Governor bonds with Sioux Falls mayor, bouyed by good things going for state

‘Sometimes you have to feed your soul’

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 9/29/15

Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, couldn’t stop raving about the beauty of Rhode Island last Friday at the State House. He and his wife, Cindy, were visiting as part of a 30th …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Governor bonds with Sioux Falls mayor, bouyed by good things going for state

‘Sometimes you have to feed your soul’

Posted

Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, couldn’t stop raving about the beauty of Rhode Island last Friday at the State House. He and his wife, Cindy, were visiting as part of a 30th wedding anniversary trip through New England.

Having traveled to a majority of states across the country, the couple had to admit Tennessee was their favorite, but Rhode Island was a close second. In a chance encounter, the Huethers were able to meet Governor Gina Raimondo, who was sure that by the end of their trip Rhode Island would be number one.

Both the “highest ranking” Democrat in their respective states, Raimondo and Huether began discussing their careers and found they both experienced the “call to service” after careers in business.

“Sometimes you have to feed your wallet and sometimes you have to feed your soul,” Raimondo said. “This service is feeding the soul.”

Their conversation continued to policy and politics, and Huether noted Raimondo was “aggressive” in her initiatives but said in today’s world that’s necessary to prevent a “train wreck” and gave her a double high five for her efforts in controlling the legacy costs of pensions as state treasurer. Huether took similar steps in Sioux Falls to trim the unfunded liability costs of pensions.

Raimondo may have been a bit jealous to learn Sioux Falls has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 2.6 percent and is actually desperate for more workers in the new “boom town.”

Briefly Raimondo explained to Huether her progressive jobs plan, branding Rhode Island as an “innovation district” to bring employers in and help current businesses to expand.

In a subsequent meeting with the Beacon, Raimondo said she is already beginning to see results from her efforts as governor.

She exampled Rhode Island Medical Imaging, which has hired 27 new full-time employees since Raimondo eliminated a surcharge on x-rays and other outpatient imaging services.

“These are high wage, good jobs,” Raimondo said. “Employers feel they can invest in the state again. Those are the stories we are going to be hearing more in the coming months. If this happens over and over again, well there you go. Every little bit helps.”

Although Rhode Island is “on the rise,” she said the state faces a “different set of challenges.” Especially in the wake of 38 Studios, Raimondo wants to ensure the state continues moving forward rather than becoming “paralyzed.” She admitted that as more information comes to light, the temptation is to not do anything, but that will only cripple the state further. Rather, going through the documents will help us learn not to put “all our eggs in one basket, the necessity for transparency and checks and balances.

Raimondo said Rhode Island needs a “proactive strategy. Her suggestion is applying tolls to trucks, which she believes is the “boost” our economy needs while addressing the need to repair bridges.

“It’s time to rebuild; the longer we wait the worse it gets,” she said. “It’s easy to criticize the proposal, but no one is offering a better option.”

Enacting tolls would not only provide a source of revenue, but will also create thousands of jobs repairing infrastructure.

She said, alternatively, the state could raise the gas tax, but that would burden every single Rhode Islander and has the potential to “dampen our economy.” She admits there is no easy solution but appreciates that through tolls two-thirds of the money coming in is from out-of-state drivers and companies.

She said, “My point is that there is not a lot of evidence that says enacting a modest user fee kills business, but there is a lot of evidence that says improving infrastructure makes it better to do business, and every dollar puts people to work.”

Many of Rhode Island’s neighbors have enacting tolls and Raimondo argued that they all still have thriving economies and in contrast it’s “embarrassing” to have a sign asking drivers to avoid using a bridge in Pawtucket.

The governor’s truck toll proposal has been approved by the Senate but didn’t reach the House before it adjourned. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello has indicated that it is unlikely the house would reconvene this fall, meaning the bill wouldn’t get enacted until next year, it at all. Improved infrastructure would just be one more attraction for potential businesses to move into the state.

Raimondo said, “Once anyone gets to Rhode Island they love it. They say we are the best-kept secret in America; the problem is they don’t know where we are and what we offer. We aren’t doing enough to promote ourselves.”

To combat this, Raimondo said she is currently working on a tourism and business attraction campaign that will most likely launch on January 1 of next year. Raimondo said once the word is out, people and business are going to flock here and love it, just as Huether did.

“There are a lot of things that give me hope for the future,” Raimondo said. “What’s really going to move the needle in our economy is our education and skills programs, becoming an innovation district. These are the things that are going to be transformative for several decades, and that’s what I need to stay focused on.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here