Sioux Falls mayor talks growth, importance of elections in State of the City address

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken gave his sixth State of the City address on Thursday morning, touching on familiar topics of growth and investment in the city, and encouraging residents to step up and vote in local elections following the low turnout of the election on April 9.

"We are in the midst of incredible investments being made in this city," TenHaken said, pointing to things like a new outdoor art installation planned for the Washington Pavilion, and Jacobson Plaza, which will partially open later this year before the opening of the refrigerated ice skating ribbon in early 2025.

Also mentioned was the upcoming aquatics bond, a $77M proposal that would see massive renovations to Kuehn and Frank Olson pools, as well as the acquisition of the Sanford Tea-Ellis Wellness Center that could lead to a significant increase in the amount of indoor recreation space in Sioux Falls.

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That effort ties into the Riverline Center, the plan to bring a new convention center to downtown Sioux Falls while transforming the existing convention center — where Thursday's speech was being given — into more indoor recreation space.

"Look at the ceiling heights in this room," TenHaken said. "Now imagine no walls and instead of meetings like this, coming here with your kids, grandkids or even your spouse, to play pickleball, use a climbing wall, basketball courts, a walking track, turfed soccer fields, and indoor play spaces."

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He also noted several of the less-flashy improvements currently ongoing in the city, such as the expansion of the city's water reclamation plant, which he said could be completed before he leaves office, and the upcoming diverging diamond interchange at 41st Street and I-29.

TenHaken thanked the city's public safety employees, saying that the city's new Public Safety Campus showed Sioux Falls' devotion to them — and going off script to praise Metro Communications for their work on Wednesday night through the statewide outage of 911 services.

He concluded with mentions of two upcoming elections, first saying that repealing the state's groceries sales tax could lead to a reduction in revenue for the city, going as far as to say "Some are saying, that if approved, this anticipated ballot measure could lead to a future state-wide income tax."

TenHaken then once again expressed disappointment in the 7.7% voter turnout in the April 9 election, encouraging residents to vote in the April 30 runoff.

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"The things we’re talking about don’t happen by accident, they don’t just happen," TenHaken said. "They take smart leaders, they take people who can build consensus, and they take people willing to elect the right people to move these visions forward."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken gives sixth State of the City address