After more than 80 years, the Sioux Falls Shopping News is ending publication.
For full disclosure I was Mr. Lesnar’s employee, TWICE. I did not work in the Shopping News division, but in Customer Service and estimating for Western Commercial Printing before he sold that portion of the business.
Trust me, I know the stories out there about ‘K’ but I can honestly tell you that he always treated me with respect by telling me what he truly thought, did not mince words and defended me when my political opponents put pressure on him to fire me (this happened several times). While we did not agree on mountains of things, he always wanted my perspective, even if he didn’t take that advice.
I think sometimes that is missing in family owned businesses these days, reporting to the General directly. I always appreciated that I could walk into his office anytime of the day, and have a discussion about clients or co-workers. He wanted to know and did not pass that buck. He was truly hands on.
I wish him luck in his retirement and for having confidence in me as an employee. See you later ‘Hot Dog!’ and don’t be a ‘Turkey’.
While the almost 5 hour meeting last night had many fireworks from the Med MJ ordinance discussion (this was only 1st Reading) towards the beginning of the meeting they approved TIF #25 with almost zero discussion (they moved it up so the VIP wealthy developer getting a handout wouldn’t have to sit thru all the people’s REAL business).
Besides the same lame brain presentation from the Planning Director about the TIF itself only one speaker emerged to defend the TIF, and it wasn’t the developer. In fact the developer has said NOTHING about the TIF except when he made a presentation to the council at an informational meeting. His daughter did say a handful of words when the Planning Commission approved the TIF, but the developer himself has said NOTHING at the 2 readings of this ordinance. Not even a please and thank you for getting this handout that the rest of SF property tax payers will have to make up for. Of course, why should he? All of those negotiations were done in secret over the past several years, this is also why you didn’t hear a peep from the councilors either, just a gigantic sound of 7 whaps on the dais with a rubber stamp. (Marshall Selberg was absent)
Wouldn’t it be great if getting food stamps was that easy?
So who was the only defender last night? Joe Batcheller, Director of Downtown Sioux Falls. While Joe and I are on good terms, even if I disagree with him about bringing snakes to outdoor events (he thinks it is fine) 😊 we also disagree on TIFs. As a trained urban planner, Joe adamantly thinks they are good thing. He also even makes the tired old argument I hear councilors make ‘TIFs may not work well in other communities, but golly gee they work great here’. The problem with the argument is that we have NO economic or financial evidence of that, NO studies have been done on TIFs in SF or SD that shows an actual benefit to the public.
Which brings us to another point Joe made. He said this TIF was justified because we are getting a Return on Investment (ROI). I’m not sure a parking ramp (this is what most of the TIF will be spent on) that can only be used by the public on nights and weekends is much of an ROI when you consider that the Bunker Ramp is mostly empty at night and barely filled during the day, we will have another parking ramp sitting at the Sioux Steel Project and my long term argument is parking ramps really probably won’t be needed in the next decade. The irony of it all is that by the time this TIF runs out in approximately 20 years, it will probably NOT be a parking ramp.
Joe also made the argument that TIFs are not ‘Handouts’. I’m not sure what else you would call them. TIFs are essentially a tax rebate you get to use on your private property. The developer builds a parking ramp that they will be using during the day, and likely charge for access and they get that ramp paid for by getting a rebate on the $25 million dollar taxes they are supposed to be paying to the county, the school district and the city while raising taxes on the rest of us due to the total valuation of the project. It would be like you personally getting a $500 dollar property tax rebate to fix your front door. While that benefits YOUR property, it has very little benefit to the tax payers who have to pay their full tax bill, while also supplementing your rebate. Sure they throw us a few crumbs saying the TIF will also build roads (to their private project, to their benefit) and we get to use the parking for the Levitt (even though I have yet to see a parking issue at the concerts even when the lawn is packed) the true beneficiary of this REBATE is the developer and his investors, this is why it truly is a HANDOUT.
The most egregious part about the almost $200 million dollars in TIFs the city council has gleefully handed out this year is that this could ALL be done with private investment. The money is there. It has been proven by the past decade of record breaking building permits that have been issued to contractors in this city who have asked for ZERO tax breaks. Besides the public building permits, I think most of the private permits issued by the planning department are 100% privately funded. It would be a great presentation and study done by our Planning Department, but of course that would shoot holes in the whole NEEDING TIFs to succeed in Sioux Falls. Believe it or not, I think that is fantastic that private business, can invest privately while providing good jobs without a government HANDOUT.
Which brings us to Joe’s last point, that was so ridiculous when he said it, I laughed for about 5 minutes. Joe said it was important to remember that Cherapa II’s developer was taking on 100% of the risk for this approximately $350 million dollar project.
Really Joe?!!! He should be commended for that after getting this handout from the city?
Isn’t that how the Free Market system is supposed to work? Oh never mind, in Sioux Falls it’s called Developer Socialism. You give us massive tax breaks and we will make sure we spend it on us and never present data that shows otherwise.
And lastly, Jeff, a Thank You would have been nice.
While Sioux Falls only offers this service during the summer so kids can get to their friends house across town to play video games, Rapid City offers all year so kids can get to school;
As parents and students scamper to buy school clothes, sneakers and supplies, one of the key boxes on the school checklist that impacts many families is reliable transportation to and from school. The City and Rapid Transit System (RTS) is again offering the ‘Youth Ride Free’ program for the 2021-22 school year.
What a concept! I have felt for a long time it should be all year and anyone 17 and under should be able to swim for FREE at the outdoor pools. Instead the city has cut their transit routes and are looking to cut back on our bus system more and more each year. The reason ridership numbers are dwindling in Sioux Falls is because we have terrible service. Maybe we should just terminate SAM, sell all the assets and buy anyone without a car or driver’s license an E-Bike?
Item #6, Approval of Contract, Sub-Item #12, $300K for Midco Aquatic Center Filter. Not sure if this is something that has to be done consistently, but that must be one hell of a filter for that kind of money.
Item #24, Village on the River moving another one of the Bunker Ramp liquor licenses
Item #25, Looks like Dave & Buster’s is parking their liquor license at a Casino. Don’t you love how they can just skirt the rules by moving the license to another address? No restrictions there but boy do we need to HAMMER on Med MJ!
Item #45 & 62-63, 2nd Reading and Resolutions of TIF #25, Cherapa II. This of course NOT needed and private investment could build this entire project, but when the city gives out TIFs like candy what do you expect? Continue to give the tax breaks to the wealthy developers thinking it will trickle down to the rest is futile.
Item #48-49, 2nd Reading, Supplemental appropriations from Covid money.
Item #50, 1st Reading, Platting of Rural areas, I am still researching this one, but I suspect this is the city stepping on Minnehaha County’s toes and trying to get platting fees from rural properties which is why the Sioux Falls Planning Commission voted down the next item;
Item #56, 1st Reading, Expansion of Wedding Barn. This is the project that the Planning Commission felt needed to pay city platting fees. We will see how the council handles this. While we give $200 Million in tax breaks to big developers we gotta find a way to stick it to the rural wedding barns. GEEESH!
Item #58, 1st Reading, Med MJ ordinance. I can’t wait to hear the discussion on this one or if any amendments will be presented or passed.
“It’s important that parents and people who have access to that know that this is still a dangerous substance,†TenHaken said.
It is probably the least dangerous plant based drug in the world. There has never been a recorded overdose of marijuana. In fact prescription opioids and alcohol is way more dangerous then Med MJ causing millions of overdoses and deaths. I struggle with how the mayor of the largest city in the state has ZERO understanding of this harmless plant based drug.
The reason we elect a city council and mayor is to have citizen representation when crafting or upholding our laws and ordinances within our city. They should not be injecting their own personal views on those laws they just need to follow them within reason.
The gross abuse of power the Mayor and the Council is showing with the Med MJ ordinance is appalling and shows the stark similarities between how this ordinance is being crafted and how the Events Center was passed.
The Event Center vote was an ‘Advisory Vote’ in other words it had no legal binding, it was just a suggestion to the city council. A little over 50% voted YES. If this would have been a LEGAL bond initiative vote it would have failed because that needs 60% to pass. Of course, a majority of the City Council ignored that fact and voted to pass the Event Center bonds WITHOUT a LEGAL bond election, and without a 60% majority on the advisory election. In other words, we were NOT properly represented by our councilors and mayor.
Fast forward to 2021, and the new mayor and council are back at their old tricks by injecting their personal feelings and opinions of a very small minority of people when crafting Med MJ ordinances. While the news has been reporting about the ridiculous FIVE dispensary rule (while we have hundreds of bars, liquor stores and telephone booth VL casinos) they have avoided talking about the 1,000 foot setback, the conditional use permitting process and most egregious of all the initial $100,000 1st year license fee and $50,000 a year after that (you have to buy a 2 year license for $100,000.) Remember, over 70% of South Dakota voters approved Med MJ and even a higher percentage in Minnehaha County and the City of Sioux Falls. They are totally ignoring the will of the voters and the majority and doing the bare minimum to restrict these dispensaries. I have also heard there was pressure from a certain bank and hospital in town, you can probably guess.
Retail On/Off Sale Malt Beverage (yearly renewal) $333.00 Retail On/Off Sale Wine (yearly renewal) $533.00 Package Liquor (yearly renewal) $533 Retail Liquor (Bar) One time License Fee $192,393 with a yearly renewal fee of $1,500
You could either argue that the licensing fees of alcohol (a narcotic, not a plant) is too low, or the licensing of Med MJ is too high, but they are grossly mismatched. And where did the $100K fee come from? It is obvious it was pulled from their behinds and isn’t based on any economic or financial data, it’s just vindictive. Also factor in that dispensaries would be selling a harmless plant discreetly for medicinal use and no product can be used on the premise. It’s no different than picking up vitamins at Wayne & Mary’s. The immense ignorance and dictatorship like actions taken by Mayor TenHaken and the City Council are extremely worrisome and concerning. This is why most of this ordinance was crafted in secrecy, they know it is unethical and wrong.
I also think this is a part of a statewide effort to punish voters and petitioners for passing their own laws. Just look how they gutted the minimum wage (for teenagers) transparency laws, Rec MJ and the list goes on and on. They hate the initiative process because it strips them of their authority and they seek to punish anyone who dares to participate in it. I joked that even if Med MJ passed with 99.9% of the vote, they would still move to limit it. Their greed and power sees no limits and they have no shame about it.
There is a silver lining though.
I’m guessing there will be immense pushback from the industry, and I am also guessing it’s going to be very public and very intense and will hopefully expose who is leading this city into a dictatorship. Get out the popcorn folks because it’s going to be quite a show watching the rats run for their holes but this time they may have no where to hide.
l3wis 
