I never seen a TV station go so bananners over a city planner that retired over 10 years ago (and quite frankly worked for the city TOO long to begin with).
Mr. Metli was very instrumental in getting us the river greenway bike trail and park system (the true gem of our city) and cleaning up Falls Park. He also helped get us the Washington Pavilion by tying it in with the convention center vote (unfortunately building the convention center in the wrong place). He also gave us Phillips to the Falls (that had a 100% cost overrun which almost landed Mayor Munson’s ass in jail) and now is only good for a brownfield outdoor amphitheater because of the battery acid seeping thru the ground.
I would agree, Steve was very instrumental in shaping our city, some good, some worthless urban sprawl. But Steve’s biggest accomplishment besides creating our beautiful park system along the river was making SOME developers in this town a lot of money, and giving them little too much control.
Some may say I am being a little harsh, but you only learn from history, when history is recorded correctly. I hope future planners of our city have learned a lot from Mr. Metli (both good and bad).
I will miss our FB debates.
was he the one responsible for making nearly every building built in the last 20-25 years have the same facade?
LOL. Right?! No, I don’t think so. I think Steve did a good job over all, but like I said, thought he was there to long. Notice most of the positive changes he implemented happened in the first half of his planning career with the city. Once someone, especially in muni government are around a little too long, the power goes to their head.
He made mistakes but the direction was mostly forward. During his rise, Sioux Falls became a midsize city. His decisions seemed to appease the country bumpkin population. Fast forward to today. Now corruption, deception, and injustice governs a midsize city that went from best place to live to Number 35. Metli had citizen quality of life in mind. Now, a supervisory or political position in city government is a quick personal way toward wealth. The worst example is the narcissist sociopath mayor.
Yeah, when deals are cut between two people at a coffee shop it is a lot easier then hiding your investments in your wife’s bank account while asking for TIF’s and FREE money for a tennis center that the public can’t even use. The corruption was there, it was just easier to hide when you go old skool on land lines and don’t have Bruce and YouTube following you around.
I believe Metli did a lot of good for this City as many others would agree, and we should all be appreciative of his service and give our condolences to his family at this time….
But that said, when will KELO end its “cult of personality” formate, which some of our former deceased political and or civic leaders seem to receive upon their death? It is too much, and is reminiscent of what you would normally expect from a state run television station….
Right?! Metli was a decent city planner that left us better off then when he started. A career that could be explained in a couple of paragraphs, as I did.
They act like he rebuilt Europe after WWII.
“They act like he rebuilt Europe after WWII.”
Hahahahahahaha!
Hence, we shall now refer to it throughout our local history as the “Marshall Plan,” I mean the “Metli Plan.!”
KDLT had a tidbit about him. When will any of the 3 networks do a story on the new parking ramp contract awarded by the mayor without council review, approval, or funding authority?
imagaine the tribute to craig lloyd that kelo has planned.
Was Melti the one that thought placing all the shopping at Loiuse and 41st effectively choking of that part of the city Nov. thru Jan.
They probably have these tributes on file and are just waiting to use them.
They need to be careful, though. Back in 1998, the AP accidentally released a story that Bob Hope had died, which prompted one Republican lawmaker to walk on the floor of the US House and give an eulogy on the life and contributions of the late actor, Bob Hope. Except, that there was just one problem with all of this, and that is that Hope was still well alive and conscious, and watching this all unfold….
Bravo to former mayor Gary Hanson this morning for giving a fair assessment of working with Metli. He stressed the importance of it was a ‘team’ that helped Metli achieve what he did.
BTW, it was on B-N-B show. Maybe they will podcast it later.