One of the more common questions I get lately as Sioux Falls’ official (or unofficial) bloggers is, “What is Jamison’s platform and agenda for mayor?”
That is a very good question.
While I can speculate on a lot of Greg’s intentions, like a more transparent government, and more controlled and stable economic and development growth, I really don’t know much about his plans as mayor.
I do know this, Greg probably learned a lot about how Huether runs a campaign. During his initial run for mayor he consistently was taking his opponents ideas and turning them into his. This is what sales people do, they really don’t have much pride when it comes to having original ideas, because all they care about in the end is closing the deal. And he was successful at that.
My guess is that Jamison is probably holding his best ideas in until it gets down to the nitty gritty. Is it a wise move? Not sure, but you do have to be careful about sharing your ideas with a salesman, because he will sell them before you have even had a chance to take out a patent.
As an incumbent, Mayor Meltdown also has the advantage of using city resources to campaign (Channel 16, local media press conferences, etc.) I liken it to an incumbent president using Air Force 1 as his personal campaign bus.
Will it be hard to beat Huether? Incredibly. Is it impossible? Not at all. But as Kenny Rogers sang,
You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.
Is Jamison’s campaign strategy a gamble? I guess we will find out.
In my estimation, the Jamison candidacy is half family/personal ambition and half South Dakota GOP obsession with Huether; and their (SDGOP’s) attempt to stop Huether from ever being a credible gubernatorial candidate in the future.
If Huether wins in 2014, Jamison will still be poised to run and win in 2018. However, the future only knows if Jamison will ever be a future mayor of Sioux Falls or merely the “Skip Humphrey” of Sioux Falls mayoral politics.
The South Dakota GOP fears Huether because he has the funds to compete with them when and if he choses to do so down the line. The GOP in this state have controlled the Governor’s seat for nearly 40 years and they will not give up that entity without a fight and a preemptive attitude against anything, like a Huether candidacy, which appears on their political radar as a potential threat.
I will allege that the GOP card in Jamison’s candidacy is greater than his own ambition, at least to the degree that we assign Jamison’s ambition to the 2014 election. It is this partisan quality in his candidacy, which causes people to ask what he is really all about and what is his agenda beyond being a guinea pig for the South Dakota GOP’s stop Huether obsession.
I put Jamison on a 2-7 (offsuit) so far.
If I were Jamison, I’d dust off the economic study used to sell the event center and ask MMM why not one of the local sports teams will occupy the new facility. I believe the report had estimates using revenues from at least 2 of the teams, maybe all 3. So now we have zero tenants in a poorly located facility that was sold to the voters the same way Huether sells everything: with smoke & mirrors
Al Anon – The Stampede has announced that they will be in the new center…heck, they were showing off new seating charts during a fan event earlier this fall.
The Storm also said they would be going to the new events center…
that would be the two teams.
If the Stampede and the Storm have signed agreements with the City (taxpayers), those are public documents.
Where is the local media…..!!!??
It will be interesting to see what those leases look like. I think the public is going to be astounded at how little these two organizations are going to pay to play in a 183 million dollar facility. They are minor D league teams with attendance numbers which run in the 3-4,000 range per event.
What Mike and his Team sold voters on as the major tenant was the Convention Center. This is the sole reason he pushed for the Arena location.
Over the course of several years time, both during the 2009 Event Center Task Force’s tenure and subsequently when MMM was out selling the EC during his mayoral campaign…..
Teri Ellis-Schmidt, head of the CVB, (Convention and Visitors Bureau) said repeatedly the minute the vote passed and the first shovel of dirt was turned on the project she would began booking convention business.
Convention business is booked several years in advance, the EC opens in less than a year, it’s time for the Great Reveal…..
Let’s see a list of the convention business (our major tenant) which has been booked for the years 2014-2015!!
And what national convention wouldn’t want to come to Sioux Falls instead of Vegas or Florida?