A ballot challenge to the city commission

By -
Not that anyone in Pierre should be nervous when those things come out of my mouth, but this afternoon, I'm not talking about the town of my youth where I usually cause trouble with things on the ballot.

Today, I'm in Brookings with the family. I was out mowing the lawn with the new (used) mower, where a piece of crumpled paper was found on my lawn. What was it? A flyer for the anti-Lowe's-subsidy people.

If you recall, the City of Brookings is providing Lowe's a huge incentive package to locate in Brookings, as opposed to another area. And some people don't really like it.

Check out http://www.brookingsclearchoice.com where they've done a just "ok" job of laying out their argument. I would have done it differently. Some of the best arguments in support of their position are buried in the website as opposed to being the primary focus. I suspect that it's because of the homegrown nature of the effort. I don't know that they have anyone with serious campaign experience on their team.

What are they doing wrong? I don't really sense a unifying hard hitting message. You have stabs at different versions of a message here and there, but I don't sense that they have formed a succinct, easily understood driving set of points that's going to resonate with the voters.

Don't paint me on one side of this or another just yet. If there's a website for the pro-side, let me know. I'd be interested in reading before I make up my mind.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The people that don't like it are the retail owners who didn't get as lucrative an offer, like Steve Paula. The Old Money Brookings people hate anything that represents a threat to their perceptions of the town. They want growth, but only with their say-so.

I lived there for almost a decade. I'm glad to have moved out.
10:45 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A note from Benedict Ar... Sorry. A note from Stan Adelstein why he thinks you should vote Democrat this year.

By -
Image
(Click on letter to enlarge) And while it may not be printed at taxpayer expense, I don't see a disclaimer, either. When they hold the special session (supposedly at the end of November) , since he's left them already, I think his colleagues should expel him from the caucus. Sure. At that point it's only going to be symbolic. But since he's already said he's running again in the near future, sometimes symbolism is enough.
Read more

Corson County information on Klaudt Rape Charges

By -
Here's some of the information on the Corson County Charges: COUNT I That on or about December of 2005, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT II That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT III That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration, separate and distinct from the act alleged in Count II, with
Read more

It's about health, not potential promiscuity.

By -
As the only South Dakota blogger out with 5 daughters, I feel I need to weigh in on the whole discussion that's occurring with regards to the HPV vaccine, and Governor Rounds' proposal to make it available. My family (including my three oldest girls) watched my mom, their grandmother, succumb slowly and painfully to cancer which spread throughout her body. If a similar fate from a different type of cancer was preventable through a simple shot, why wouldn't anyone advocate for it? At the age most of my kids are going to be getting it, they're still playing with barbies, and negative influences such as most of the programming on MTV, and other assorted trashy television is verboten in my house. All they're going to know about this vaccination is that it's a shot, just like for teatnus or measles. They'll go "Ow, I don't want a shot," and that will be it. Just another mark on their vaccination record. One check box for DPT, one for HPV, and so on
Read more