2011

Another gutter editorial by Randell Beck

l3wis November 13, 2011 26Comments

Randell just couldn’t resist gloating about the events center passing, he acts like it was some kind of miracle;

Not only did Huether and the Build it Now forces defy logic and tradition by rallying voters to approve the largest bond issue in city history, they did it by engaging the young adults that we boomers like to complain are generally disconnected from local issues.

They did it by spending over a $250,000 dollars on a misleading ad campaign that only showed one side of the Events Center while the opponents spent virtually nothing. This money was funneled to a group of lazy greedy cheerleaders called our local media who gladly promoted the EC any chance they could (as long as those ad dollars kept coming in). STORMLAND TV was the worst, even allowing the Mayor to use air time to give his presentation. The opposition was literally Bambi.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u99n-F1QP7E&feature=fvst[/youtube]

The local media also continues to sell the lie about NO TAXES.

Likewise, in Sioux Falls, people who are more focused on the future than the past — remember those young adults — studied the mayor’s no-tax plan for building an events center, recalled their last visit to that 50-year-old barn we call the Arena, and concluded that voting yes was a no-brainer.

The mayor was clear on our podcast about that. There is nothing stopping future councils from raises fees (which are taxes) on other services to help pay for the EC. He said he ‘can’t tie the hands of future administrations’

Randell also is branding opponents of the Events Center as ‘negative’. Because I guess voting for a piss-poor funding option, location and plan is a positive thing for our community. I would have to disagree. But it didn’t stop him from painting councilor Jamison as anti-progress;

In that vein, the most illuminating moment in the media coverage of the election might have been KELO-TV’s interview late Tuesday night with City Councilor Greg Jamison as it became obvious that the measure was passing by a large margin.

If anybody can ever resemble a deer caught in the headlights it was Jamison, as he sought valiantly — but unsuccessfully — to spin his own strident opposition in a way that didn’t obliterate his chances to run for mayor in a couple of years. If you looked closely, you could see a softball-sized lump in his throat.

During the next year, it will be fun watching him try to parlay his “not-now” role on the events center into that of vigilant watchdog of the public purse. Maybe he hopes that will resonate with all those families out west.

First off, Greg always looks like that on camera, and I didn’t think he acted like he failed at anything. Greg has told me in the past that he doesn’t like doing interviews with the TV stations because of their creative editing. And who can blame him after reading this slasher job by Beck? At least Greg was willing to put himself out there unlike the star of BIN’s TV ad campaign, Nicki Ellerbroek who was ‘at home sick’ the night of the election and unavailable for comment. Kind of sounds like Jamison wasn’t the only one who thought this would fail.