Andy sums up our mayor in a couple of sentences.
Ellis fills us in on why the Events Center debate is boring;
Huether responded: “People want it. There are people that are just sick of the dialogue: ‘Get it done so we can move on to other things.’ ”
That comment reminded me of the conversation I overheard at the Y. I’m not sure whether the two guys want an events center, but they want the subject to go away.
I personally would like to see both. Bring it to the ballot with a funding source ASAP. Let the voters decide. If they want it, we go ahead and build. If they don’t, we shelve it for another 10 years or so – AND DON’T TALK ABOUT IT! It seems Huether is under the impression that the voters are just salivating to approve it. LOL! If they wanted it so bad, as you claimed during your campaign, wouldn’t the first thing you would have done is found a funding source and stuck it on the ballot, ASAP? Nope. You are still looking for an angle, because you know support for an EC is a 50/50 longshot, and you cannot stand to be wrong. Look how many times Lincoln failed, and he is still considered one of our greatest presidents. Mike, failing on the EC isn’t the end of the world. If I were mayor I would much more prefer citizens telling me they love the streets they drive on and how beautiful our parks are. I’m just saying.
This comment by Andy Traub, who is a BID supporter, sums it up;
I was at that meeting and I want to thank the writer of this editorial for summarizing the 90 minutes of conversation very well. People, it was a discussion between the Mayor and BIDT so of course it had a lot of pro-downtown points. It was a VERY interesting meeting. The mayor sounded stuck in my opinion. He’s a businessman who can’t make a decision based on dollars alone. That’s frustrating for me as a taxpayer because I want an investment that makes cents/sense for the future according to the study. I came away feeling sorry for the mayor in some ways. Politics are dumb. Thank you for a very balanced perspective on the meeting. I agree people are tired of the conversation because most people, even those following this closely, are discouraged by a lack of openness. We’ll learn more tomorrow.
And who has made it political? The mayor. He should have opened the process up to the voters and the council from the beginning instead of hogging it to himself. It will end up biting him in the butt. He won’t be able to sell this plan like he bought the election.
It seems this SF citizen gets it, but is anyone in city hall listening?
Before another penny is spent on anything to do with a potential events center, the current marketing Svengali we have for mayor needs to expand his tunnel vision and address the critical infrastructure needs of the people of Sioux Falls as a top priority.
This effort should include the widespread problems associated with the sewer network, long-term fixes to the numerous potholes and degraded sections of road throughout the city, replacement of all unsafe bridges, completion of work on the levees and finishing the Sioux Falls segment of the Lewis & Clark water project.
The city also needs to properly fund its parks and recreation and cultural facilities, including their operation, maintenance and personnel.
The Washington Pavilion is a shell of its former self, and the Art Barn is closed.
If the city can’t afford to operate and support these existing facilities, how can it possibly hope to run an events center?