Shaw wants his readers to believe that mayor Sam Kooiker is trying to manipulate contracts between the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Sutton Rodeos and The Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo. He leaped to this conclusion because Lyndell Peterson was a vocal supporter of the new mayor and happened to be on the BHSS&R board for several years. Shaw likely did not name Peterson in his column because he knows Lyndell and knows his own readers know him to be an honest man of unquestionable integrity.
"Curiously, a prominent county government official who publically endorsed Kooiker’s mayoral candidacy is also a long-time fair board member. Political foes ask if that could be a reason why Kooiker is showing favoritism by backing the county fair’s push to gain control of all of the cash from the Stock Show rodeo that was started 30 years ago by the Sutton family."Shaw's cowardice in not naming someone whom he implies is corrupt is typical of the rest of the column.
Shaw should know from his time as mayor, that the Sutton family did not start the Stock Show Rodeo. The Stock Show did. Yes, they contracted with Sutton to provide the rodeo stock. No, the Suttons do not own the Stock Show Rodeo. And, they never did.
Kooiker got into the matter when the Stock Show refused to sign a contract that bound them to the terms of a second contract to which they are not a party. The Civic Center and Sutton Rodeos entered into a contract that sought to control the Stock Show. When the Stock Show refused to participate, the Civic Center and Sutton Rodeos probably knew they could count on the former mayor to spin things their way.
Shaw's column, which is headlined: "Business as usual at City Hall" claims that Kooiker's administration is as guilty of being part of the "good old boys" network as his own administration and the administration Kooiker's replaced. Right. If it was business as usual, Kooiker would have allowed the inequity of the Stock Show and Sutton Rodeos agreements continue without question. And, he calls into question the integrity of Lyndell Peterson, one of the most respected public servants ever to hold an office in West River. I would be happy at any time to debate Mr. Peterson's integrity vs. Shaw's favorite "good old boy" benefactor, Doug Hamilton, the disgraced sexual harassment foreclosed upon slumlord.
The former King of Consultant Studies then takes the Kooiker administration to task for a "blatant example of apparent waste at City Hall." Blatant example of apparent waste? Huh? The council agreed to spend $150,000 for a study of what kind of pool to build to replace the Horace Mann Municipal Pool. Shaw was famous for a ready-shoot-aim perspective on things, which is evidenced by his decision to bid the Civic Center addition in two phases, a move that cost taxpayers millions. Kooiker and the new city council have done the right thing in funding the study to make sure the pool they build will be done correctly and meet the needs of the neighborhood.
Finally, Shaw criticizes the move by the council to hold meetings with the developers of Presidents Plaza. Shaw apparently has forgotten all the secret meetings he had with one of the same developers over the dead Rushmont project at the same location. What Shaw describes as an infiltration of secrecy, actually is an opportunity to shine more light on the project. Yes, council members will meet with Presidents Plaza developers regularly and will then report to the full council on the project's progress.
What Shaw hates to reveal is that he hates Sam Kooiker, who along with Alan Hanks sent him and his administration packing. What is puzzling is why the Journal continues to allow him 600 words a week to try to get revenge.
7 comments:
Good post Mike.
With the complete overhaul of city government, I wonder who the Journal thinks is buying in to that BS?
Looks like we're about to find out what stuff Sam is made of. Lamar is suing the citizens of Rapid City on the billboard thing. Will SK dance with ones who brung him? Or the ones who wrote his campaign a check?
Almost forgot... Mike says:
"I would be happy at any time to debate Mr. Peterson's integrity vs. Shaw's favorite "good old boy" benefactor, Doug Hamilton, the disgraced sexual harassment foreclosed upon slumlord."
Seems to me that Sam did a little feeding at the Hamilton trough as well.
Something like $7700 from Hamilton, then Kooiker denied it. Hamilton ran a full page ad rebutting the denial. Most of the $$ went to hire Mike Schmacher to run Sam's campaign if I recall.
You sure you want to go there?
Bill,
Do you just get vague memories, cram them in your brain blender and spit out whatever suits your purpose.
Schumacher's claim was he threw Kooiker under the bus to work as a "professional consultant" to Hamilton to get Shaw elected
$7700 from Hamilton to Schumacher was for Schumacher to run SHAW'S campaign and SHAW denied it.
Kooiker received a small sum from Hamilton in his first campaign for council. When it became clear to everyone what Hamilton was, Kooiker refused his contribution for the mayoral run. Shaw accepted Hamilton's dough and defended Hamilton and came in third in a five-man race.
To my knowledge, Kooiker received no dough from Lamar, but I could be wrong. He may have received something from the Casey family, which owns Epic. But, he has stated for the record that Rapid City will defend the vote of the people.
Mike. Tsk. What I remember is what I read in the newspaper:
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/article_2743dc3d-1f15-5ef6-b841-461c61186979.html
Excerpts:
"Earlier this week, Kooiker discovered an amended 2006 report filed by Elect Better Government PAC, operated by businessman Doug Hamilton that said the PAC should have reported that city council member Mike Schumacher was paid $7,700 by the PAC to help Kooiker's city council campaign last year."
"Schumacher and Kooiker had a falling out earlier this year after Schumacher revealed Hamilton planned to pay Schumacher to consult on Mayor Jim Shaw's re-election campaign. That deal apparently fell through after Shaw said unequivocally that he would not accept paid help from Schumacher.
Kooiker freely admits taking donations from Hamilton in the past - he reported receiving $2,000 from the Elect Better Government PAC on his 2006 finance report - but he said he knows nothing about Hamilton paying Schumacher for last year's election, and as a result could not have included it on his own campaign finance report.
Kooiker has known Schumacher since 1997. He credits Schumacher with encouraging him to run for office in 2002 and has accepted Schumacher's volunteered help on all his past campaigns. But Schumacher was never paid by Kooiker for any of that help."
...
And yes, Sam got a big campaign donation from the Casey family.
You are almost correct on the $7,700 for Schumaker, Bill. I was wrong. Hamilton paid Schumaker to work on Pete Fuller's campaign until Fuller told him he couldn't do that, so Schumaker had already been paid, so they amended their report to suggest Schumaker worked on Kooiker's campaign. He did not work on Kooiker's campaign.
So Sam took money from the Casey family and is vowing to vigorously fight in support of the voters' wishes on billboards. What's your problem with that, Bill?
Whatever you say, Mike. If you keep changing your story enough times, pretty soon you might actually get close to what actually happened. Meanwhile, if you don't mind, I'll just stick with what i read in the newspapers.
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