Publisher's note: I received an email from Tim this morning in which he explained that he removed a couple comments from people who were not using his site to promote or educate voters about his positions. I thank him for doing so and encourage everyone to use these resources in a way that positively reflects on the elections underway.
Tim,
I feel I need to address a couple things regarding those who comment on your blog. This information is being sent to your email, your site and this site in the hope that you will receive the message. Your site is a campaign site, not a bash Mike Rowland Site. Several times now I have asked you to remove references to me by your posters. You have changed your site from a free for all un-moderated site to one where you at least approve of the comment before posting. There is no reason to post any comment with my name on it, and yet you persist in allowing such material to flow through your site. You are right, I am not the Sidney Citizen. I appreciate the statement of your belief that I am not the writer of the anonymous paper. I don't understand your statement minimizing my ties to local businesses downtown as being a key to understanding the problems outlined by the Sidney Citizen, to the extent any such comments are valid.
From what I can read about the material posted by the Sidney Citizen, most of the problems seem to be inside the city government of various departments managed by the city. Almost nothing has been about the downtown area, outside of complaints that businesses not being there has changed the character of the downtown climate. I don't know enough about the problems or personalities involved inside the electrical department to know why people think that the transformer was a bad idea or why certain people have their job or not. Frankly, those are small considerations when compared to the structural challenges facing Sidney from the loss of sales tax refunds, the utilization a pay for it later strategy as is the case with TIF financing or stagnant population as is likely to be the case with the current census.
I have taken positions that are on the opposite side of the city manager, who somehow confuses this with not liking him personally. What happened to the concept that all voices were welcomed in the debate?
Several years ago, I was also blamed for being another anonymous report called the Pundit. As it turns out, Julie Young and her husband Dave published that, all the while pretending that it was me. Numerous people joked at my expense that it was odd that I would be the pundit and someone who comments with their name as well. You can ask Julie if you want but the conversation was overheard by another city council candidate who also revealed something about their character in the process as well.
Julie Young stated to me that the purpose of the site wasn't to get people to quit city council, yet that was the result. I have talked to Cathy Wilson and Mike Hartzler both, and even been harassed at home by him in a foaming, ranting telephone call in which he thanked me for coming clean in the so-called fourth edition of the Sidney Citizen (march 16 'edition'). Cathy Wilson stated to me that Bob told her he was going to fire specific people, when in reality, he was asking questions about the roles people held and whether or not there was duplication in effort. He is a sitting councilman and frankly that is his duty to ensure that money spent by the city is done as efficiently as possible. Wilson stated to me in a telephone call that not only did she not support Van Vleet any longer, but that she would not be satisfied until he, Mayor Wiederspon and Marvin Filsinger were removed from office. The vehemence in her voice was not rational in my opinion, regardless of her motivations. It doesn't bother me that she doesn't support the big three. Free country. End of story.
The bottom line is I don't dislike Gary Person at all. He is an affable person who does care about the town. People think that just because I was against the school bond issue and that I spoke out against the use of TIF money to provide a 30,000 break for quarter million dollar homes instead of building market rate apartments, that I am somehow anti-Sidney. Nothing could have ever been farther from the truth. I remember being the only person to speak against the TIF bond for Prairie Winds, stating problems with home finance on the front range in what was the leading edge of the recession. Jordan Ball stated that Sidney was not like the front range, when questions of bank/developer participation were addressed, and yet we have foreclosures where houses in Sidney are upside down on mortgage valuations. No housing has been built on the site as yet more that two years later and despite multiple extensions to the developer, no one knows when the affordable housing will begin to ease the severe crunch facing the community. Affordable, if you think 225,000 dollars is affordable on the median income of Sidney's population of around 40,000 dollars, or so.
Other candidates talk about how little the mill levy is for the city which is true. The majority of the levy comes from the county and the school district, with more than 51% of the total for Sidney Public Schools. There isn't much you can do about that in a sparsely populated rural county like Cheyenne. The fact of the matter is that with LB775 money and Nebraska Advantage economic development funds coming at the expense of sales tax dollars (Ms. Nelsen has pointed out to me that 2/3rds of the city revenue is sales tax based), the only way out of the problem is to either not use local sales tax dollars for such efforts, extend retail sales by such a proportion that the refunds become a smaller percentage of the total, or bring more business inside the city limits. The legislative or administrative solution to the problem is unlikely to occur soon. The inclusion of occupancy taxes cannot be extended much further without adversely affecting sales, and the current climate makes business location inside the city limits less likely than into the county. Recent locations by Emagine Concepts and 21st Century into the county prove this in anecdotal fashion.
Taking a look at recent history, Sidney will likely be in the over 50% mark of sales tax refund losses for the year. The budget projection was for 35% based on statements made by Gary Person at a recent city council meeting. To his credit and the credit of the city staff, serious effort has been made to hold the line on expenditures, but it is a month to month effort that requires a more long-term solution. Presently, Sidney cannot count on the Nebraska Legislature to come to its aid in the short term. The problem is likely to persist for at least 18 more months as modifying such programs must be phased in incremental fashion.
I have been of the opinion that Sidney has spent its money too foolishly on things it didn't need. This was done under the general description of beautification in order to make the town more appealing to prospective residents and businesses. What has Sidney garnered for all this activity? Property values are up, because a few people have build very expensive homes in town, a couple businesses have built add-ons that have raised valuations by significant margins in the last ten years. Sidney has seen no significant business growth within the city limits, including one business that located outside the city limits with a sweetheart arrangement, if the story is to be believed, to not be annexed, ever. That business generates a far cry more in sales than the Mayor's business and yet, Julie and Dave and Cathy and Mike are all up in arms over the 11k in projected money the city could take in if White Bluffs were inside the city limits.
I have been attacked personally, theguardiannews has been attacked as a plant for the big three and yet no one has been able to illustrate a single instance whereby I have supported anyone in my coverage of city council. I have been attacked by the local radio station as not following rules, which led to a change in the way media are accommodated. Many of the statements that were made in the letter to city council and other city employees were factually untrue and city employees, including the city manager knew them to be untrue and yet the change was made. According to Susan Ernest, the aspiring owner to be of KSID radio, her lawyer signed off on the letter. She doesn't believe it is liable, but that is a question for another day. According to the Mayor, the change that was made was not specifically requested by him, but rather the city manager made the choice to segregate the tables. It was a decision that he changed after subsequent further conversation with the Mayor and exists as it does today.
I have been honest in my reporting of council activities and for those who are interested in knowing, I quoted the city manager in a previous post. When I talked to him about it, he seemed to want to back away from it, even going so far as to ask me if I had the quote on tape. I intend to keep covering council, the election and all news associated with the public governance of Cheyenne County. My intent is clear and I state it once again for the benefit of all. I believe that a well-informed public will make collectively better decisions. I have taken no position on any candidate for any office publicly and I will refrain from doing so. It is the choice of the people of Sidney to make and my only part is to illustrate what the candidates are for or against. I find it unfortunate that Tim, who is seeking a position he believes is honorable would allow publication of such drivel and the respect that everyone talked about during the forum was washed away with a public reference about Mr. Filsinger.
With respect to what happens inside the city limits and in her governance, I am interested in seeing the community prosper and grow. I believe that the direction of growth looks good on paper, but doesn't answer key questions and concerns of many of her citizens. Property valuations are too high and as a result, the aggregate tax amounts make doing business in the city more expensive than in the county. Maybe Sidney needs to stop doing 7 million dollar giveaways and being proactive about city development that doesn't focus on a 4 block section of town and the interstate. Until then, the people will continue to pay for the sins of the city fathers, regardless of clique or other affiliation.
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