This my voice will print in the Argus Leader tomorrow;
We are asking for a full audit of the Denny Sanford Premier Events Center — including the original contracts with the builder, their subcontractors, operation audits, financing, change orders and especially, the top secret settlement agreement just announced. Why have settlement agreements if nothing needs to be fixed?
You run across some pretty weird things as a blogger, especially when your foot soldiers send you weird links. Not sure if this is controversial, but it certainly is strange.
So the person who is hired by the state (Jennifer Stalley) to be the executive director of the SD Athletics Commission, you know, the folks in charge of making sure MMA fighters perform safely, is also the head lobbyist for Midwest Solutions. What do they lobby for? The SD Veterinary Medical Association.
What is most bizarre about this is, first off, what is the connection (not sure there is one)? But more importantly, was the state so strapped to find an ED for the Athletics Commission that they had to hire a PRIVATE lobbyist? Forget the fact that she lobbies for an industry that cares for the well-being of our pets and livestock while running another organization that promotes people punching each other in the face.
One could say being a private lobbyist and a state employee at the same time may be a conflict of interest. Not sure? But the oddity of promoting people fighting for entertainment on one hand while promoting the health of animals on the other, that’s a new one in a state with some very strange bedfellows and almost NO ethics.
How did this all come about? Jennifer helped with a presentation yesterday at the Sioux Falls city council informational meeting about lifting the ban on ultimate fighting in city owned facilities (so one of my foot soldiers decided to see who Jennifer was). Like I have said in the past, I don’t care either way. MMA is just glorified boxing, and if the Pentagon is already hosting these events, why not the Events Center.
Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or just shake my head when I see some of the doofus things our state government does. Well it’s good to know our animals are safe, the MMA fighters, I guess they are safe to . . . just sign on the dotted line.
Okay, I am NOT shocked, the mayor will only promote ‘positive’ numbers and if anything ‘negative’ is coming from city hall he keeps that information under lock and key. The irony of releasing this information today is just two days ago, city attorney Loophole David Fiddle-Faddle said NO details of a closed settlement would be released on the EC siding fiasco. We have our speculation why that is . . . cough . . . the city f’d up . . . cough, cough. But isn’t it amazing that SMG & our city finance office were able to get together and show us all these flashy numbers yet no audit has been done on construction costs? How’s the saying go? “Dazzle them with Bullshitâ€.
By the Numbers
$117,000,000: Cost of Premier Center construction
$115,000,000: Amount approved by Sioux Falls voters
$1.3-$2.9 million: Anticipated annual net income ahead of 2011 election
$1.8 million: Actual net income through July 31
$19.6 million: Anticipated annual revenues ahead of 2011 election
$21.7 million: Actual revenue*
$1.6 million: Sales taxes generated for state and city*
220,169: Attendance for the 2015 Sioux Falls Stampede hockey season.
64,674: Attendance for the 2015 Sioux Falls Storm football season.
*Through July 31
Quick note, the part in the video where Tracy talks about spending the money on ‘popcorn poppers’ made me laugh. What about the $100K in casework that was torn out so Cambria could put in $90K worth of casework. Basically $110K of taxpayer money thrown in a dumpster. Let’s talk being ‘prudent’ with the EC.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2_WOYbfj5g[/youtube]
How stupid can our so-called leaders be? They keep finding ways to stop the messenger and it backfires all over them. This presser shows what a bunch of losers and bad sports they are. Watch their body language. Also the city attorney has decided who should be able to report city news and SouthDacola is not to be at these events. So what do we do? We still find a way to bring them to you.
What was this presser about? Crap. The Dalsin bluff issued earlier and secrecy. We have a rusty, lumpy metal skinned building hiding much and the people responsible for it don’t want it to be in the center of attention. Well they just made the story bigger. Conspiracies have a way of growing out of control. As conspirators try to control details, the scandal grows bigger. Think Watergate. It could have been a simple burglary but it turned into a national tragedy and Gerald Ford.
Cameraman Bruce was at the1974 Watergate conspiracy trial as prosecutors were laying out the money trail. All we can say is, follow the money. Something is not right. When we do eventually read the agreements and change orders, there could be some under oath time for those involved.
Cameraman Bruce was not able to be at this event because the city attorney and the city’s chief marketing officer made sure he was not informed of this presser. Just ask Heather. The person who has made the biggest noise about this mess was excluded intentionally by the administration. Why? What are they afraid of?