
So yea if we saved for it the costs to build would go up, but if we build now and pay interest – I doubt we are really any better off financially speaking.
Frankly, and I know many here will continue to disagree with me, I’m still not convinced our city needs the Events Center to begin with. We never seem to sell out the existing Arena, we don’t have any local sports teams which have outgrown it, the muscial acts worth seeing these days are playing in smaller more intimant venues anyway, and I just have a hard time believeing a new EC will be financially viable without huge yearly subsidies from the city along with higher taxes for the foreseeable future (and once they go up… it is doubtful they will ever go back down even once the EC is ‘paid for’).
Thus if Kermit doesn’t have a way to fund it and if his ideas don’t materialize… I actually don’t really care. I still think he has his finger on the pulse of the city and understands what the public really wants… not just a small fraction of the public that has the financial means to be close enough to talk into his ear.
With Kermit I would be more free to do as I wish on my property not to mention the lift on that stupid regulation regarding home power devices.. The city concentrating on the basics wouldnt need revenues for a event center..
WHat is an event center anyway? A place for people w/o anything else going on in their lives to be entertained by blokes the big corporations say we should be interested in? Well not for me.. If I was that time I already have choices. I could move to any other city and share in the deception there.
Abbot & Costello? We have Costello but wonder who will be his Abbot? The banks? They guy looks too much like Timothy Geithner with 1/2 the personality. No thanks!
Let’s keep Sioux Falls a creation of small business and not Agenda 21 folks.
Mayor Mike! It has a great ring to it!!