The clerk’s office finally got the document loaded to the internets. I am assuming they gotta a lot of phone calls after the story hit the paper. I cut and pasted this out of the PDF to be more readable (I eliminated the dates of contribution, the state and zipcodes).
Contractors and banks. Hmmmm?
My question is……………
If this is such a GOOD PLAN…………….
why does it take almost a quarter of a million dollars to sell it…………????!!!
I’ll let you decide!!!!!
According to the campaign finance reports for ‘Build It Now’ on siouxfalls.org:
September 2011
Direct Contributions $10,775
In-Kind Contributions 42,500
October 2011
Direct Contributions $153,500
In-Kind Contributions 1,903
***the above figures are for ‘Build It Now” only.
They do not include what the City of Sioux Falls has spent on the EC public presentation AND all the man hours that have been devoted to this project over the past year!!
$5,000 from the Heartland Consumers Power District (http://www.hcpd.com)?!? Apparently the good people in the Madison area are getting gouged on their electric bills!!!
Global Spectrum was able to donate $5,000 when in 2010 we had to use tax dollars to subsidize the very convention center that they manage. Funny they have all kinds of money for lobbying, just no profits.
Corn – I was baffled by that donation also. Must be some political connection there.
http://www.hcpd.com/aboutus/boardofdirectors
DL – gotta be Rob Skjonsberg, former Chief of Staff to Gov. Rounds and now VP of Government Affairs at POET. But I am kind of partial to the funky hair on the dude from region 5!
Now that’s funny. Thanks for the laugh!
Skjonsberg was also a donor to the Lincoln County Republicans Lincoln / Reagan Day dinner. I wonder what is in it for him? Hmmmmmmm.
And, BTW, when you are sporting a bolo tie and windbreaker, a pompadour is always appropriate.
How about Dave and De? Thats one that baffled me. I know shes a basket case but Dave seems to have some sense? Council meetings have become so boring without Kermits “no” votes and De’s dumb questions…
The Vote Yes, Build It Now yard signs are starting to pop up on my drive to work.
When you look at the line-by-line ‘Build It Now’ contributors, two interesting things stand out.
Global Spectrum (convention center management) contributed $5,000 and SMG (arena management) contributed $1,000 an in-kind donation for consulting fees.
**In 2010, both the Convention Center and the Arena needed subsidies from the taxpayers.** (Something that’s actually been going on for years)
Also, the Arena and Convention Center are currently two separate contracts. In December 2012, the two contracts will become one. In other words, these two companies are currently locked in competition for ONE CONTRACT.
The second thing that I noticed is that Howalt-Mcdowell Insurance, Inc., contributed $2,500. Does this mean that Jeff Scherschlight is now on-board with the EC at the Arena site. This would really be a stunning development!!
I’d be curious of what the date of these donations were? Anyone can feel in the air that people are pretty torqued about the costs of the EC/FEMA Camp so perhaps these prunes jumped in with these funds to try one last ditch effort to make this run at it work?
Sad thing is … these are all dollars being given toward MARKETING (i.e. – bullshiting voters with half-truths or outright lies, such as this thing only costing $115m). Still not a dime given or pledge toward actual CONSTRUCTION.
One month until the election. Should we start a pool on which day MMM or BIN will roll out their first pledge for a loge box or corporate suite? Don’t underestimate the ignorance of voters to take the bait. We need to make every effort on our own, talking with friends and family, to educate people on what we’re NOT being told.
BTW, I hear a second “NO” group is organizing. Expect an announcement next week.
my guess is Scherschlight is just being polite.
AT – the date of the donations is in the original PDF, just click on the link above.
Corn – I heard Hildy was forming a group also, is that who you are talking about?
I think that Dave Knutson is now an attorney for Sanford. Davenport Evans also does a lot of work for Sanford. The SF Sports Auth. is connected to Sanford. You add in the donations from 1st Premier, (including Dykhouse) & Sanford and you have about 85% of the total contributions.
Oh, they are all connected on one level or another.
Dave Knudson is working for Sanford now. Davenport Evans is the bond counsel – so their donation is a you scratch mine – I’ll scratch yours. The rest is all disturbingly connected.
None of it surprises me, it is always the same old cronies donating to each other.
I’m surprised J&L wasn’t a donor as I would be willing to bet they would be one of the few businesses already planning to use the Echo Center for their own gain in some shape of form.
One negative there would be the 70 million or so used on the interest would not be there to fix the roads so the helmetless flipflop wearing Harley riders may have a hard time making it to a beer bash there.
They did donate, you have to look at the first financial report.
Looks like Cory struck a few nerves when this topic was brought up.
http://madvilletimes.com/2011/10/heartland-cpd-spends-madison-electric-dollars-on-sioux-falls-politics/#comments
Hahaha … the head honcho at Heartland repeatedly calls it a “new convention center”! LMFAO, the guy who signed the check doesn’t even understand what it’s for?!?
They deleted my post over there at Madville.. All I said was it was a betrayal to the customers of the power company to donate pushing that echo center.
and people wonder why I question rate increases, because of stupid shit like this. Did you know Excel Energy is a big donor to SculptureWalk? Your electric bill money hard at work.
It’s interesting that Analog Tape mentions a post being deleted at Madville.
I had the same experience with the Sunday Argus Leader (Oct. 9). I submitted 3 comments all regarding the EC discussion AND in less than 24 hours they had deleted 2 of them !! And, BTW, it was not for content…..unless of course, they don’t like well-thought out responses from a “NO” vote!!!!!!
Well, you know the Argue Endorser will endorse the EC. They don’t like those pesky facts getting out. There internets guy is a total tool. I won’t mention his name, but I have had my go-arounds with him for spreading bullshit about a local business.
It’s interesting to me that my comments that the AL deleted were feedback that I had submitted regarding the state basketball tournaments and the Summit League games.
Mike and Mike (huether and sullivan) are always rattling on about these two events in the new EC!
I wonder if either of them have even talked to the South Dakota High School Activities Association or to all of the other cities across the state that host these tournaments.
South Dakota has a long-held tradition of rotating these tournaments to different cities…..so I wonder how Aberdeen, Rapid City, etc,…..would feel about this!!
Also, a big part of the reason that the Summit League has signed on with Sioux Falls is because of the corporate guarantees of almost $300,000 a year. The Summit League also has a long-held tradition of never staying in one city for an extended period of time…..For example, I wonder what Tulsa thinks about all of this!!
I have been to all of the public Q & A’s and to two EC presentations and the inaccuracies and half-truths that both the Mayor and his team are putting out are ……………!!!!!
AND, they refuse to address WHERE the second-on site hotel will be located at the Arena AND they are DRAGGING their feet on releasing to the public an updated EC amortizaition schedule (this is something that I have been asking for since September 26th….14 days ago!!!!!).
Now Scott don’t delete my comments like the AL did yesterday!!
CR – I hear the second hotel is planned for the southeast corner of Madison and Western, a joint venture of landowner Bob Correa (Musivend) and his friend/partner Jim Entenman. It’s always possible they could swing a land swap with the city: their land becomes parking in exchange for a tract connected to the new EC.
Seems more and more this Entenman character has mistaken the Council chamber for the Chamber of Commerce. Man, this guy really knows what he’s doing with all the possibilities of racking in the dough due to his position. He might actually be out-Huthering Huether!
You know, Bob’s daughter is the co-chair of BIN.
The summit league tourneys are definitely not a selling point for a new Macarena, as the average attendance was 2,0000 per game.
2,000 not 2,0000 (obviously).
I know I am starting to sound obsessed about this second ON-SITE hotel………..but when you repeatedly ask Mike and his “team” this same question and they cannot give you an answer……….you know there is a problem!!
They try to brush the question aside by saying that if the EC is built, a second hotel will be built……….this does not address the ON-SITE issue.
Remember, flat floor space is considered the major tenant in this EC discussion…….
AND, CSL (consultant to the 2009 Task Force) said that a second ON_SITE hotel is needed in order to compete for additional convention business!
The reason that they are not able to answer the question is that they had to use ALL available space at the Arena for parking (Koch Hazard) due to the fact that Howard Wood will not be relocated.
Therefore, there is NO land available at the Arena site where they can physically connect a second hotel to the new EC/Convention Center.
The only other option is to build outside of the parameters of the Arena site and connect it with a tunnel or skywalk. These options were discussed extensively by the 2009 Task Force and they found that these options would cost millions of dollars. (no where in this EC plan is there money designated for an tunnel or skywalk)!!!
l3wis……….
I also believe that the AL will eventually come out and endorse the EC………….
I hope that they do!!
It’s better known as “The Kiss of Death” (think Rec Center and indoor pool–both projects that the AL endorsed!!!).
And, BTW you may not be willing to name the employee at the AL that is deleting the public’s comments, but I am…..I believe it is Corey Meyers…..
What I wonder is….. how is he determining which comments stay on-line and which ones don’t???!!!
Maybe he needs a refresher from Randall on the First Amendment!!!!
I suspect they are waiting until after the November 8 vote to unveil a new parking plan that closes Western Avenue between Madison and Russell Streets. This would expand contiguous on-site parking to the school district lands and eliminate the pedestrian hazard of jaywalking across Western Ave. This would also allow them to repurpose land adjacent to the new EC and use it for a hotel instead of parking. Just a theory, but it seems an obvious one when you look at the current parking plan.