Fun times

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Here’s your chance to hammer the mayoral candidates, of course the Gargoyle Leader will probably edit your questions (like they did when I tried to question John Thune about healthcare reform) but let’s give it our best shot;

Two candidates for Sioux Falls mayor – Vernon Brown and Janoct Adja – will answer questions from readers and the Argus Leader Editorial Board in separate sessions Wednesday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

Let’s see if Janoct shows up. The other night while I was working he came into the bar at the restaurant I work at and I asked him why he wasn’t out campaigning, and the mostly whitebread bar all shut up and stared at him, and the bartender said, “Campaigning?” and I said “Yeah, Janoct is running for mayor.” You could have heard a pin drop. I love how people are sooooo shocked that we have the ‘Black Man’ living in our community. Give them Hell Janoct!

Posted in: Sioux Falls Mayor Race

Big Bucks, No Whammies

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIJYfvN9954[/youtube]

Oh boy, there are a few mayoral candidates who think spending the big coin will get them a mayor’s seat, silly boys;

MONEY

A look at the amount of money raised and spent by Sioux Falls mayoral candidates
Pat Costello: $124,835.57 in direct and in-kind contributions; $42,070.80 in expenditures
Bill Peterson: $52,344; $40,629.61
Mike Huether: $73,596.53; $38,838.49
Vernon Brown: $25,034; $9,238.19
Kermit Staggers: $7,854.25; $2,935.59
Janoct Ajda: $0; $0

As the past has proven, grassroots works in Sioux Falls, not money;

When Mayor Dave Munson won his first term in a run-off in 2002, his opponent, Dick Brown, spent 63 percent more money than Munson.

Former Mayor Gary Hanson, who served from 1994 to 2002, won his first term as mayor even though he was “significantly outspent,” he said.

I still believe this is true, you can’t put a value of knocking on 19,000 doors like Staggers has done. In fact Kermit was walking so fast the other day down 14th street that when I honked and waved at him, he didn’t even see me, he had campaign fever. While my liberal friends constantly hammer me about Kermit not being a ‘liberal’ it amazes me how much he reminds me of Paul Wellstone, a liberal/grassroots giant. Kermit will win in the General and he will win the Runoff because of hard work and determination, not because of money.

Staggers said the total is what he expected since he is running a grass-roots campaign.

“If money is the winning factor, why even have an election? We are out for the votes, not the money. The votes determine the election,” he said.

At the end of February, Staggers loaned his campaign $29,500 – a no-interest loan.

Staggers hasn’t spent a lot either. At just under $3,000, he’s nowhere near the expenditures of opponents Huether, Peterson and Costello, whom all have spent around $40,000.

“We are going to allow our opponents to spend, spend, spend,” Staggers said.

“When it comes to city government, I believe in being very efficient in spending. It’s also true in my life and in my campaign,” he added.

Oh, sweet poetic justice.

Posted in: Sioux Falls Mayor Race

Sioux Falls Municipal Election first financial reports are in . . .

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. . and like a kid in a candy store I have been reading them and looking at contributors. Nothing really glaring, but I encourage you to read them yourself, seems like some people in SF have a lot of money to throw away on wannabe municipal politicians.

Here are the raw numbers (The Gargoyle Leader someone how came up with higher numbers then me);

MAYOR

Pat Costello: $75,496 (his contributor list reads like a who’s who of SF construction and development)

This quote by Pat in the Gargoyle really made me laugh;

“Despite raising the most money in 2009, Costello said he expects to be outspent in the race. His donations came from people of “all walks of life” who he said responded to his leadership as a councilor and businessman.”

Oh yeah? “All walks of life” Well he is telling the truth, except most of those people walk on the wealthier side of life, here is just a few names you may recognize;

Dana Dykhouse (First Premier), Kelby Krabbenhoft (Sanford), Greg and Phyllis Heineman (Skyforce), Jim Soukup (Soukup Construction), Dan Kirby, Peter Hegg, Tim Dougherty, Vance Goldammer (Prominent Republican Lawyer), Rick Lessnau (Sioux Falls McDonalds), Tom Muenster, Scott Lawrence (Lawrence and Schiller), Frank Alvine, Don Dunham, JR. (Dunham Companies), Jim Burma, Bob Correa (Music Service), Tom Walsh (SD Burger King), Larry Canfield, Al Schoeneman (Schoeneman’s), Jeff Schershligt (Cherapa Place), De Knudson (City’s Chief Babbler), Kevin Schieffer (Formerly(?) of DM & E), Paul Schiller (Lawrence and Schiller co-founder, and major pain in my ass)

Bill Peterson: $34,744 (This one surprised me, a little, I didn’t know what to expect, but I never thought it would be that much. Hey, doesn’t Kirby owe you some money for writing that flawed home rule charter for him?)

Mike Huether: $25,000 (this number is a little wishy washy because he did not fill out his final total)

Vernon BrownKnows: $13,000 (I got a good chuckle out of Vernon’s contributor list . . .  sloppy seconds.)

Kermit Staggers: $1,050 (This does not surprise me, and I applaud Kermit for being modest about his campaign, I have often said money is what corrupts campaigns, elections and politicians, I think it would be great if he won mayor and spent the least. Remind me Kermit to cut you a check, BTW.)

Janoct Ajda: $0 (C’mon Janoct, you couldn’t at least get your mom to give you a couple of bucks?)

COUNCIL RACES

Jim Entenman: $15,575 (like I said in my predictions, I know Jim will raise a lot of money, and spend a lot, but doesn’t seem odd that a guy who has NO competitors has fifteen grand in the pot? Still couldn’t but a decent Harley for that)

Bob Christensen: $10,541 (This one surprised me a little, I expected less, but hey, if I ran a barber shop I would have a ‘shake for a contribution’ die.)

Sue Aguilar: $9,620 (no surprise here, Sue is rich, has rich friends, blah, blah, blah)

Michelle Erpenbach: $7,120 (Michelle’s contributor list is a very interesting read, Tom Daschle was one of her contributors, wonder if he wrote in the memo line on the check, “Sorry I voted for that stupid fucking Iraq War .”

Clarence Kooistra: $625

Charles Gaetze: $0

James Milne: $0 (didn’t file)

There was also two PAC’s involved this year. The money they raised is no surprise, but their contribution list is fun to read (SEE BELOW)

SECOND CENTURY PAC (A PAC mostly funded by lawyers. The graphic shows who they contributed to)

2ND-CEN

SIOUX EMPIRE FRIENDS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING (A PAC that promotes affordable housing. I have an idea, stop giving money to politicians and start spending it on affordable housing. The graphic shows who they contributed to)

SEJ

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls Mayor Race

Sioux Falls municipal election predictions

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FishingPasses7

As you can see there is a lot more fish in the barrel when it comes to the city election. These are my early predictions (I will probably change these predictions closer to the election).

At-Large (A)

I think Kooistra will win this race by at least 70%, his opponent, Gaetze, is unknown, and what we have heard so far about him he kinda sounds like an intolerant, teabagger. This will however be a fun one to watch. I support Kooistra in this race. He is a former Republican who switched his registration to Democrat before he ran for County Commission. Kooistra is a fiscal conservative but appears to be aware of the social problems facing our city and state. He will be a strong city councilor and I look forward to his term.

At-Large (B)

James Entenman has no challengers right now, but even if he does, I predict he will win this race. Jim is well-respected in the community as a business owner (J & L Harley Davidson) and has lot’s O’ money. I predict he will outspend any of his challengers 4-1. Jim knows how to stop competition, he has proved this by the monopoly he currently owns and runs with his brother. Rumor has it that he ran the Easyriders franchise out of town a few years back. Jim has clout. I do not look forward to Jim as a councilor, I think he will use his position to better himself and his friends, he also appears to be a spend happy big government Republican.

SE District

I give this one to Bob Christensen by at least 5 points. His challenger Sue Aguilar is well known as a community activist, but she is unknown outside that world. Bob is a popular barber in town. I like Bob and am kinda on the fence about this race, I think they would both do a good job. During the last few Event Center Task Force meetings, Bob got heavily involved in the discussion of the final proposal. He asked great questions and gave good insight. I think as a city councilor he will do the same. Not sure how he stands on the big issues, but I like the fact that he likes discussion (well, he is a barber) that has been missing on our council for a very long time.

Central District

Michelle Erpenbach doesn’t have a challenger, yet. I predict someone will jump in the race after the first of the year. I have vowed that if another challenger doesn’t appear by the filing deadline, I will run against her. I just think that Michelle shouldn’t have a free ride. If the obvious challenger of Michelle appears after January 1st, they will beat Michelle by at least 10 points. I’ll keep you posted on this one.

Mayor’s race • General Election

6 – Janoct Ajda; Janoct doesn’t have a chance in Hell of winning, but he is fun to watch at debates. I think it would be funny if he came in at 5th.

5 – Bill Peterson; Bill is too unknown to garner enough votes. He has the money to run, but not the popularity. If the first mayoral forum is any indication of how he will present himself in future forums, he will be going downhill fast. He comes off as ‘bossy’.

4 – Pat Costello; Pat’s stance on the Event Center funding source and being born with a silver spoon in his mouth will not help his candidacy. I like Pat, but he flip-flops on too many issues and that hurts him in appearing as a leader.

3 – Vernon Brown; Vernon is popular, but not popular enough to be mayor. His sunshine and butterfly speeches get old and people can see right through the bullshit. But my prediction has more to do with his win in the last city election. He only garnered 64% of the vote against a relatively unknown candidate in a city wide election. I don’t think Vernon will be able to close in on that spread in the mayoral election.

2 – Mike Huether; Mike is popular and has a very positive message. He is also a Democrat and doesn’t always agree with the other rubberstampers in the race. It also helps that Mike (and Staggers) have been campaigning like mad since this summer. The only thing that Mike lacks is political experience, heck I have more, but that is what will also help him garner the #2 spot.

1 – Kermit Staggers; Kermit has it all. He is the underdog, the lone dissenter on the council, he has over 20 years of combined public service experience (AF Intelligence officer, international ambassador, state legislator, city councilor). Kermit is also a fiscal conservative, which is a very popular position to have in this economy. Kermit never waivers and you always know where he stands on issues, this is a strong leadership quality. He is very respectful of citizens and is always there to lend an ear. He is also well liked not just by joe six pack but also by small business owners because of his stances on taxes and deregulation.

RUNOFF

There will obviously be a runoff, a candidate must garner at least 51% of the vote in the general to win the mayor’s race, that won’t happen with this many people running. I predict the race between Mike and Kermit will be very close, but I give it to Kermit by the skin of his teeth, we might even see a recount.

Posted in: SF City Council, Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Mayor Race

Looks like there may be another mayoral candidate running in Sioux Falls

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I heard this morning there is about a 90% chance that Janoct Ajda will be running for mayor again in 2010. Janoct ran in 2006. While he doesn’t really have a chance in Hell of winning, he adds a lot to the debate. This moment from a mayoral debate in 2006 proves that Janoct can be articulate when he wants to be (paraphrasing);

I listen to all of you candidates call the homeless a ‘problem’ or an ‘issue’, they are neither, they are citizens of this city and they deserve our help.

Posted in: Sioux Falls Mayor Race