Madison Chamber Forum: What the Candidates Said

Not a bad crowd, considering there was a ball game on TV.
(And no, Bob was not checking scores on his Blackberry while emcee-ing!)

Hey, late night readers! I just got back from recording tonight's candidates forum, sponsored by the Madison Chamber of Commerce and broadcast live by KJAM. Tonight was the last big public event for all of the local candidates Lake County voters will see on their ballot on Election Day, November 2, just five short days away.

Below are my notes of what the candidates said on the issues. With fifteen candidates for five different offices, there was a lot to take in. Read, digest, and stay tuned for my commentary tomorrow.

The notes are rough paraphrasings [with just a few moments of editorializing in brackets]. Occasionally I'll slip into first person, writing things as the candidates said them. If you want exact wording, see the videos. Yes, there will be video! I got everyone on video this time (including you, Bobbi! :-) ), and I'll be uploading those Chamber Forum videos overnight to the Madville Times channel on YouTube. Enjoy!

* * *

Round 1: Bob Sahr masters the ceremonies, and we start with the District 8 Senate candidates. Pictured above: Sahr at the mic, Senator Olson to his left, then Schmidtke at end of table. Introductions first, then questions.

Senator Russell Olson gets to introduce himself first.

• Lists committees, including Tribal Relations
• Says politics is risk vs reward for candidates; you risk time away from family, hard to travel to Pierre with new baby only 2 months old, missed half of the little one's life during last session
• risk not keeping everyone happy, differing with supporters.
• reward is being able to represent voters and keep promises: I've fulfilled every promise I made as State Senator
• we've balanced the budget without raising taxes or using reserves

Clark Schmidtke introduction:

• Married for 23 years, director of Trent Assisted Living Center, Army vet
• Pierre is broken and needs to be fixed.
  
• I've always been a fighter for what I believe in and will fight for District 8.
  
• We need to cut the budget, and I have specific cuts in mind. I'm against raising taxes but also against cuts in education and Medicaid.
• We are in a recession, but a lot of our problems did not come from the recession.
  

Question #1 (from Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee): South Dakota faces budget shortfall, no stimulus: what do we do?

Schmidtke: First thing is to push for capping spending at 3% or rate of inflation, cut full-time state employees; we had 12,800 pre-Rounds, now 14,500. Consolidate departments, use computers to save staff. Restore competition, eliminate no-bid contracts.

Olson: We also have to keep dangerous people incarcerated; ed, med, and jails leaves only 5% of budget; we could cut everything else and still be $30M in the hole! We made difficult cuts last year, we will continue to find even more efficiencies next session.

Question 2 (Chamber): What would you do to spur economic development in District 8?

Olson: I sit on board of directors of economic development; we are totally reviewing policies to get more capital in hands of small business owners. Just have to get the right funds in the right hands of the right people.

Schmidtke: Try to raise money without raising taxes; focus on low/no-interest loans for businesses we already have in South Dakota instead of wining and dining big biz from elsewhere.

Question 3: (from me!) Farmers have expressed dissatisfaction with the ag productivity tax. Would the candidates support replacing the ag productivity tax with income tax; if not, how do we fix this troublesome tax system?

Schmidtke: Not really up on the property tax situation; I'll look at it, see what the options are. People are telling me they don't like income tax structure, but in time I think we'll need something like that. We need to help the farmers, but I don't know what to do with it right now. I'll listen, study, find out.

Olson: If you want to get rid of me in Pierre, get a majority to do income tax. [Well, now I finally know how to get rid of Russ!] I will never be part of a body that supports income tax. I never supported ag productivity model; I support fair and true market system; we could exclude top third and bottom third of sales, get good value from middle third.

* * *

Round 2: District 8 State House Candidates!

District 8 State House candidates (seated at front, L to R):
Jason Bjorklund, Rep. Gerald Lange, Rep. Mitch Fargen, and Patricia Stricherz.

Patricia Stricherz:

• Says she built Operation Homefront non-profit chapter in South Dakota from scratch, did it while recession hit and national office began focing national organization to cut and merge chapters.
  
• Has fought to keep the program open, even though national office took away her equipment and funding. Stricherz has continued helping families using own resources to convince national office to return support; plans to charter independent chapter next year.
• Folks are worried about keeping jobs, keeping food in table; I've had tough times, can identify with your struggles and concerns. [Appeal to emotion... pretty well-composed.]
  

Rep. Mitch Fargen:

• Chose Education and Commerce committees, important to District 8.
  
• Worked on bills protecting landowner rights on wind easements and promoting blender pumps. [stumbled just a little in this part, had trouble remembering second half: I think Mitch has been having some long days at work and on the campaign trail]
  

Rep. Gerald Lange:

• Again, celebrating democracy! [same theme as in his opening remarks at AAUW forum last week]
  
• Democracy is not easy, but politics, now a nasty word.
• Came to Madison in 1964, saw history major at DSU eliminated by computer revolution.
  
• Won election to Senate in 1990 after two unsuccessful campaigns.
  
• I sought office because "there was a bigger classroom." We need to understand South Dakota has a rotten tax system. [Gerry! You just defined leadership! Leading a the conversation, treating the community as a classroom where we must all help each other learn through conversation! Big hearts on the flow!]
  
• The bishops came to us a few years ago and asked us to get rid of the sales tax on food.
• Losing election in 2006 got my dander up, showed me we still had to make an effort for tax reform.
  
• We have an income tax on banks and insurance companies, why not Wal-Mart? There's the answer to the $100M deficit right there.
  

Jason Bjorklund:

• Born and raised in Madison
• Currently truck driver for MN company [hey, Jason, why haven't they moved here?].
  
• Recession caused by too much "legislation, regulation, and taxation."
• Worked in law enforcement in Air Force, also as sniper-spotter.
  

Question #1 (Chamber): What are your thoughts on education funding?

Fargen: last year, I proposed a 1.2% increase, that got killed last session. We had the money for it, but gave away cash to TransCanada. We only needed $4M for education increase! We could also have put money toward roads and bridges, toward raises for state employees.

Lange: In 1993 or so I introduced a bill to tax the 1099 stocks bonds CDs and other intangibles. Two Republicans (Keith Paisley and Larry Gabriel) had introduced that idea in 1989; state chose video lottery instead. We'd rather get the money from losers than from winners; that's a sad commentary on our ethics.

Bjorklund: We're in a recession, we need to hold the line on education spending. We do not need to spend more on education; look at Washington DC and Detroit with highest spending per student and highest dropout rates and highest failure rates.

Stricherz: I ran in 2008: it's sad that we're still arguing about this issue. Gov. Rounds initiated a pilot laptop program that cost the state $2.9M a year to sustain; we should cut failed programs like that, put it back in general education.

Question 2 (Chamber): Top priorities if elected?

Lange: Get rid of sales tax on food. Then eliminate sales tax on other items. Folks in lower income bracket pay 10% of income in taxes; that's basically an income tax! Those folks would spend that money on other things and stimulate the economy. The folks controlling the state pay about 2% of income in taxes. That's not democracy.

Bjorklund: Defend rights to life, liberty, and property. Second, work on repeal of national health care bill: people should have right to choose own doctors, access best medical care they can afford. Finally: expand gun rights. I want to see us be able to conceal-carry in more states.

Stricherz: Most important: dive into budget, get closer into balancing it. Can't do anything else effectively if we don't do budget right. Then cut excess spending, take care of education, roads, bridges.

Fargen: Balance the budget! We haven't done it seven of last eight years!

Question 3: (No one else in audience raises hand, so I take another swing): Given the state budget crunch, can we save money by consolidating schools? What is the minimum size of school district the state can afford to support?

Bjorklund: I'd like to see all of our schools stay open. Have tax dollars stay with student, let parents decide where kids go to school. Market would make that decision for us. Chester has had good bump just with open enrollment; need to expand choice.

Stricherz: School funding formula is per child, $4654 per child. Funding is there; we need to fund our schools, not worry about size.

Fargen: Should not force any consolidation! I want to get rid of the 100-school minimum. Conde was mostly funding its own school with local money, state still forced schools to close. Closing schools doesn't save state money when state money follows child to next school. Both gub. candidates support getting rid of forced consolidation as well.

Lange: School funding lawsuit challenging state to live up to Constitutional mandate for adequate and equal education to all students. They are 17% of the population but 100% of the future. We must help our kids!

* * *

Round 3: Lake County Auditor!

Shelli Gust:

• Lifelong SD resident, raised just outside Alcester, has lived in Madison last four years.
  
• SDSU grad 2003! [Go Jacks!].
  
• Look to perform duties efficiently and effectively, provide fresh perspective.
  
• I will ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability, openness and accessibility to county records; will post more public records online.
  
• Emphasize "serve" in "public service"

Roberta Janke:

• Lifelong Lake County resident.
  
• Experience and qualifications: 23 years of hands-on work experience in Lake County auditor's office. Hired in 1987 by current auditor Kay Schmidt.
  
• I handle payroll, benefits, deposit reports, voter registration, operation of election scanner, health/vision/life insurance.
  
• Served on recount board in 2008.

Question 1 (Chamber): How do you foster lines of communication with other departments and a smooth working relationship?

Janke: I've been working with these departments for the past 23 years. Register of Deeds, Treasurer, Equalization... every office's business comes through auditor's office.

Gust: Me too! State's Attorney's [where Gust works] office involves similar cooperation. Need to make sure every office knows what's coming down from the commission.

Question 2 (I think this was an audience question): What's the biggest problem you anticipate if elected?

Gust: I wouldn't characterize them as problems, but greatest challenge I see is making more information avaialble to the public. Great open meetings laws took effect July 1; we can work for more transparency, but it will take time to scan documents, make people aware those documents are available.

Janke: Having worked in the auditor's office for 23 years, I say things are working well! Get more information online.

Question 3 (me again): Are electronic voting machines secure, reliable, and feasible for Lake County?

Janke: You need a paper trail on an election. [Really, that's all she said! She pretty clearly does not want electronic voting machines.]

Gust: We work with Sec. State's office. The current automark system has lots of checks, the machines they have now are tested to make sure they are accurate. If we're talking about completely electronic voting, that would take lots of cooperation with Pierre, would require a great deal of testing before implementing at local level.

* * *

Round 4: Lake County Sheriff!

Sheriff Roger Hartman:

• Worked as deputy for 12 years for Sheriff Herb Lurz, sheriff 12 years after that.
  
• Over 1000 hours of in-service training.
  
• I've kept sending down, won over $100K in grants for security equipment.
  
• We've added a fourth deputy to increase patrols.[sounds like Roger was listening last time!]
  

Jason Lurz:

• From Madison, married 16 years [good grief, Jason! you've got a lead on me!], moved back here 2004.
  
• USAF veteran, served in SDHP before Lake County sheriff's office and current Madison city policeman: only candidate with law enforcement experience at city, county, and state level.

Dan Wyatt:

• Served in USAF, worked drug patrols in Panama for Army;
  
• worked for Lake and Moody County drug task force (thanks to federal money), then went to Madison Police Department.
  
• I can be a leader thanks to military and local leadership classes; 1000 hours of civilian training, 2000 horus of military training.
  
• Primary goal: keep us all safe. This is my home, I worry about what's going on here.

Question 1 (Chamber): How will you react in a crisis?

Lurz: We respond to a variety of situations. City police respond to medical calls on regular basis, very hard when there are family members present. I've been recognized by Red Cross with a life-saving award. First priority must be to take care of the patient; sometimes when you're the only person there, you have to find things the family members can do to help, keep busy.

Wyatt: Few years back, we had an individual in Wentworth douse himself and yard and house wall with gasoline; he held a lighter, threatened to light up; I had to talk this guy down. I'm also able to talk people down in domestic dispute situations. We've all three notified loved ones of deaths.

Hartman: You see many things in law enforcement. One vehicle accident, 15 or so years ago south of town, Sunday morning, family coming back from church, three kids in car dead, parent strapped in car still alive. You do what you have to do, go home, give your kids a hug, then go shed some tears in private [dang: that's a pretty sensitive and compelling narrative, the best-told story of the three].

Question 2 (audience, I think): need for changes at sheriff's office?

Wyatt: First changes behind the doors. First contact other counties, see if we can arrange to hold their prisoners, make some money to make improvements. We'll go slow and easy, make sure things get done in orderly fashion. Second, I will be a working sheriff out in the community. I'll be out and about, asking for your input.

Hartman: Lots of changes in last 12 years; I want to continue this work. 12 years ago there was only one computer in the whole office, on secretary's desk; now every staffer has one, plus computers in cars. DNA testing is a new development. You do have to keep room in jail for our local inmates.

Lurz: In my study of the budget, I see a lot of ways to save money. First priority should be to save, not spend. Over $500K for sheriff and jail now. We have lots of overtime, some reimbursed by federal government, need to reduce! We can hire part-timers to alleviate that problem. We also need service from sheriff, must be involved with community.

Question 3 (from Neal McIntyre): better response to remote areas of county? Maybe cooperate with other counties? [remember, Neal lives closer to Salem than Madison]

Hartman: We're in the middle of the county, and we do the best we can. There's a deputy out every night, sometimes two. Other counties: we have an unwritten agreement to provide mutual assistance. 20 years ago we were all dispatched to help with the Hobo Day riot.

Lurz: Be a leader, schedule appropriately. Some nights those deputies go home by 9 p.m. Some days we have two deputies working a day shift; no need for that when we have a sheriff who can do more during the day. Cross-deputization is overdue: we should extend liability coverage and allow city police to respond in country. Part-timers can also fill some gaps. Wait for response should be no more than drive time.

Wyatt: Where Neal lives is a problem way out on edge of county. We take care of business in our own counties, but we help each other when necessary. More deputies? We can hire part-timers and cross-deputize. Also, call the sheriff; the sheriff should respond.

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Fifth and Final Round: Lake County Commission!

The Lake County Commission candidates (seated at front, L to R):
Craig Johannsen, Doug Erickson, Kelli Wollmann, and Commissioner Scott Pedersen

Kelli Wollmann:

• Lifetime resident of county, husband Darwin with Madison Police Department for last 23 years.
  
• Mostly stay-at-home mom, but worked in management
• active in providing music at various events and fundraisers
• involved in Lake County Historical Society and Prairie Village boards.

Commissioner Scott Pedersen:

• End of this year makes 16 years of public service [career politician? any Tea Party protests? ;-) ].
  
• Unlike the state legislators, we've balanced our budget every year.
  
• We have wheel tax (all spent on 220 miles of banked highway, 74 miles of gravel roads) and property tax (about 23 cents of every dollar stays here); we must continue to work hard to grow the county and the taxbase.
  
• Two big projects; public access area at Lake Madison (working out well, willing to expand) and Water Quality Committee (wonderful thing, in infancy, has lots of potential).
• Do me a favor: when you're in the courthouse, thank Kay Schmidt for many years of good service [amazingly, the audience does not burst into spontaneous applause... but hey, we're Lutherans. ;-) ]
  

Craig Johannsen:

• Commissioner for 10 years until 2008: worked on drainage ordinances, laid groundwork for public access on Lake Madison.
  
• Serve on all sorts of area governing boards.
  
• I pledge to be accessible to anyone who has concerns or problems.
  
• I have the "time, experience, and commitment" to be a good commissioner.

Doug Erickson:

• Born and raised around Junius, farmed until 1993.
  
• Lifelong resident.
  
• [pause...] "As you can tell, I'm a little bit nervous."
  
• Currently have a small construction business, work all around the county, well aware of many of the problems here.
• Willing to work with everybody to solve problems.

Question #1 (Chamber): Renovations to courthouse, infrastructure needs, new employee: how do we meet those new budget demands?

Pedersen: Renovation: we're in process of working with Sioux Falls firm and Pierre bonding company: we'd issue 17-year bond with about 1.5-2% interest rate, but different from traditional loan; we'd put principal payment in separate account, could pay off in 13-14 years. New employee: Lake Madison Assoc. and East Dakota Water District kicking in to help.

Johannsen: Bonding better way to go with renovation; there are reserves, but we don't want to take them too low. New employee: grant money from EDWDD and Lake Madison for new employee.

Erickson: At peril of repeating those fellas... there are some avenues where we can save money. I'm not for any more taxes; as a small businessperson, I'm taxed out!

Wollmann: With Internet, it's very important to work together with other counties and agencies to come up with solutions. We can't be the only ones with new building needs; there are many grants available that, working with other communities, we may be able to get a lot done for less burden on the taxpayers.

Question 2: Charlie Scholl takes aim at Commissioner Pedersen: Pedersen has pushed for new zoning rules including unelected, unqualified folks to sit in at meetings and vote [what? really?] Why?

Johannsen: What exact position are you asking about? If you mean chairman of the zoning board, that person is as informed as any commissioner, if they vote, they are expressing their sense of feelings from the board. Scholl says appeal of planning board is to commission; how can we appeal if the same board official is hearing the appeal? Johannsen is unsure.

Erickson: That 150-page ordinance is a pretty big deal to be laying on the county right now. There's a lot of things that most taxpayers don't even know about in that new ordinance. having someone fill in for you voting, I'm not for that. I would strongly suggest being at the Nov. 9 commission meeting to get a better understanding of the whole zoning revision.

Wollmann: I'm not all that familiar with the problem, but it doesn't sound right. If you're elected by the people, you work for the people.

Pedersen: I'm the liaison between the commission and the zoning committee. We talked about the need for the zoning board president or vice-president to come to a commission meeting and present board's view if I'm not available, but we did not talk about letting that person vote. Come to Nov. 9 meeting, find out about it.

Question 3 [See second half of video] (Audience is fired up on county commission issues!): Wheel tax: first presented as temporary: started at $2 a tire, now $4 a tire; how much longer will that tax go? Some counties have gotten rid of it.

Erickson: The wheel tax has been on for as long as I remember. I don't like it, but we've got to get the money somewhere. I'm willing to work to find a solution. We're already taxed to death; small business guy can't go much more. I welcome taxpayers' input on finding solution.

Wollmann: Commissioners can't please everyone. There are reasons we have taxes to benefit the county. Get involved with your community, voice your opinion to get things changed.

Pedersen: Probably started in early 1990s, originally $2 a wheel, went to $4 a wheel around 1996 or 1997, stayed that level since. In 2009 we took in $268K. Max we can charge per vehicle is for four wheels, $16 per vehicle. Last year we had bids to overlay highway at $100K a mile. Forgive the wheel tax, and we can all drive on gravel. I don't want more taxes, but we have to pay for what we want somehow.

Johannsen: Wheel tax in place before I was on commission; we did increase it to tax four wheels. I have to agree with Scott: we have two sources of income, and that's it. Not my favorite thing, but we have to keep the roads up.

Question 4: (Neal McIntyre) Opportunity for public to vote on new zoning ordinance? Impact on average citizen?

Wollmann: Public vote would be good on this. Sometimes over-regulation is not always good, makes it more difficult for everybody.

Pedersen: No public vote opportunity on schedule. There is an opportunity for public input on November 9. Water Quality Committee has been reviewing this ordinance line by line [yup; I've been at those meetings!]. It is a big ordinance; putting 150 pages in front of public for vote would be confusing, but certainly we are open to changing things to make it work.

Johannsen: We work with First District Todd Kays; basically the changes coming are mostly updates for legal matters. A lot of it is just bookkeeping and updating so lawyers can't pick it apart as easily. Everyone is welcome to review it.

Erickson: I'm not for sure it's just an update. If it's going to affect everyone in the county, if it affects livestock, having old cars, etc. then it should be brought to vote of the people. If it's just a rewording, then I'm for it. It should not be just in five people's hands to decide.

Question 5: (Paul Nordaune) What was spent on the foolishness in Winfred cleaning up the Evans and J&J Farms? $40-45K or $100K? Why all the unnecessary cleanup, and why the sale of the land for just $2500?

Pedersen: I wasn't on the commission when the money was spent for the cleanup. We sold the property according to legal process. We advertised, put it up for sale. I think we spent $75K-80K, but I didn't authorize that expenditure. [Note: Charlie Scholl afterward questioned the timeframe, said Commissioner Pedersen was more involved in this process.]

Johannsen: I don't know how much was spent. We can dig and find the number. We sell the proerty for whatever we can get to get it back on the tax rolls.

Erickson: I don't know what was spent to clean it up, but if a person is running a business and following the rules on pollution and nuisances, I don't see why we had to spend tax dollars to clean up somebody else's land.

Wollmann: I also don't know expense. Quality of life to one person might be different for next person. Laws and ordinances are put in place to prevent nuisance problems within a community. We're all in it together, that's just the way it is.

AAUW Candidates Forum in Madison! Live Blogging!

Hey! I'm at the Trojan Center at DSU, live-blogging the AAUW candidates forum. We have a big panel:

• District 8 Senate: Clark Schmidtke
• District 8 House: Gerry Lange, Patricia Stricherz, Jason Bjorklund
• Lake County Commission: Craig Johannsen, Kelli Wollman, Scott Pedersen, Doug Erickson
  
• Lake County Auditor: Roberta Janke and Shelli Gust
• Lake County Sheriff: Roger Hagemann, Dan Wyatt, Jason Lurz

Senator Russell Olson and Representative Mitch Fargen are unable to be with us tonight. Nuts! I wanted to see Clark hammer Russ on TransCanada.

Stay tuned: I'll be adding notes here!

19:00: Clark leads off with biography and darn fine maroon jacket. I have that jacket... about six sizes smaller! Patricia is in red... and we are a red state.

19:06: Gerry Lange is excited to see so many candidates here: "This is a celebration of democracy!" He also notes the food-for-votes controversy in the paper. He mentions that he's been giving away a lot of tomatoes and has also heard some candidates have been handing out lunches to farmers. Oh, the scandal!

Gerry also mentions that he got his education paid for by the GI Bill and has likely paid that investment back several times over in taxes.

19:08: Jason notes he's the only blue-collar worker running for the office of District 8 House, speaks of how losing his trucking business when the economy went into recession got him into politics. He believes "regulation and taxation" caused the recession. He is wrong, of course.

Bjorklund also emphasizes his pro-gun status: "I love guns." He says illegal immigrants violate the rule of law that is fundamental to a republic. He says running for office isn't the easiest thing for him to do, but it's time for people with good principles to stand up and do what's right.

19:11: Shelli Gust takes the mic... and she's wearing a good black interp suit! Props from the interp judge! Gust is also well-prepared, well-spoken... but she is using some upward intonation at the ends of sentences. Speech students, you know how I feel about that.

19:15: Roberta Janke goes for the grey jacket—these two would make a good Lincoln-Douglas debate pairing. Janke also well-prepared, talking experience, experience, experience.

Roberta mentions the 2008 city commission recount; moderator Monica Campbell says, "You just had to bring that up." General laughter. :-)

19:18: Sheriff Roger Hartman looks different without his glasses and mustache. He, too, talks experience and upgrades he's overseen in the sheriff's office: surveillance cameras, $50K fingerprint machine, $30K school safety grant...

Nertz! and sorry Roberta and Roger: my video camera went wonky and I missed your statements!

19:22: Scott Parsley seated next to me notes that Monica skipped Jason Lurz in the speaking order, jumped to Dan Wyatt. That may be a bigger controversy than Gerry's tomatoes.

While I'm joking around, Dan's telling his life story. Lived in Panama, has worked for the City of Madison for 16+ years. Also goes for the Nike and blue jeans look. Dan says we should open our jail to prisoners from elsewhere, use the money to improve the jail. Dan sees the time card go up, says, "I see the stop sign, so being a cop, I've got to stop." General laughter except from the Noem voters.

19:25: Monica apologizes, scandal diffused: Jason gets the mic. He says "the budget should be more than a guesstimate" and requires strategic planning.

19:28: Now county commission candidates: Kelli Wollmann, lifelong Lake County resident... and stay-at-home mom! Mentions volunteer activities, music programs, adult choir at church, member of Prairie Village board.

19:31: Scott Pedersen makes sure he's heard: darn strong voice! Hear hear! Scott lived in Carthage for a while. Scott notes that county taxable value has grown 24%, lake value up 37%, city value less than 20%. County hasn't had budget deficits [but do counties have deficit authority?]. Scott says county gets 23 cents of every tax dollar, 15 cents to cities and townships, 61 cents to school. Scott notes the public access at Lake Madison resulted from listening to the citizens, has enjoyed lots of use. Scott also cites starting the water quality committee (I'm on that!) and notes that's the first county water quality committee in the state.

19:33: Craig Johannsen: another lifelong Lake County resident. he's rented his land out, so he says now he has even more time to serve as commissioner. Heck of a deal! He lists a whole bunch of boards that he's on, plus the food pantry board. Craig says he's open to folks stopping him on the street, coming to his house, or calling him on the phone with county concerns. Let's hear it for openness.

19:35: Hey! Doug Erickson is here! He's a Junius boy, now works landscaping/handyman jobs. He's a Lake County lifer, too. Cites his experience on the Prairie Village board, emphasizes need to run things on a limited budget. "I'd much rather show you what I can do than stand up here and tell you what I can do."

And now questions!

Bill Johnson goes first, says our tax system is getting more regressive, says South Dakota has 4th most regressive tax system in the nation. Very rich here pay 1% of yearly income, low end pay as much as 13% of yearly income in taxes here. "Do you believe this is fair, and if not, what will you do to try to fix it?"

Clark Schmidtke: No, it's not fair. Wal-Mart had great year last year, paid zip in South Dakota. Not for new taxes, but Pierre is broken, and we have to fix it first. We need to cut out waste first, like the giveaway to TransCanada and the governor's planes (Nebraska and North Dakota each have one plane).

Stricherz: Agree that overtaxation is unfair, people need to be able to pay normal expenses, pay employees. Let's lower property taxes, equalize the education fund. Opposed to state income tax; the state's been running very smoothly without it.

Lange: Notes that Bill actually floated an income tax bill in the Legislature that actually made it to the floor! Lange says we have to choose between paying for first-class education or just living with bad system. Lange introduced a bill to eliminate the tax on premiums and on banks; the Republicans voted to keep that income tax last year! Lange also floated bill to tax Wal-Mart similarly, could access $100 million in revenue for state instead of letting that money go to Arkansas. Our system is unfair, screwed up, needs fixing. Go corporate income tax first; a personal income tax is not viable now. Lange suggests referring a corporate income tax bill to the people, which would require a simple majority rather than the 2/3 req'd in Legislature.

Bjorklund: Term "regressive tax" is a little subjective. Income tax would make jobs leave the state. More money taxed means less money available to spend and expand. Don't raise taxes, just cut spending, find cuts in every program without hurting SD.
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Question 2 for auditor candidates: what traits make a good auditor?

Gust: able to work with commission, detail-oriented, able to crunch numbers, able to work with Secretary of State's office and election officials and other state agencies, able to form positive working relationships.

Janke: work well and communicate effectively with others; ability to train employees in office; biggest thing is fiscal responsibility, oversees $5.8M county budget, collected $18M in taxes in 2009, must accurately account and remit those funds.
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Question 3, for sheriff candidates: Would sheriff's dept. benefit from using Web to inform public?

Hartman: I am not a technical person, but it's a good idea, should be given some thought. Other counties have their own websites, do put certain things on that site, like arrest warrants [like Noem's?].

Lurz: That's one of the key reasons Lurz thinks a change is needed. using technology is a great way to communicate. Knocking on doors, Lurz sees lots of folks, even old folks on the Web at home. We need to use Web to remind people there's crime in the neighborhood, create opportunities for citizens to interact online with officers.

Wyatt: hard to follow Jason: he explained everything I had! says Dan. He mentions the city PD's Nixle program,, says it works really well. Yes, sheriff's office should be open, publish data on arrests, detainees, etc. To expand, Dan says he'd like to see more neighborhood watches around the county. Nixle ties right into that, helps share info for such programs.
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Question 4 from Eve Fisher: specific programs to cut?

Schmidtke: cut the jets. Cut state jobs (up from 12K to 14.8K under Rounds) combine departments, cut the phantom FTEs that are used as slush funds for various departments. Reduce 1800 no-bid contracts (Clark mentions that he used to sell cars and would to have had customers who came in and just paid the sticker price à la no-bid).

Stricherz: Phantom FTEs: agreed! Cut them. Also impose hiring freeze [didn't Rounds do that?]. Reserves are much higher now than udner Janklow, list is just ridiculous. Look into the Volunteer Internet Sales Tax Fund, Governor's Aeronautical fund, etc.

Lange: Says he was on the operations and audit committee six years ago, looked very hard at the administration's budget, and a lot of those committee members were defeated in next election. Lange says the power structure gets very upset and even "vindictive" when examined and challenged. Transportation Committee: Gerry says our state motor pool is somewhat bloated, wonders if that's to help some auto dealer in the state. That's why we need a change in administration in Pierre.

Bjorklund: I'd be glad to look at the jets, the bureaucracy; technology means one person can handle more jobs now. Cut the no-bid contracts. We should also look at our acceptance of federal dollars: we keep taking more federal dollars, and our state budget keeps going up because we have to come up with matching funds. We thus need to be very careful about accepting federal money. SB 191, last year's pre-K bill: fed gov't would have picked up only 30% of the bill; we'd have had to increase our state budget, and we can't afford that. Let's see what we can do on a smaller scale.

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Question 5: I ask whether the candidates would support repealing the tax refunds for TransCandaa before they build Keystone XL?

Schmidtke: Yes! Waste of state money! TransCanada doesn't help us out that much!

Stricherz: I concur! I'll work hard just like Schmidtke to repeal that refund before Keystone XL happens.

Lange: "How dare I argue with those two?" Might be moot question, as economics might stop the pipeline.

Bjorklund: I am not in favor of government giving federal handouts to businesses, let alone individuals. We need to start cutting back on the places where our money is going on the state and the federal level. We need to look at cuts across the board. Eminent domain on TransCanada bothers me. People have an unalienable right to property, should be able to refuse pipeline on their property. As far as the rebate, I don't know that we necessarily have done it; why were the taxes so high in the first place?
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Interlude: Gerry holds up the Madison Daily Leader, notes a headline about $4.5 million for the Lewis and Clark Pipeline, asks who would oppose that federal money. Jason Bjorklund raises his hand.

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Question 6: Larry Even asks Sheriff candidates about city-county cooperation.

Hartman: We do that now on investigations.

Lurz: We've been working on cross-deputization to clarify liability issues for city officers responding to calls outside city limits. More cooperation would save some overtime by allowing city cops to respond to late-night calls near town. We've never had a joint city-county meeting outside of some training. It's critical that we have more interaction, on street and at administrative level.

Wyatt: "Again, Jason's a tough act to follow. You can tell we've talked about this in our department." Wyatt says the two departments do work well together on investigations. Yes, we should be cross-deputized so we can respond more quickly with whoever is available. Joint meetings are overdue.
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Question 7: Can deputies respond and do more in town? And what can we do to ensure enough budget dollars for emergency responders to reach farthest corners of county?

Hartman: Sheriff's office already has city jurisdiction, so we can help. We also have at least deputy on duty all the time, so we have someone available all the time. We did try cross-deputizing years ago, but it didn't work.

Lurz: Cross-deputization: I'm talking about emergency backup calls. Right now, we don't have the full liability coverage for our city police, and that puts them at risk of lawsuits. Cross-deputizing solves that. Just because there was a problem with it several years ago doesn't mean we can't handle it now.

I disagree with Sheriff Hartman's assessment. There are some nights when a deputy is on call but not on duty. Late night call means a deupty may have to roll out of bed, get dressed... that delays response! And lots of crime happens at night: we need to have the staff available to respond.

Wyatt: We work together well, and the liability concerns are a problem. Wyatt once responded to a situation where a guy had doused himself with gasoline, had a match... how can a city cop think through liability issues in that situation? Wyatt also says we need to progress from our Crown Vics to 4-wheel drive vehicles for winter to improve response capability in winter [hey! there's a new issue!].

Dan also uses the word "conversate". ;-)

Kelli Wollmann: As wife of city cop, I've had worries about that liability. Response time: I agree with the police officers that we have people on duty, ready to respond, need all entities to work together.

Scott Pedersen: Department heads come to us at budget time with requests, we commissioners approve or not. Our first job is to take care of everyone in county; "we are your caretakers." If we need more deputies to meet that need, we will. Ambulance service: when Ron and Tammy met with us at budget time and told us we need a new ambulance and $2500 to cover the increasing cost, we didn't hesitate to allocate that money. Running it through the hospital is good, better than volunteer for ensuring coverage around the clock.

Craig Johannsen: We hired extra deputy in past to cut down on overtime cost. unfortunately, Lake County is big: if you live out at the end of the county like I do, response will take time.

Doug Erickson: I've been out by Winfred, mother-in-law needed ambulance, which took forever to respond. Need to maintain our emergency equipment. Cell phones help. Response time shoud be getting quicker as technology progresses.

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Question 8: stance on reform of criminals and becoming proactive vs. reactive?

Hartman: "I don't believe in rehabiliation, I believe in habilitation." You keep a bed in the jail for some folks; they just won't reform.

Lurz: Law enforcement officers have a unique role in society. We serve to enforce laws, but we also serve as counselors and other roles. I sometimes wrestle with my faith in figuring how to deal with criminals. Involvement with citizens, communication can help prevent crime. Officer Wyatt is good at this [compliment from the podium!]. Great way to keep people from coming back to jail is to offer them help outside. Sheriff has great latitude to try to help people, to be the person they will come to.

Wyatt: Law enforcement officers "uphold, protect, and serve." Community Counseling can help folks after. We get in and help people when we can. We do a lot of counseling on the job: couples counseling, drug counseling, etc. Sometimes you get a chance to make a difference. You get to know kids. I can remember a couple of kids on the verge of trouble; I kncoked their heads together, did the scared-straight treatment, told them they were on the road to serious time if they kept going the way they were. Both joined the military, are doing well... and one is running for state legislature! (Bjorklund raises his hand! There's a good story!)
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Question 9: Bill Johnson stands, asks for revisit of his question; Monica asks for question in different vein. I thus offer a question about the contradiction between more Opportunity Scholars and more remedial university students.

Schmidtke: Maybe charter schools offer a solution. Kids mature and study at their own speed in those schools. We need to push the kids, but I'm not sure what legislation can do about that.

Stricherz: My kids are out of school now, but I'd blame technology [!]. Too much time on the laptop, not enough in the dictionary.

Lange: Perhaps byproduct of our culture: see Aftershock by Robert Reich. Trend in income is going the way it went in the 1920s, when wages were held low, taxes for wealthy cut, folks couldn't buy to keep economy going. Reich sees same thing in current economy. Two-family jobs, 80% of SD women with kids under 5 are working; that impacts family. South Dakota has increased incarceration funding faster than education.

And then Gerry takes a swing at Bill's question! We tax groceries, unlike all of our surrouding states. We should free that money up for needy families to spend in the economy.

Bjorklund: Erosion of governmental public school system. We need to infuse some free-market principles, see money follow the child, let parents make real choices. Open enrollment is a great first start. We need to go further. let's force schools to compete financially and academically. Washington DC has a great example with charter and private schools, voucher system. Charter schools bring in education for half the cost of public schools. People are signing up for lotteries for the private and charter schools. I'm a victim of our public education system. I was always in the advanced classes, but they weren't fast enough for me, I'd get bored, and that boredom led me to trouble. We need to put power back in hands of parents.

And that's the end of the show! Thanks for reading! I'll post video later, perhaps over breakfast. Good night, fellow citizens!

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Update: Actually have the videos creeping through the pipeline now. See them as they load on the Madville Times YouTube channel.

Sneak Peek: Stricherz on the Issues

Patricia Stricherz, candidate for District 8 House, forwards the Madville Times her responses to a questionnaire from the Mitchell Daily Republic. Who am I to turn down a scoop on tasty policy questions? Here are the questions, candidate Stricherz's answers (verbatim, unedited), and my own commentary:

1. What qualifications do you possess to be a state lawmaker?

Stricherz: In 1992 I joined the Army, was deployed to Kuwait and was awarded the Army Achievement Medal for my work to generate new computer based files that would assist 24th FSB Company in easily locating and identifying each work order, their status and the parts ordered. After the Army I worked several years in Retail Management. In 2003 I felt I needed a change of employment and began attending the University of Sioux Falls working on my BA in Social Work. This decision came as a result of my time as a CASA Volunteer as well as a Foster Parent. My junior year I had to drop out to care for my husband, who was injured during his deployment to Iraq. The last two years I have been running a nonprofit organization that provides emergency services to the troops and the families they leave behind during deployments. This is where my heart is. Speaking on behalf of our military hero’s and their families. This position has allowed me to gain experience advocating on behalf of families, fundraising, speaking publicly, organizing, training new volunteers, working with the media, and so much more. Locating the best service providers for home repairs, appliance repairs and vehicle repairs has given me additional speaking experience. The overall day to day functions of running a business has given me additional experience in balancing budgets, applying for grants and approaching donors for financial assistance and in-kind goods.

2. Roads have become an issue this year because of extensive flooding causing a lot of damage, forcing some counties to seek opt-outs or wheel taxes. What action do you think the state Legislature should take to assist counties and municipalities with funding? What proposal would you introduce?

Stricherz: Roads are an important part of our infrastructure that allows for the organizational structures needed for the operation of society. Allowing for the funding needed for regular maintenance is a necessity, allocating funding for emergency repairs is a must needed priority. In balancing the state budget, funds must be set aside for times such as these that counties and municipalities are currently experiencing. Cutting back on unnecessary spending, cutting failed and unsuccessful programs will give some additional funding for infrastructure. In today’s society we can not afford wasteful spending in our personal lives, expecting this same standard for our government should not be any less required.

CAH: I am heartened to hear a Republican who remembers that we do need government spending to maintain the basic "operation of society." However, the standard line about cutting wasteful spending represents wishful thinking, not hard fiscal analysis and decision-making. We face a 100-million-dollar state budget shortfall. I do not believe the state of South Dakota is currently wasting 100 million dollars. There's a strong argument to be made (especially by the counties trying to pass opt-outs and wheel taxes) that we need to spend more to fix our flood-ravaged roads and failing bridges. Candidates need to tell us exactly which $100-million-plus worth of programs they plan to cut to cover the deficit and the increasing road repair bill... or they need to be honest as the counties are and say, "You know what? We need to pay our own way with tax increases."

3. Do you think education is under funded in the state? If so, please explain how you would increase funding and where the money would come from? If not, please explain why you think that way.

Stricherz: Education is the foundation of our economic development, and the future of South Dakota’s economy depends upon creating highly-educated young South Dakotans. Currently, education takes 31% of the states budget, we need to work on increasing that number to no less than 36%. South Dakota schools perform at a high level and produce high quality students, in order to maintain this standard we must view education as an investment and not an expense. Therefore, it is important to the future of our schools to provide for a yearly increase in the funding that is available, one possible solution would be to lower property taxes and equalized the funds available to schools for operations. Another option would be to find alternate solutions to the schools laptop program. The 2.9 million dollars it takes to fund this program could instead be used to boost general state aid to schools.

CAH: For a moment there, Stricherz sounds like my man for governor Scott Heidepriem, who recognizes the state is failing to shoulder its share of the burden for funding education. But then Stricherz drops back to cutting taxes, which returns right back to the problem of the state doing less and expecting locals to do more. Even the reallocation of laptops may cause the same problem: the state may withdraw its tech support (the state dropped expansion of the classroom laptop program last year), but local schools will have to pick up the tab... and making each local school do its own tech support may only increase costs. Still open for debate: whether those school-supplied laptops are essential for education in the first place....

4. Gov. Mike Rounds has asked that state agencies and departments prepare a 2012 budget that should include a 10 percent decrease. Do you support or oppose a budget decrease? If not, please explain why you think that way.

Stricherz: I agree with Governor Rounds proposal that state agencies and departments decrease their budget by no less than 10%. As I stated above, we should expect no less from our government than to live by the same standards as that of our states citizens.

CAH: Ah, there's a step toward closing the $100 million shortfall. But does that include Board of Regents? Department of Transportation? Highway Patrol and Corrections? Again, I don't believe there's $100 million in waste, so I want to hear the good programs the governor and our legislators want us to do without.

5. Other than education and road issues, what legislation do you plan to introduce next year if elected or re-elected?

6. What issues are occurring within your district that will prompt you to propose legislation to address them?

Stricherz: 5./6. Answered together: I oppose increases in sales and use taxes without significant cuts in current government spending, as well as oppose increases in property tax. During this time of recession it is irresponsible for our government to increase taxes adding burden to our struggling South Dakota families. We, instead should be focused to finding sensible solutions to the creation of jobs that would allow our South Dakota families to take care of themselves.

During the 2010 session, the state Legislature considered the “South Dakota Health Care Freedom Act” ( SB 137 ), as we learn more and more what this extensive bill contains, I believe it is as important, more than ever, to reintroduce this bill to protect our citizens from the mandated and regulated laws coming out of Washington, DC.

The security of South Dakota families is important, instead of cutting funding to our Police, Sheriff and Highway Patrol Dept.’s it is more responsible to increase funding. Without a strong security system, we are placing our citizen’s in undue harms way.

CAH: Dang—Stricherz is preaching Gordon Howie's nullification again. Can we just accept the health care law and work to improve it? Can Republicans just accept defeat and look for real solutions? I guess not.

And evidently Stricherz wants to exempt law enforcement from the governor's proposed 10% cuts. It's hard to argue with funding public safety... but again, there lies the challenge we face in squaring Republican tough talk on budgets with Republican tough talk on law and order. Government is not all waste: in South Dakota, government is mostly things we like and need. If our candidates spent less time railing about how bad and wasteful government is and instead focused on how necessary police, roads, and education are for our well-being, we might have an easier time convincing taxpayers to support the funding necessary to keep society running.

I still plan to vote for Mitch and Gerry here in District 8. Stricherz won't get my vote, not because she's Patty Stricherz, but because she sounds too much like Russ Olson and every other Republican. The South Dakota GOP says things we like to hear about cracking down on waste, supporting education and police, and not raising taxes. But they never offer a consistent and straightforward explanation of the fiscal realities of turning our fiscal wishes into workable policy.

State Drops Classroom Laptop Funding -- Expect Netbooks

Governor Rounds took his own hits in the newly passed budget. South Dakota's Classroom Connections program, the one-to-one laptop initiative, was zeroed out of the budget, and even the stimulus couldn't save it. Pierre will still provide tech support for the schools like Madison that have already bought into the program, but no new schools will be added to the laptop rolls, at least not on the state's dime.

This is a disappointment for Governor Rounds, who included one-to-one laptops in his 2010 Education Initiative goals. But the budget crunch forced him to answer the question, "Are one-to-one laptop initiatives worth the effort?"

As we've discussed previously, that's an open debate. Promoters of such programs can find some research suggesting improvements in quality and quantity of schoolwork assigned, writing quality, and overall test scores. Laptop detractors can find retorts on academic achievement from various school administrators, the New York Times ("After seven years, there was literally no evidence it had any impact on student achievement — none"), and our own Department of Education have spoken to the contrary.

Perhaps the question is not whether students gain from using laptops but whether they lose from losing them. There is an argument that you can't not know how to use the latest technology in the information economy, just as a farmer can't not know how to use a combine in the ag-industrial economy. Of course, there's also a passionate argument to be made against such technological determinism (cue Wendell Berry, Kirkpatrick Sale, Rebecca Terk, and my wife).

Alas, Americans' religious faith in technological progress is likely too strong for even the recession to break. But technological progress (it's not all bad!) and the economic downturn will combine to bring cheaper computers to the classroom. $1300 per computer per child? Come on. As the state money disappears, local districts are about to discover that instead of buying $1300 computers with 2:1 matching funds from Pierre, they can get $200–$400 netbooks with their own money with no strings from Pierre and still save money. Elkton's doing it; Madison, Arlington, and other schools (so I hear) are considering it.

The death of the state laptop program will not mean the death of laptops in the classroom. As our Gateway Tablet PCs die (and they will die quickly), schools will get creative and replace them with better, cheaper netbooks that will still bring students and teachers all the tools they need to make learning happen.

Tech Trailblazer Elkton HS Implementing Netbooks Now

Shortly after I posted yesterday on the possibility of using netbooks—super-cheap laptops—and other innovations to save big money in school tech budgets, I received an e-mail from Gabriel Pooler, 2008 DSU graduate and now tech director at Elkton School District. Netbooks? Pooler says Elkton HS is already implementing that plan... on Friday!

Here's the press release:

The Elkton School District has begun a self-funded one-to-one netbook pilot for its senior class. They plan to use the pilot program to determine if a laptop program is a feasible option for the high school.

Netbooks are super compact, low cost, energy efficient laptops with Windows XP or Linux. They have enough power to run Windows Office, Internet, Email, and other common applications that don't require huge amounts of processing power. Elkton is using the Acer Aspire One Nebook with Windows XP.

Elkton School District plans to use the Netbooks to supplement the schools current curriculum. The high school will use the free existing email and web hosting resources that are provided by the State’s K-12. Each high school student will have access to the Internet in the classroom to allow them to research topics on demand, participate in online activities with teachers, and email assignments to teachers in a paperless classroom environment.

While state funding of the one-to-one laptop program this year seems unlikely, Elkton hopes that by taking the initiative to test this new technology with their own money, they may rise to the top of the list if any state funding does come through. If funded the state would pay $130 for each netbook, instead of $400 for each tablet. Even without state funding it is likely that Elkton will go forward on its own because of the low cost of deploying this system.

Elkton will save additional money by moving the students into a lighter Web 2.0 environment and equipping them 1GB flash drives that allow students to back up and transport their own data more easily. If a one to one netbook project for the high school happens next year, it is estimated that it will actually reduce the current strain on the school’s existing network and servers. By moving the majority of the students away from a resource intense network model to light Internet orientated model the school won’t need to buy any additional new servers. It would also allow the netbooks to replace its aging high school lab, thus further saving money.

$400 per laptop—that's twice the perhaps overly optimistic $200 per machine that the New York Times and I mentioned yesterday. Pooler says he chose the $400 models to get bigger hard drives and better batteries. Oh darn: so Elkton will only save 70% on what they would have blown on Tablet PCs.

The computers will rely heavily on open source software for more savings. Elkton hopes to fund expanding the program to kids all the way down to grade 7 through tax revenues from the nearby wind farms. Pooler says it best:

If that happens we will be able to say we are using "Green" energy money to pay for "Green" technology (Netbooks are considered green tech) and create paperless "Green" classrooms and save a lot of "Green" aka cash.

Pooler tells me Elkton is the first school in South Dakota and possibly the entire nation to implement a netbook program for an entire grade. Hm: ground-breaking technological innovation at Elkton High School, enrollment 114. Another good idea, brought to you by small schools. Nice work, Elks!

South Dakota Schools: Save 80% on Computers!

The New York Times runs an interesting article on the changing computer economy. If South Dakota's high schools are going to continue moving toward assigning every student a laptop computer, they should read this article. In an era where a proposed 0.7% increase in the state budget feels like fiscal Armageddon, our schools could achieve an 80% decrease in their tech spending. Here's how:

1. Throw out those Tablet PCs. Yes, spinning the screen and touching it to move the cursor is really cool. It also costs over $1300 per machine.
2. Replace them with $200 netbooks.
   
3. Instead of loading each machine with Office and other expensive software, take advantage of cloud computing, free services like Google Docs, where students can access all the word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation power they need for high school. Businesses are using cloud computing and online software services: Arista Networks chief Jayshree Ullal says innovation like this is saving 80% on her tech budget. (Ullal is all about cloud computing: read more on her blog!)

So let me break out the back of the envelope: assume Madison High School needs 400 laptops. Buy $200 netbooks instead of $1300 tablets, and you've got $440,000 in savings at Madison alone. If every school in the state's classroom laptop program made this switch, we would save millions, enough to restore funding for Birth to 3, the South Dakota Arts Council, the Cooperative Extension Service, and a few other projects Governor Rounds has put on the chopping block.

So we can keep doodling on our screens with $55 pens, or we can save millions of dollars. Hmm....

Information technology and economics are changing. Our public school tech budgets should change to take advantage of the newest, cheapest technology.

Regents Rolling out Statewide Laptop Requirement

The Board of Regents are beginning the push to make buying a laptop a requirement for admission to all of South Dakota's state universities. Regents executive director Tad Perry says we need laptops in our university classrooms because...

• by 2011, 50% of South Dakota students will graduate from all-laptop high schools, and they'll choose universities that have similar laptop environments (once you get used to playing Scrabulous in class, it's kind of hard to break the habit)
• our teacher education programs need to give prospective teachers training in a wireless laptop environment so they are ready to use that technology in our K-12 schools (anyone feeling the tail wagging the dog here?)
• 60% of the nation's campuses are wireless, and we need to keep up with national trends.

I don't mind toting a laptop to class—actually, I'm quite happy to have all of my homework and class materials on the computer instead of in twelve different binders (much easier to haul on the bicycle). But reading PDF's gets annoying, and I miss taking a good old textbook out to the porch or the park or some other quiet spot with no wireless and lots of sunshine.

Beyond my personal study preferences, the laptop requirement appears to lack any solid educational justification:

• My personal experience is that a laptops in the classroom are like TVs in a restaurant: an enormous electronic distraction that cuts down human interaction, an essential component of good education. The profs spend more time getting the machinery hooked up and then watching monitor while lecturing, while the students spend more time staring at their screens than paying attention to what the prof and other students are saying.
  
• Our own Department of Education admits that, at least at the K-12 level, there is "very little data that says laptops will increase test scores." Last I checked, the state considered test scores the end-all be-all of measuring academic achievement. Hmmm....

I will agree that wireless access can provide benefits for those who want to use them. If you're a prof, the Web becomes your audiovisual folder: you have a billion resources you can bring into the classroom at a moment's notice. If you're a student, you have access to many more research journals and other good academic resources. If you're a visitor to campus—a journalist covering a Regents' meeting, a scholar attending a conference, a prospective student checking things out—you appreciate being able to stay in touch with the office or home.

However, our desire to provide educational opportunities need not extend to requiring, as the Regents would, laptops that meet "certain specifications." A really good wireless environment should be just like Dairy Queen's: it doesn't care what brand of computer you use. It doesn't discriminate among tablet PCs, pocket PCs, and regular laptops. All you should need is a wireless card. If your budget allows you to indulge in a top-of-the-line Mac Airbook, great. If your budget is tight and you can barely save up for a basic laptop from Wal-Mart or a used machine from eBay, fine. Your university's tech mission should be to provide universal access, not universal expensive features or sweetheart lease deals for one particular company.

Besides, think about the educational benefit of providing campus-wide wireless access to any user on any computer. Sure, requiring standardized computers makes the IT department's job easier. But suppose you're a work study student in the IT department. What work experience would you rather have: troubleshooting one or two specific computers, or learning how to fix and connect all sorts of different computers and operating systems? (And aren't our universities all about diversity?)

I like having Internet access on campus. I like using my computer in class, in the library, wherever. But I also know the Regents can achieve basic wireless access for every state campus without imposing massive top-down equipment requirements on students.

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Update 19:12: My friend Patrick provides a map that of where wireless Internet access is available on the SDSU campus. Less than half the campus has it, notes Patrick, and even in the buildings that are covered, wireless is only available in the public areas—i.e., in the dorms, you can get wireless in the lobby and dayrooms, but not in your bunk. So we do have a ways to go.

Gateway/MPC Also Fails to Deliver for South Dakota High Schools

Gateway/MPC dropped the ball on DSU and lost their business; now KELO reports the company's production line woes are also leaving South Dakota high schools in the lurch:

Tardy slips are going out to many laptop computers that were supposed to be delivered to South Dakota high schools by the first day of the new school year. Instead, some school districts are still waiting for those Gateway computers. And each day without the computers is setting teachers and students further back in their class work.

Baltic was one of fifteen South Dakota school districts chosen to receive the Gateway laptops to begin the school year. Baltic was supposed to receive 175 of the computers. But today, only fifty arrived [Perry Groten, "Baltic Receives First Batch of Laptops," KELOLand.com, 2008.09.03].

At the bottom, we find the state Department of Education still running some interference for a company that has abandoned South Dakota and good service:

The state education department says some of the computers that are to be delivered to South Dakota are still on the Gateway assembly line.

The department says another reason for the delay was the uncertainty over the laptop program fueled by funding debates during this year's legislative session [Groten, 2008.09.03].

Right. Blame the South Dakota Legislature for Gateway/MPC's inability to deliver its product on time to long-standing customers. Governor Rounds announced he had the funding for the laptops in May. Schools might still have been bound by their budget rules to place orders in July, after the new fiscal year started, just like DSU.

Of course, that hasn't stopped Fujitsu from delivering to DSU in three weeks. Superintendent Sittig in Baltic: call Fujitsu!

Tech Notes: Computers Save Paper, Towns Want Wind, Biofuels Bust Budgets

Ah, technology...

Computers Save Paper: That Sioux Falls paper reports that the Sioux Falls school board has saved 66,000 sheets of paper by going all-electronic at their meetings in May and June. That's $1200 in two months. Let's see, five members, snappy laptop for each... dang, the paper savings could pay for nice computers for the board members and still save money for the rest of the year. Not bad!

Windmills Go Urban in Harrisburg: With all the wind coming out of Harrisburg, the city wants to capitalize on it: the Harrisburg Planning and Zoning Board wants to update city ordinances to allow the construction of wind turbines within the city limits. Consideration of the rule change comes as the Harrisburg School District waits to see if it gets chosen for a 70-foot turbine through the Wind for Schools program. Public Utilities Commissioner Steve Kolbeck notes that expanding options for wind power in South Dakota towns would be good for stemming brain drain as well: more wind turbines means more jobs for those elcetrical engineers we train at SDSU. Power self-sufficiency, more homegrown smart jobs -- good thinking!

Biofuels Bust Budgets: Our government tells us biofuels contribute just 3% to rising food prices. The World Bank says yeah, right. Professor Blanchard points us toward a damning World Bank report that says "Biofuels have forced global fuel prices up by 75%." The UK Guardian says the report rebuts numerous alternative causality arguments. Increased demand in China and India? Drought in Australia? Nuts. The World Bank report argues that "the EU and US drive for biofuels has had by far the biggest impact on food supply and prices."

Professor Blanchard sees confirmation that government interference in the market and technological development is bad. The World Bank sees 100 million more people already pushed into poverty by rising food prices.

To review: biofuels leave people poor hungry. Oil from the Canadian tar sands wrecks the environment and South Dakotans land rights. More drilling for oil just means more externalities Exxon and its lawyers can push on the rest of us. Until we get fusion reactors, is anyone ready to just double fuel efficiency standards and consume less energy? (Oh wait, I forgot: buying less means economic collapse. Man -- there ain't no such thing as a free lunch!)

State Senate Halts Expansion of Classroom Laptop Program

Also online at KELOLand.com!

I'm not sure if this is just political brinksmanship by State Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem, but if it is, it got the South Dakota Senate's overwhelming approval 33-2: yesterday the Senate cut $2.95 million from HB 1087, the General Appropriations Act. That $2.95 million was intended for general fund operating expenses on the "Technology in Schools" line of the Department of Education budget, which KELO gives us to understand is the money Governor Rounds wanted to expand the classroom laptops program.

Echoing the Madville Times, Senator Heidepriem says that money "should be used instead to boost state aid to schools" [AP's words, "Senate Cuts Money for Student Laptops," KELOLand.com, 2008.02.27]. Indeed, if money is tight (if?!), we have to make the best use of it. And we can find at least a dozen better uses for that state money than pouring it into subsidies for Gateway (which, now owned by Acer, laid off 130 South Dakota workers after promising in October that there would be no layoffs).

But consider: this budget cut doesn't have to mean the end of laptops in the classroom. Right now the state's "Classroom Connections" program pays only one third of the cost of Gateway's $1200 tablet PCs (the kind with the fancy swivel screens you can write on electronically with a stylus). The participating districts (including Madison Central), pay the remaining two thirds of the cost, or $800 per computer.

A year and a half ago, I bought my current laptop, an HP dv5000 for $600. Sure, there's no fancy swivel screen or stylus, but it handles DSU's doctoral program just fine. The schools who are looking to buy laptops for their students could get a fair amount of computer, software, and support for $800 a pop and not need a penny from the state. Why wait for the Senate or Governor Rounds to chip in money to help you buy more computer than you need? Head down to Radio Shack, place a bulk order that will put a big smile on your local dealer's face, and off you go.

Now there's still a debate about whether spending all this money on laptops actually improves education. With all the rules and restrictions the schools place on the computers they issue, kids might be better off with computers they or their parents buy themselves (remember the free market?). If kids had their own computers, they'd be able to tinker with them at will and really learn how the machines work.

But if we want the schools to buy the laptops, Senator Heidepriem's frugality need not stop us. Let's look past the glossy pages of Gateway's catalog and focus on getting a better deal on basic machines that still have all the functionality our kids and teachers really need for the classroom.

Gateway, Taxes, and Corporate Citizenship

Taiwanese Acer's $710-million acquisition of Gateway reminds me of how one of our erstwhile corporate star-citizens disproved the idea that South Dakota's "Always Low Taxes" approach to economic development doesn't guarantee long-term economic prosperity.

First, a personal note: My second laptop was a Gateway Solo 2100, purchased for a cool $2800. It replaced a laptop whose brand I can't even remember but which ran Windows 3.1 on a black-and-white screen. In my first year of using the Gateway, it suffered irrecoverable crashes and required factory replacement three times. The third time I was in Russia and spent two months communicating with Gateway via e-mail trying to arrange service. I managed to get it shipped to Gateway from Moscow. The Gateway people then tried to ship the computer back to my old address in Edmonton, Alberta. Then the computer service rep told me not to worry, they had caught the error and shipped the machine to Connecticut. Alas, the only connection I have ever had with Connecticut was a twenty-minute incursion on a bicycle from a friend's house in New York. When Gateway finally retrieved the computer and sent it to my Moscow address, they declared it to be brand new and entered the full value of a new computer on the custom's information. Russian customs thus demanded that I pay the standard 50% import tariff to get my computer, in this case, $1400. I had the computer returned to sender, told Gateway to send it to my home address, and flew home for $800 to pick up the computer myself, only to discover that all data on my hard drive had been wiped (I know, my fault for not making more back-ups).
I did get another year and a half of use out of the Solo, after which I replaced it with a smaller, faster NEC Ready 120LT, the loudest but toughest little computer I've ever owned. It cost $800. It still runs. It has never required a trip to the factory. It has never lost data. The Solo now sits under the couch, where Madville Times Jr. can pull it out and play with it. She like to stand on the keyboard.

Given a history of interaction with Gateway revolving around shoddy workmanship and service, I thus have few good things to say about Gateway. But enough about me!

Ted Waitt started Gateway in Sioux City, Iowa in 1985. Waitt hopped the border to South Dakota in 1990, promising lots of jobs. Indeed, facilities in North Sioux City and Sioux Falls employed 6000 and 1800 people, respectively. In return, the state bought all sorts of computers from Gateway, loading up state offices and schools with Holstein-decorated boxes and mousepads. DSU still locks students into leasing Gateway Tablet PCs, and the state pushes those same computers in the Classroom Connections program for high schools.

But in 1998, Waitt moved company headquarters to San Diego, taking all of the high-paying executive and engineering jobs with him. Gateway shut down its Sioux Falls facility. As of May 2006, according to KELO, "Gateway employed a total of about 1,800 people in South Dakota and at its headquarters in California, with about 850 of those positions based in North Sioux City" [AP report, "Acer Plans to Acquire Gateway for $710 Million," KELOLand.com, 2007.08.27].

So let's recap: South Dakota offers a low-tax environment (no corporate or personal income tax), buys thousands of computers, and even finances a loan to the company for 3% [Charles Platt, "Beats Skinning Hogs," Wired News, Issue 3.05, May 1995], a rate Gateway was unlikely to get at any bank. In return, Waitt takes his company and several thousand jobs to California. What gives?

The fact is that a low-tax/no-tax environment does not guarantee economic prosperity for the state, let alone loyalty from corporate citizens. Michael P. Ettlinger of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy cites Gateway's abandonment of South Dakota as an prime example of this economic truth:

An honest assessment of the data over long periods of time leads to the conclusion that personal income taxes do not adversely impact on states' economies in any significant way. This really shouldn't be surprising. After all, there are other things that are far more likely to have an impact. Compared to other costs of doing business--labor costs, proximity to markets, quality of work force and a variety of other factors--the burden of the personal income tax is quite a small factor.

The argument is sometimes made that state personal income taxes influence the locational preferences of entrepreneurs and CEOs. The suggestion is that these individuals, who have a disproportionate impact on a state's economy are far more likely to locate in a state where they will pay less tax. There are, however, a number of flaws in this argument.

First, as mentioned above, there are other factors which are far more likely to affect the success or failure of a business venture than personal income tax liability.

Second, presumably we are talking about wealthy businesspeople, since middle- and low-income businesspeople are actually better off in a state that relies more heavily on progressive income taxes than regressive taxes. One of the primary benefits of being wealthy is the opportunity to live where one wants to. A few percentage points of personal income tax is unlikely to have a major impact on the decision of where to enjoy one's prosperity. An example of this that has recently been in the press is the founder and President of Gateway computers. He recently moved himself, most of the company's executives and engineers from South Dakota, where there is no personal income tax, to California which has a one of the highest top personal income tax rates. He decided he wanted to live in Southern California, he was having trouble attracting other talented individuals to South Dakota and he was in a position to do what he wanted--so he did.

Third, the differences between states in the personal income tax liability for a wealthy person is typically quite small. This is, in part, because of the impact of the deduction on the federal tax return for state taxes. A wealthy person in a state with a tax rate of 6 percent pays that percent of his or her taxable income to the state. But if they are in the top federal tax rate bracket (approximately 40%), their federal personal income tax is reduced by an amount equal to 2.4 percent of their taxable income. Thus the net cost of the state income tax is only 3.6 percent.

[Michael P. Ettlinger, tax policy director, ITEP, testimony regarding House Bill 109, New Hampshire Legislature, 1999.01.19]

As Ettlinger shows us, South Dakota's no-income-tax stance doesn't matter to wealthy businesspeople. It penalizes lower- and middle-income workers and businesspeople with a regressive tax system. And as the Gateway experience shows, it doesn't guarantee that the corporations we might lure to the state will stay and be loyal corporate citizens. Even if a no-income-tax policy is the marginal factor that induces a handful of companies to move here, those companies demonstrate by their moving here for such meager increases in profits that they will pull up stakes and leave buildings empty and South Dakotans jobless the moment some other state (or country) offers them a tax break or other incentive package that will shave another 0.1% off their operating expenses.

In his 1999 testimony, Ettlinger, also pointed out that Minnesota, with the highest income tax rates in our region, also had the best economic performance in the region. South Dakota, said Ettlinger, lagged behind Minnesota and other income-tax states on several economic measures.

An income tax doesn't guarantee economic success, but it doesn't kill it, either. Gateway left our supposedly business-friendly environment for big-government, big-tax California, and took several thousand jobs with it. South Dakota should focus less on low taxes and incentives for itinerant corporations who may not stay long, if they come here at all. Instead, we should direct our attention to creating a less regressive (less sales tax and gambling), less arbitrary (less property tax based on guesswork assessments and speculation), more equitable tax system. We can then use those revenues to make more investment in the foundation of all economic development, education. We also need to concentrate on developing our own homegrown entrepreneurs, citizens who already have some loyalty to South Dakota and will live and work here not just for profit, but because they feel a genuine connection and obligation to our statewide community.