Update: Bob Litz invited Theresa Stehly today to be the poll watcher tomorrow when they open the absentee ballots.
And just for clarification, the top picture was taken by Ellis at the Argus Leader. I took the bottom picture the ONE time I drove by.
(Top Image: Ellis, Argus Leader • Bottom image: me
It only took about 24 hours, but Minnehaha County Auditor, Bob Litz figured out it was not such a good idea to post a Pro-Events Center sign in his yard (seeing that he is the one responsible for counting the votes and all).
But that did not stop his wife from calling citizen advocate Theresa Stehly and telling her,
“The signs were hers and she supports the events center, so they are staying up.”
But they are down. Hmmm . . .
Hope your night on the couch was comfortable Bob? No worries, rumor has it our mayor prefers couches over beds.
Anyhoo, on a serious note, this should alarm voters. I think this vote will be tight, could even come to a recount. Can we trust a county auditor who supports one side of the issue to be fair and balanced in the event of a recount?
Absentee ballot envelope opening starts about 2 PM on Tuesday, it might be a good idea to have an (opposition) poll watcher in the auditor’s office making sure things are on the up and up. Wonder what Litz’s wife is up to that day? Fluffing couch pillows? Maybe she could be a poll watcher for the supporters?
The former Lake County auditor once told me she wouldn’t even sign petitions for candidates or ballot issues, just to ensure there was no appearance of impropriety on her part.
Right?!
Really nice catch!!!!!!!
You should hear some of the comments I have heard from past and current politicians about what he did. I can’t post them here, but let’s just put it this way, none of them approve of his impropriety.
Minnehaha County Auditor, Bob Litz, must have forgotten that his $80,000+ paycheck comes from the taxpayers………….
I can’t see Sue Roust or Debra Owen ever making this kind of mistake!!
I guess Bob thinks that he has been “appointed for life” and will never have to face the voters again!!
I, for one, will not forget this………..and IF he runs for re-election……..I am going to busy reminding other voters of his “BIN Episode”!!!!
AND, having his wife try to cover for him was REALLY LAME…I’m surprised he didn’t blame one of his kids!!!
I don’t know his wife, but I almost wonder if she covered for him without his knowledge. He agreed to take them down before she called.
Did anyone see the KELO infomercial yesterday at noon? I have believed all along this will be defeated. But now, after listening to and seeing all BIN’s paid for promotional blitzs, then seeing ALL our local media, (television, radio, paper) beat us to death with non-paid for promotions, I wonder if this will in fact be voted down. I still hold onto the hope those who understand the true ramifications will outnumber the gen Xers who “gotta have it now, just flash the credit card” crowd.
Someday, politicos will understand that ad overkill is dangerous. Having that Ellerbroek commercial played during almost every commercial break just doesn’t help their cause.
Just saw this on Kelo’s website:
“We’re expecting the cost of this election to be somewhere in the, maybe $52,000 range. If that is the case, that’s going to come out to about $1.30 a voter,” Roust said.
http://keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=123221
Let’s do the math:
$52,000 / ($1.30 / voter) = 40,000 voters?!?
That’s more than a little optimistic if you ask me.
C’mon, don’t be so hard on poor Booby. Auditing is hard enough, and now he needs to learn about ethics, too?!? And for someone making $80k a year, you think he can buy a light for that American flag he never takes down? That’s probably Mrs. Litz’s fault, too.
Booby is just following the Mayor’s lead. Seems MMM has a little trouble discerning his personal feelings from his public responsibility, too. MMM posted this on Facebook last Friday:
Mike Huether
Sioux Falls has one real chance to finally construct a new event center and capture the rewards from it! This is OUR CHANCE! Vote today! Or vote Saturday morning from 8am to noon. Please send a Facebook message to family, friends. Working together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish as a city! Thanks everyone.
“One real chance”?? Really?!?
Tom – I think Roust uses a formula based on absentee voting and past elections. She may not be too off base. If voter turnout is high (35,000) this thing will pass because of the lack of informed voters.
KELO did look kinda bad when you consider the last half of the interview where councilor Jamison shot down anything Entenman had to say with just a few simple logical statements. He was really on the ball.
Like I said above, I am still on the fence about this election. I’ll stick with my previous prediction, but if thing passes, I won’t be too surprised.
Sioux Falls is going to make a multi-million dollar mistake unless this corporate welfare is voted down.
More and more, I’m thinking that this election is about so much more than an events center. It has EVERYTHING to do with the direction we want this city to go. Do we want a livable, clean, safe city with well-maintained parks and vibrant neighborhoods? Or do we want an increasingly sprawling, automobile-dominated sea of strip malls, parking lots, and 6-lane highways.
With the way the New Economy is moving, this may be our last chance to make a big Old Economy mistake before reality forces us to get in line with it.
I’d like to add that you are a better photgrapher than Ellis.
A little last minute advocacy, er, information sharing from MMM tonight at 5pm on 1230-AM: http://www.sfstampede.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1016&Itemid=5
Here is a better link: http://www.kwsn.com/
I wonder if the Mayor will be forthright enough to tell Stampede fans that yes, you will have better sight lines, BUT you can also anticipate the cost of your tickets going up and the cost of your concessions also going up IF you even sign on as a tenant.
I have told everyone I know that I cannot believe that I am voting against this EC. I always thought if this came to a vote, I would be the first in line to get it passed, but outside of this being a new building, I can’t find one thing that may not come back and bite us in the ass – from the financing, to parking, to infrastructure, to no major signed tenants etc. The list goes on and on. I am so disappointed that this is the plan before us. It could have been so much better.
Sunday’s argus poll had it failing by 32%. Not a good sign.
If we use the same fuzzy-math that MMM uses to sell the EC finance plan, his approval rating will be at 0% by the 2014 campaign!
http://www.kdlt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13176&Itemid=57
I blame the bloggers!!!
Many women are offended by pear shaped Ellerbrock. She’s a Huether groupy hypnotized from the hand gestures. I wish she’d investigate how he got elected from undisclosed funds filtered in from developers who won preapproved noncompetitive bids for the events center.
You know, being from Nebraska I’m just glad I found Southdacola.com because if not for this blog #1, I wouldn’t know who all these long time political players are and the decades of issues and #2 who all the slime balls are. Some really sorry stuff from these players but in this psychotic playground I get an awful lot of laughs.
I almost feel like I’ve lived here all my life.
Over here in the right column the names serve as a local historic archive on just about everyone.
So thanks again for looking out and reporting for Joe Six Pack.
I think you should leave cards up at the Falls Park gift shop & the zoo for out of towners looking to learn about what’s going on in town.
AK -Thank you. Not a big fan of flattery, but you had some kind words. I even find myself digging thru the archives sometimes for a good laugh.
Take the picture from the same angle…. You can’t even see the stairs in the second picture. I bet that sign is still there in your picture, you just cut it off. Typical left wing blogger trying to stir up trouble…..
Chad – Good catch. I wondered if someone would see my fuck up. I couldn’t remember what side of the sidewalk Ellis’ picture was taken so I just shot it, but just so you know, there were NO signs in his yard or in his rental property’s yard when I drove by.
lolz at “typical left wing blogger”. Right wing bloggers NEVER use selective editing!