Blog Break interruption, sorry, The Sioux Empire Fairgrounds.

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Usually when I hear rumors, I like to ask; Are these rumors or truth? Or I don’t say anything at all. But tonight, I am only asking questions, and wonder if anyone in the SF MSM is going to ask the same questions? Here they are . . . (based on reliable sources)

• What ever happened to the appraisal of the SE Fairgrounds?

• What ever happened to the legal assessment if they could be sold or not?

• Is it fair for the same company that wants to buy the quarry rich fairgrounds (Sweetman?) to be giving the appraisal on the land?

• Is it true that a certain county commissioner who happens to be a lawyer is representing the same firm that wants to buy the fairgrounds? Is that a gigantic conflict of interest?

It seems some questions need to be asked and answered. Personally I don’t have a problem with the fairgrounds being bought, as long as the buyer built a modern facility at another location and gave a commission on the quarry sales.

We will see how this pans out, DaCola isn’t the only one that got a hot tip on this, keep you eyes open.

Like I have said in the past, The SE Fair makes money, as long as people are not stealing from them

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This is great news, and does not surprise me, the SE Fair made good money this year, in a down economy;

It was nearly five months ago when the Sioux Empire Fair came to the county for financial help. Tuesday, interim fair CEO Tryg Fredrickson gave the county a check to pay back that $216,000 loan.

“We had a good year, wasn’t great. But we’re still in the hole, we’re not out of the hole. We still got a lot of work to work ourselves out of it,” Fredrickson said.

Fredrickson said the net income of the 70th annual fair was up considerably compared to 2008, but sponsorship money was down.

And finally, a public official states the obvious;

“Matt Adamski, who apparently was either incompetent or just stupid, who at this point we know, and he knows, that the gifts that he received were bought with stolen money. I would urge him to return those gifts,” Barth said.

It’s about time someone started connecting the dots.

“I’m delighted that you’re able to make me eat my words and pay us back and we can continue on with the fair, so congratulations,” Kelly said.

And I will have to agree with Dick Kelly, Congrats! It’s kinda like being mugged, you can either hide in fear, or you can get out of bed the next morning and walk to the bus stop, the SE Fair decided to walk to the bus stop.

Pay for Play at the County Commission?

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It’s perfectly legal in South Dakota, and politicians don’t seem to be bothered by taking advantage of it. I just wish the Argus would have printed the campaign contributions to the city councilors who took campaign donations from big developers and ultimately voted for a tax increase, oh, that’s right, the Argus was one of the biggest cheerleaders of that tax increase . . .

Sweetman interested in land for quarry

If the commission determines it can sell the property and decides to do so, Sweetman Construction said it would be interested in buying it to incorporate the fairgrounds into Sweetman’s existing quarry.

 

For now, Chief Operating Officer Patrick Sweetman is waiting as the county determines what its options are with the land.

“We’re not trying to influence anybody,” he said. “But I’m trying to make a business decision to plan our future growth.” That means either acquiring the fairgrounds or purchasing a new quarry site.

 

Members of the Sweetman family gave $750 each to Commission Chairman John Pekas and Commissioner Dick Kelly last year during their election campaigns, and the Sweetmans contributed $250 in 2004 and 2006 to Kelly’s state senate races. Pekas and Kelly were the two commissioners who opposed the interim funding for the fair association.Â