It’s An Important Election
Just one week to go until the December 6th Recreation Center election in Sioux Falls. The campaign so far is barely noticeable. There was a genuine and nicely supported campaign kick off event several weeks ago. Over 1000 “Vote Yes” yard signs have been distributed and some leading citizens have been seen wearing large campaign buttons declaring “YES”.
The proponents have elected a sprint rather than a marathon strategy for victory. This week will see a ramping up of the Vote Yes campaign by the proponents. Expect to see and hear radio or television advertising, mail pieces, and perhaps even newspaper advertising. By next weekend I would expect the proponents to be rolling out their Get Out The Vote Effort.
Even the Argus Leader endorsed the Rec Center. Not that their news stories have been particularly positive but they at least understand that the Rec Center would be a big positive for Sioux Falls and the larger Sioux Empire.
While youth groups (Swim, Hockey and Soccer clubs), the Hospitality Industry, the Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor and an overwhelming majority of the City Council, obviously Avera McKennan Health, and many civic progressives support a new facility, there appears to be opposition in the community against construction.
The broad opposition seems to be based on the belief that I don’t need and won’t use the center, so why should I pay. This is short sighted. For non users the Recreation Center is an investment in Sioux Falls. In an earlier posting I detailed why Sioux Falls needs that investment.
A more narrow opposition has appeared by some who oppose a sales tax on food or just oppose the sales tax because it is regressive. Setting aside the arguments that this is part of a more broad based attack by partisans over the tax system, these opponents really seem to be saying that they support the Center just not the means of finance. In effect they are just using the election as an opportunity to spout off about the tax on food or the system.
Well I oppose the sales tax on food also (even though I did not support its repeal in the last election because there was no means to replace the revenue or define spending cuts in state and local budgets), as I also oppose the video lottery but that is not what this election is about.
The effect of the tax increase is negligible. About 8 cents on every taxable $100.00. For people on low income remember that food stamp purchases are not taxable and two years ago Governor Rounds and the Republicans in the legislature enabled the tax rebate program on grocery purchases. This tax increase will not materially effect grocery purchases by low income individuals and households.
Sioux Falls is a rapidly growing city and needs to keep building for the future. A positive result in next Tuesday’s election can be an important step to keep the momentum going in Sioux Falls.
South Dakota Straight Talk
1 Comment
Reader Comments (1)
I've been involved in developing over a dozen facilities from major colleges down to small town gyms. Two changes would both broaden the appeal and cut the cost.
1. Drop the 50 meter pool to 25. Not what the swim team folks want, but, costs are astronomical for such a huge tank. There is a reason the closest such facilities are a major universities like UNL: they're the only ones who can afford it. That could shave up to $5mm from the price tag and save hundreds of thousands in annual costs. Pools are like boats in reverse: big holes you throw money into. Pierre almost closed their aquatic facility recently due to high operating costs. A 50 meter pool is a big, big risk that needs be looked at far more critically.
2. Add 2 or 3 double gyms. Any pubic facility should appeal to a low-income demographic. Yes, the facility committee was right in that there is adequate gym space in town. They did not adequately address, I believe, the accessibility of those gys to low-income people. After three boys in Y-ball,
I've got many miles running between Memorial one night, Edison on another, etc., etc.
Most of our working families in S.F. can afford the modest fees for participation, they cannot find the time or expense of all the runing around. We sometimes forget we have a 24-hour workforce in this community with many jobs in the evening hours.
A central place for BB with good access, supervisied nursery, etc. would be a great help to those folks and a very inexpensive addition to the facility. Hopefully, WHEN THE ISSUE PASSES, which it should and will, we can tweak the design a bit to address a few unmet needs.