Know your hot button issues especially when running for mayor.
Jolene was on the Good Ship Lalley Pop (podcast has yet to post) show today, and she did pretty good, but she stumbled a bit when asked about the Downtown Parking Ramp. She said she supported the project and that it was good for downtown development. She went on to say that councilor Neitzert did a good job of ‘crunching numbers’ and explaining why we are paying double the national average for stalls. (Because we tax payers are taking on a 100% of the ‘soft costs’ which are about $6 million, and IMO should be SHARED with the developers like the ramp wrap, architectural and engineering designs, utility upgrades and reinforced foundation that is needed to support the PRIVATE hotel).
When Jolene was asked if the private investors should be released, she said YES. A good answer on it’s face . . . but.
What Jolene must not know, or has missed is that you can support this project all you want, but if you don’t support the investors staying secret you can’t support the project, it’s part of the convoluted plan. You can’t have your cake and eat it to.
The city doesn’t want us to know and says that NO public officials (or family members) are investing. Even if we trust them on that verbal only promise, there is NOTHING preventing public officials from investing in other NON-PUBLIC partnerships with the same secret investors, something I think is happening and is a conflict of interest IMO and probably the #1 reason these investors are being kept secret. It is NO secret that the mayor and some of the other councilors do invest in local development projects. But do these lines get a little blurred when you are helping your fellow investors out on a public project? You know, that whole back scratching thingy.
While the city has NO intentions of releasing the names of the private investors, only the guarantors, which includes Aaron Hultgren whose construction company has been fined thousands of dollars for OSHA safety violations for the Copper Lounge building collapse. Hultgren’s name alone attached to this project is another reason why the public should know most of the private investors.
I will give credit to Jolene for sticking up for transparency, but you can’t have it both ways as mayor. Private developers will fight you tooth and nail before releasing those names. So would Jolene cave to secrecy or would she forgo public/private development for transparency? Good question.
I have argued all along the best way to have transparency with development in Sioux Falls is by creating or eliminating regulation legislation that supports growth instead of handouts like TIF’s and taxpayer partnerships. These tax incentives NEVER trickle down to the common citizen taxpayer in this town. It hasn’t worked since Reagan introduced this asinine way of governing and it never will. Let FREE enterprise and development in Sioux Falls sink or swim on it’s own and let our tax dollars provide the services that truly trickle down to us all instead blowing millions on developer welfare projects.
So please Jolene, keep fighting for transparency, just don’t expect developers to get on board.
 