[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePkOJA9ckTU[/youtube]
Still not sure what Mayor Huether thought he would accomplish by putting together this committee. The probable outcome doesn’t surprise me;
A fund used to attract conventions and visitors to Sioux Falls won’t be diverted to brick-and-mortar projects anytime soon.
Steve Westra, chief operating officer for hotel owner Hegg Companies and a vocal critic who has questioned the need for the review, said the review committee was an unsuccessful “money grab†by the mayor. He said he appreciates that the committee isn’t recommending capital spending as a legitimate use for the fund.
“(The mayor) has taken several runs with trying to use dollars outside of what it’s intended for,†Westra said. “We get the sense that the mayor sees it as a road block.â€
Well, you know how I feel as a citizen constantly chasing down the spending habits of this mayor, they are out of control. This is evident in his attempt to raise rates on Paratransit (instead of just streamlining it) and to eliminate free swim passes for poor kids.
Turbak blamed those perceptions among the hotel and travel industries as a reason for the group’s failure to come up with bolder recommendations.
“I think the influence of the strenuous defense of the status quo is certainly reflected in the recommendations,†Turbak said.
As I have said before, when the status quo is working (Using the BID tax to promote visitors) you don’t need to fiddle with it. Westra is exactly right, this was just a ‘money grab’ scheme by the mayor and his cronies.
This guy says its all about me and then money for tennis how arrogant is this guy,
Let me guess. Since there hasn’t been the growth the Mayor promised around the event center, he was going to take the BID money and use it to either build a city funded or co-funded attraction, or offer a tax incentive to someone who doesn’t need it to build one out there.
Westra hit the nail on the head. “money grab” sums it up. What concerns me is Huether doesn’t have any problems with going the city going deeper into debt when he wants something.
Whatever he had planned for that money, I hope he finds another source for it than the City coffers.
Steve Westra was spot on when he called this another money grab. It seems the mayor will try anything to take $ fromanywhere, regardless of what is slated for. He needs to be watched like a hawk and kudos to the media outlets that have been dogging the stories about the mayor’s antics.
This is not a government imposed tax but a fee added to the hotel bills of travelers to be used only by the Convention and Visitors Bureau to encourage more tourism. The money is not collected by the city and is not controlled by the city. It is a self funded initiative to encourage out of town people to use Sioux Falls hotel beds.
The mayor wants to use it to promote his agenda at the expense of the good it appears to already be doing. If there is money in a public or private pot somewhere in Sioux Falls, Tracy Turbak’s job is to secure it for the mayor for his use.
We do videos of local meetings and events to let more people understand what is actually happening here in the boomtown. http://www.siouxfall.org
1. “Turbak blamed”
2. “the group’s failure”
3. “come up with bolder recommendations”
4. “the strenuous defense of the status quo”
Whiny words used when one doesn’t get their way. Turbak translated:
1. I would say “Turbak tried to shift blame to the group for recognizing the Mayor’s money grab attempt and defeating it.
2. I would say “the group’s success” in protecting the fee to be used for attracting tourism by the CVB, not the Mayor’s pet projects.
3. I would say “agree with the Mayor.”
4. I would also say “strenuous defense of intended purpose of the funds”.
I wonder if Turbak really believes the $hit he’s spewing or he’s just another minion with his head up the Mayor’s a$$?
When the Mayor’s gone, the new administration is going to be looking for someone to blame for all of this debt we incurred. He’s got to be smart enough to realize he’s going to be the scapegoat holding the checkbook.
It’ll happen with this mayor and the bobble head council. Let him spend. At this point, the next mayor must steer the city into bankruptcy. Hopefully, offering contractors immunity will put Huether in federal prison for public funds fraud. It’s not nice to cheat municipal bond investors.
Tracy Turbak’s talks before any group show Stockholm Syndrome where psychological symptoms occur in some persons in a captive or hostage situation. The city administration directors and employees must always be on guard for the legendary verbal abuse. If Tracy doesn’t find unindictable ways to say what the mayor wants said, there must be horrendous repercussions at 9th & Main.
We have many reports of Huether browbeating staff to get his way. Some of us know what he will do physically to his perceived opponents.
We have video posted showing his anger outbursts and they are interesting to experience.