This email was sent out to hockey parents and forwarded to me;
Fellow Hockey Parents
I’m sending this email as a hockey parent.  I know some of you do not live in Sioux Falls , however we need your support also.  I would encourage Sioux Falls  voters to support pro hockey, figure skating, and swimming candidates.
The two candidates I know that are not very supportive of hockey and figure skating are:
Kermit Staggers. He does not support City funding for a new ice facility. He believes the new facility should be privately funded. I don’t understand why he singles out an ice facility and supports outdoor fields that are owned and maintained by the City.
Theresa Stehly campaigned against the proposed rec center with an indoor pool and ice rink.  She supported the outdoor only pool at Drakes Spring.  The City spent money on facility that is only used 3 months out of the year when a rec center could have been used 12 months.
Thanks for time
Hockey Parent
First off, the Hockey Association is pursuing a private facility. They have not ruled out getting some kind of help from the city, but I think it is pretty clear they want to run the facility themselves. Stehly was only behind the Drake Springs Pool petition drive, she had NOTHING to do with the other projects. Besides, Kermit and Theresa did not get those projects nixed, the voters nixed them. Even the Snowfox swim team opposed the indoor pool in the end because it would not have competitive lanes. As for supporting parks, that is a different ball of wax, the parks can be used for FREE by anybody living in the city. And indoor pool would charge a fee to swim there, just like all the private indoor pools in town currently do.
Don’t believe the rhetoric. City Hall’s responsibility is providing customer service to their citizens. It is not the city’s job to entertain us or provide us ‘indoor ice’. Enough already.
Was it really signed “Hockey Parent”? This is just another example of parents thinking the city should fund every possible source of entertainment possible for their kids. Where do we draw the line? What sports should the city fund versus which should they ignore?
I’m a big fan of polo (not really but play along)… so can the city please fund some horse stables and a polo course for me and my latte sipping, Jaguar driving friends please?? Why or why not?
Yes, it was signed that way, AND it also had a name that I censored. It was sent to over a 100 parents.
I think the city should help build these facilities, but not subsidize them (de-regulation, land donation, TIF’s etc.)
Looking at the financial side of things let’s throw some numbers out. A soccer field, you have to buy the field, some goals and some powdered paint for stripes as well as mow the grass. Overall not much upkeep expenses. Ice rink, well buy the land, build a well insulated facility, fill it with seating, lockers and don’t forget to put some flooring in their along with a pro shop and it’s accouterments. Then factor in all the plumbing for keeping the air cold and the ice frozen, ya need a Zamboni to keep the ice usable and lest we forget you need a scoreboard and P.A. system. Do the math and fields are infinitely cheaper and can be used for more than just soccer. Sadly I suspect our new councilor (Erpenbach) would classify this as a “quality of life project” that will help the city become more “sophisticated”.
On the flip side, Huether would let us finance it at 25% interest and if we pay it off quickly he will throw in a free pair of ice skates!
Or maybe the city should erect facilities for horse racing, complete with stables for the horses. Or maybe(and for the life of me I can’t think what it is called right now) a special park for the rich people that ride horses on an English style saddle and wear jodphurs and have their horses jump all kinds of obstacles. Then of course another sport that rich people like is fox and hounds, and there again they need a place to ride horses for that sport. There are all kinds of sports that some people are interested in that need special facilities but the people don’t want them bad enough to figure out how to acquire them without city funding.
Interference, penalty box past the election. Never trust lisping hockey parents who lost their teeth and watch their children get beat up regularly.
Someone talked to this ‘Parent’ today. This parent was convinced that the REC center vote and the INDOOR pool vote were voted on the same time and were the same thing. I guess this explains why they have no clue about the Hockey Association pursuing a private facility.
Speaking of pools. Did you read the article on how the city will save $$$$’s by closing them at 8PM instead of 9PM? What a joke, and what a typical answer to cost cutting by admin types. Yeah… that’s the answer, cut the hours of that $8.75 an hour part time lifeguard, pat yourself on the back, and put yourself in for a yearly bonus.
I remember when my kids were young, we looked forward to taking them to the pool after our evening meal on a hot summer night. Not anymore I guess.
Oh, I know. They should be mowing the lawns less and not buying new equipment constantly.