David Kranz must have phoned in his column for Thursday's Argus Leader.  It is embarrassing for a local political columnist to misspell the Mayor of Brookings name (Munsterman).  Or is more of the same disrespect the Argus Leader has shown in the past with it comes to Brookings and SDSU.  I'll never forget the column several years ago that started with "I hate Brookings".

A good example is the "Collegetown Vision Statement" created in City of Ithaca New York home of Cornell University.

“The primary goal of the Collegetown Vision Statement is to set the course for the creation of an outstanding urban environment that builds on its proximity to the adjacent campus of Cornell University, an institution of importance to the city for its educational and cultural contributions and for its positive impact on the local economy. As such, there is a unique opportunity to create a diverse, commercially viable, dense, mixed-use community characterized by notable urban design, a predominantly student population, high quality architecture, vibrant public spaces and pedestrian amenities. The vision for residential neighborhoods east of Collegetown includes a population mix of students, long-term residents, families and owner-occupants that enables all to enjoy a high quality of life. The neighborhood between Collegetown and downtown is a primarily residential historic district that enjoys a unique status as a result of its location between two active commercial areas. This area merits attention in the form of programs or incentives to strengthen both its visual appearance and the resident mix of owner-occupants and student renters. A convenient public transportation system connecting Collegetown and the surrounding neighborhoods to the larger Ithaca community is one of several strategies aimed at reducing car traffic in Collegetown and enhancing the environment for pedestrians.”

This vision is not only about economic development, it includes creating a great community with a University. 

Brookings is not just an university town because we are a university town.  In other words the city has always capitalized on having a major University within its borders to grow economically.   How great of a community could we have if we take the relationship to next level and focus on creating a great community with a great university.

If the question comes down to which one, I will vote for Bravo's.

Ryan Brunner won with margin of 458 votes over Joyce Hodges in a three way race for a single 1 year seat on the City Council.  Larry Mix received 493 votes in that race.  Mix and Hodges total votes would have beat Ryan by a slim margin.  Joyce and Larry probably spilt the mature voting base. What would have been interesting if only Joyce opposed Ryan.  Would she have picked up enough of Larry's votes to win?  Ryan had a great campaign plan and executed it with a great volunteer group.  This will not be the last election Ryan Brunner wins. 

I think Matt Vukovich will be a great member of the School Board.  I was concerned with his lack of retail politics (yard signs, media adds) compared to opponent Anne Werpy.   Matt had a big ground swell support group and was well enough known in the community to win the race.  Although Anne was active with PTA and School Board, several in those same circles did not agree with her on issues.  I always look for a well rounded school board candidate.  School Board issues break out of the classroom into society all the time.

Stu should be a reporter not a historian.  Bringing up that over five years ago Mandy Koupal transferred from SDSU to USD is not relevant and has been forgotten.  I know a lot of SDSU fans who would turn red in the face and foam at the mouth when the topic turned to Koupal's departure.  Even after the Jackrabbits won the D-II National Title making the transfer a moot subject, Jackrabbits fans were still mad.  But it didn't take long to move on from the transfer situation to the future that was ahead for the Jacks.  I'm sorry but SDSU has much more to be concerned about.  Nobody said it would be easy to go D-I. The rest of Stu's column is his normal create controversy that doesn't exist so I don't have work on any story of value. 

SDSU's loss Thursday night is an opportunity for USD have the limelight but with Stu Whitney at the helm the good story will be lost.

2,500 city officials attended the conference and I would have to say all are disappointed in Congress.  NLC events are mostly non-partisan.  A very popular expression is "potholes are not labeled Democrat or Republican".  During conference workshops on federal topics, comments from local officials had nothing to do with politics.  A good example was the reauthorization of the Federal Transportation Bill.  Local officials commented that we need a bill that supports the real needs of cities now.  No more delays or extensions, pass a comprehensive plan. 

Earmarks have become a dirty word that we spend way too much time discussing.  An non-partisan economist commented that earmarks are negligent when it comes to the federal budget.  If earmarks are eliminated the funds will still flow, just given out using a different method.  The bridge to no where was stopped and the funds were just reallocated. All we need is transparency in the process and no last minute drop ins that can't be debated or voted on.  Congress needs to work on the real budget issues like Social Security and other entitlements that make up over 40% of the budget.

In my opinion it seems that there are more Democrats that attend the NLC Conferences than Republicans.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was the key note speaker to close the conference.  I wanted to hear the Pelosi speak but was dreading the rah rah clapping from supporters as she spoke of the Democrat's agenda or spoke against the President.  My fears we false.  There were no long periods of clapping or cheering.  Instead I got the feeling that city officials were tired of politics as usual and are just unimpressed with Congress.