After following this since last summer, this is my best guess;
MAYOR
1- Staggers
2- Huether
3- Brown
4- Peterson
5- Costello
6 – Ajda
At-Large (A)
1 – Hart
2 – Rolfing
3- Kooistra
4- Gaetze
5 – Ramirez
At-Large (B)
1- Jim Entenman
2- Michael Jones
SE District
1- Christensen
2- Aguilar
3- White
Central District
1- Stehly
2- Erpenbach
3- Milne
4- Hemmer
Do you believe the Argus has enough pull to propel brown and peterson ahead of costello? Before the Argus endorsements, I had a three horse race between Staggers, costello, and huether. I guess we’ll see just how much impact the editorial board of the argus really has.
Poly-
Trust me, my predictions are not scientific, but I am getting better at this. I have always had Mike and Kermit in the top two spots, and though I swayed a little after the poll, I changed my mind yesterday. My reasoning is simple; One is a government insider and one is an outsider (though I think both are outsiders, I don’t think the public will see it that way) The other advantage of Mike and Kermit is that they know you can’t build an EC with sales taxes, they get it.
We’ll see. I’m not going to eat a hat or anything if I am wrong, but I will probably be enjoying a glass of wine at a certain council candidate’s house tomorrow night.
Watch for me on the boob tube to, one TV station has already expressed interest in interviewing me about the results. We’ll see.
l3wis “The other advantage of Mike and Kermit is that they know you can’t build an EC with sales taxes, they get it.”
Exactly, voters realize this economy can’t handle more taxes. They’ve increased every year throughout King Munson’s reign. Enough is enough.
We’ve paid for city services to the tune of $350 million per year. It went to basic services, 1600 lazy overpaid city employees, and just plain old bid rigging fraud.
Poly: I guess we’ll see just how much impact the editorial board of the argus really has.
Here is a rather interesting, and scary, story for you.
Four years ago I was standing in line to vote at my local polling place and the woman in front of me turned around and asked me what we were voting for. She knew we were voting for mayor – but she had ZERO knowledge of anything else.
She didn’t know about school board candidates, she didn’t know about city council candidates, she didn’t know any of the candidates for Mayor other than Munson and she didn’t know about any of the ballot issues. In fact she didn’t even recognize any of the candidates by name when I listed them off for her.
So she actually said to me… do you know who the Argus Leader endorsed? I did know, and I told her what they recommended after which she said “well they always do a good job so I trust them”.
So to answer your question poly, I do feel the Argus has quite a bit of pull… and it might be enough to propel an otherwise second tier candidate to the front runner status.
This is why I’m not so sure people shouldn’t be required to take a test in order to vote. If you can’t even name the candidates or have a clue what they stand for, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to cast a vote.
That said, I cannot fathom for a second how the Argus feels Vernon Brown’s whopping eight years of business experience and his time as a TV reporter somehow makes him capable to run a city with a budget of $350,000,000.
The Argus Leader should continue to report the news rather than making it. They should be ashamed of themselves by pretending to be an impartial witness when the reality is they are continually looking for ways to interject themselves into the political process.
I’d agree that (despite all the money he’s spent), costello’s faded down the stretch, & peterson’s come on strong the last couple weeks. no doubt at this point, mike & kermit are still both in a great position to be in the runoff, but we’ll see what happens once the votes are counted.
How has Peterson “come on strong”? Besides the silly Argus non-endorsement, what has he done?
Costner-
Your story is scary. Ten, fifteen years ago, before the advent of the internet, the Argus and guys like Rick Knobe held considerable political sway. Hopefully, that has changed.
BTW, has Rick endorsed anyone yet? I listen in rarely anymore. The loss of Randy McDaniel was IT for me.
Maybe I’ll listen to Rick and watch the Twins open their new stadium this afternoon. 🙂
If I had to venture a SWAG as to who Rick is endorsing…I would say either costello or huether. Rick is in the business of selling air time, and these two have deep pockets. Just the kind rick likes.
That’s right,
The Twins trump VPU on KSOO.
Never mind. 🙂
It looks to me as if Huether has been hitting Staggers’ home turf and the amount of Huether’s signs in the Central district shows some weakness for Kermit by those who know him the best.
Kermit wants to be seen as an outsider, but he simply can’t shake the naysayer label and his high negatives (comparatively speaking) back that up.
The higher the turnout, the more splintered the vote will be, I’d bet there’s still 30% who will make the call in the booth and if that’s the case Peterson has the momentum to scoop the most of those up right now.
Hemmers has got this whole thing locked up!
Scott is right, besides the endorsement, he has had no momentum. What can you expect from a guy I saw having a cocktail at 4:50 PM on a Tuesday about a week ago. If he was serious about running for office, the only reason he should be knocking off early from work is to go campaign.
L3wis:
“What can you expect from a guy I saw having a cocktail at 4:50 PM on a Tuesday about a week ago.”
I’ll submit for you to get as petty as this so close to the election says you’re a little more nervous about Peterson’s chances than you led on.
two weeks ago i saw peterson in the meat isle of the 26th & sycamore hy-vee. looked like he was there to buy meat, and not court any potential voters.
Yeah, and I saw Kermit at the Cracker Show a while back. Looked like he had been mainlining spaceball for several days strait and had a hooker (one male & one female) on each arm.
On second thought that might’ve been Ghost of Dude.
Definately was one of those two guys though.
Sy, were you at the Cracker show?
Yes…I thought they sounded great.
yeah, it was pretty nice. I have some videos that I haven’t uploaded yet.
To be honest the next 24 hours could well decide the election. It might well depend on who has the best ground game. In which case Huether and Costello seem likely contenders. At least, they are the only candidates- on my view- that have maintained a consistent- visual- political operation. Having said that, I don’t think Costello gets in. He has faded the last few days of the election. Spending too much too soon. In the end, I agree with the publisher, and think it will probably come down to a Huether/Staggers run off. Although, there is a small chance Brown could win this whole thing in a upset.
Sy-
Settle down. I don’t care what Bill does on his own time, or company time for that matter. I just find it a little strange that a guy who is dead last in the polls isn’t out pounding on doors or spending loads of money on advertising instead of sitting at the bar having a cocktail. The point? If Bill is so serious about becoming our mayor, maybe he should show a little seriousness in his campaign.
Based upon the number of negative comments posted on the Argus and elsewhere about Staggers, I’d say there are quite a few people who are running scared that he just might pull this off.
I’m not so sure he has the momentum to see it through, but I find it interesting how the anti-Staggers crowd has come out of the woodwork in an attempt to paint him as anti-growth and anti-everything.
Costner:
“attempt to paint him as anti-growth and anti-everything.”
Where there’s smoke…
Like I said earlier, I respect Kermit, but I just can’t feature his idea that private business will build everything as long as we keep taxes & regulations low.
I think that would work in a notoriously overtaxed/overregulated place like San Fran or NYC, but Sioux Falls has an excellent business climate already as well as one of the top 10 lowest tax burdens in the Nation.
If Kermit’s theories actually work, Sioux Falls would’ve seen the results already. Do you really think with Kermit in office all of a sudden Poet, Citibank or Orion Foods will conclude all of a sudden it’s time to start writing 7 or 8 figure checks for things like an Events Center or a Indoor competition swim facility?
You clearly aren’t paying attention. Private investment is only a small part of what Kermit proposes… and he has NEVER said private business would fully fund something like an Events Center. He has merely mentioned it as one of the options for financing.
Kermit’s primary point is he doesn’t want a tax increase passed along to everyone who won’t use the facility, but he has never said he expects private industry or donations to fully finance the project and he has mentioned other methods of creative financing and even an idea of selling shares of ownership in the facility.
Sy: Where there’s smoke…
… there is somebody trying to blow it up my ass apparently.
“the anti-Staggers crowd has come out of the woodwork in an attempt to paint him as anti-growth and anti-everything.”
F’ck Sy, they have been blabbing for 4 years, and once and for all, I hope that this blows up in their smarmy faces, including the MSM in Sioux Falls.
I’ll keep you posted.
Kermit initially said he supports an Events Center as long is there’s no tax increase and the City doesn’t have to subsidize it in any way.
He has since softened that to include the ever ambiguous “creative financing” & “sell shares to the public” etc., but the reality is a project like an EC simply can’t get built without the City stepping up with at least 70% of the burden to build it, and as has been discussed ad nauseum in here the best way is to sell bonds and cover the P&I with a combination of B&B & Entertainment taxes. Just like most other places with sccessful Events Centers have done.
But then again, they didn’t study it for a decade like we are doing so WTF do they know?
Besides Kermit’s honesty (the number 1 reason why I support him) what I like about him the most is that there is bigger fish to fry in SF besides an EC. Even if gawd gave us the money to build the place, who right now can afford to attend the concerts and events there? You and me, sure, but not a lot of other people. I think Kermit makes a good point, if you want this thing, get out your wallet, if you don’t want it, you shouldn’t be forced to pay for it. This isn’t freaking rocket science. It isn’t government’s job to entertain us, and to be quite honest, I prefer private entertainment companies over public.
L3wis:
“You and me, sure, but not a lot of other people.”
A. In an MSA approaching 250K with our other notable & enviable statistics there’s plenty of market for a facility like this. We are losing 40% of our business to neigboring facilites. Anyone even raising that question is either being disingenous or out of touch.
B. It’s great to be concerned about the current local Economy, but it’s quite another thing to paralyze yourself to where you won’t do anything until the recession ends, and even then everything done is either private sector or not at all. An EC should be viewed as a 50 year investment that a City can do the spur long term growth, the kind you want so when you are in recession, you aren’t hit as bad as places that rise and fall at faster rates.
Yes there are other issues, but very few options (other than a casino) a City can do to keep growing other than lay the groundwork for increased private investment, which the EC does.
Sy: In an MSA approaching 250K with our other notable & enviable statistics there’s plenty of market for a facility like this. We are losing 40% of our business to neigboring facilites.
But here is where I believe the task force and our city leaders have failed to state their case.
How many concerts or events have passed Sioux Falls by because of a lack of seating? How many concerts or sporting events have sold out in the Arena over the past five years? How much of this business that we have lost has instead went to places like Fargo and Sioux City and of that business – how many have sold out in those cities? If we had real answers and real numbers to these questions then perhaps the public would understand what they stand to lose out on… if anything.
Based upon what I have read and the numbers being tossed out there I’m not convinced we could even begin to utilize a new EC. Maybe in 10 or 15 years – but then why build it now if we won’t need it for over a decade? When we do have events there, it is safe to say we won’t be using the Arena at the same time… so what is the net benefit?
If we build the EC downtown as is being recommended by many, it is safe to say all new development will happen there (how much development is a debate in itself) so what happens to the Arena site… does it continue to be the underdeveloped area or does it fall into a full on blighted area once we no longer have sports tournaments and large concerts filling the Arena on a regular basis?
Do we honestly feel a new EC will thrive and be busy almost every weekend when we have an existing Arena which sits empty so often? Do we really feel we will see all this glorious new development around a new EC when we have never been able to witness that phenomenon around the Arena?
All of this being said, there is much more to a city than one or two facilities. Personally I don’t feel a new Events Center should define our city nor should it define our leadership. It is only one of the many issues facing a mayor and I for one would never base my voting decision upon that issue alone.
Clearly there are bigger fish to fry, so if someone disagrees with a candidate on the EC I hope they are digging deeper than that.
The Larchwood casino is huge, very huge. I have been very disappointed that this question has not come up in forums or debates (hopefully in the runoff). I have submitted the question twice to the forums and once to the AL forum, with no avail.
Costner’s my new hero – you raise questions I’ve been asking for years with (obviously) no answers.
Yeah, and I saw Kermit at the Cracker Show a while back. Looked like he had been mainlining spaceball for several days strait and had a hooker (one male & one female) on each arm.
On second thought that might’ve been Ghost of Dude.
Definately was one of those two guys though
Hey, man, I have way more hair than that guy.
You should have known it was me.
Judging by the count on STORMLAND’s mobile site, it’s Staggers and Huether in a dead heat separated by about 1% of the votes with 75% of precincts reporting.