Last updated on 2018-05-23
Pierre mayoral candidate Steve Robinson said several silly things in a public forum with fellow candidate Steve Harding last Thursday. Among the silliest was that quality of life is a magical feeling that has nothing to do with city amenities:
“I don’t think we need to be spending big on ball fields and water parks and swimming holes and, what do you call that? Quality of life?” he asked, turning to Harding, who affirmed.
Robinson continued: “I think quality of life starts here,” Robinson said pointing at his chest [Stephen Lee, “Pierre Mayoral Candidates Present a Choice, Not an Echo,” Pierre Capital Journal, 2017.05.26].
A sentimental part of me agrees with Robinson: one can be happy in the farthest, loneliest corner of Hughes County (hey, isn’t that close to Nick Nemec’s house?) or unhappy in downtown Pierre during Oahe Days (June 22 through June 25!).
But as past chair of the Pierre Park and Recreation Citizen Advisory Board Anne Lewis notes, such philosophizing is not how cities make the sale:
…[Q]uality of life as strictly a function of what’s in your heart as Mr Robinson believes is a nice warm fuzzy idea, but it’s hard to showcase to potential investors and business developers and has very little impact on property values.
Our parks, on the other hand, along with solid infrastructure, good schools, and strong community organizations are assets which make Pierre a desirable place to live, both for those of us here and those we want to attract [Anne Lewis, public Facebook post, 2017.05.26].
But hey, Robinson told Thursday’s forum that “I don’t even want this job.” So oblige him, Pierre: let Robinson stay home and thrill to the beat of his heart, while Harding works as mayor to maintain the parks, streets, and other practical amenities that make people want to live and work in Pierre.
This is the least of Robinson’s kooky ideas, according to the press release blog. He’s just full of them. So both the press release #2 blog and this blog say Pierre folks should vote for the good Republican, not the bad Republican. Got it?
Yup my house is less than 2 miles from the farthest corner of Hughes County. As an almost resident of Hughes County with many friends and relatives living in Pierre I’ve been watching this race with interest. Mr. Robinson displays all the ability of, and spouts the Know Nothing bumper sticker slogans preferred by the most committed of dead end Trump supporters. He and his type have been emboldened and are not afraid to wear their ignorance proudly. Pierre is better than that, America is better than that.
Dead End, Trump Supporters? Here’s one that’s recently “self identified”.
Troy Jones May 26, 2017 at 9:57 am
Reporters have become the worst bullies in America. The only way to effectively deal with bullies is a punch in the mouth.
I wasn’t a fan of Trump for most of the campaign, called for him to drop out after the Billy Bush tape came out, but became a fan when he had the guts to persevere that tape. I am all in.
I engage those who disagree with me and work to convince them in small increments to come around.
And another, The “highly beatable” one from Codington …
Lee Schoenbeck
May 26, 2017 at 11:28 pm
Trump dealing with NATO was standing ovation stuff.
Trump dealing with Islamic terrorists in Arab country was true grit (yes, that’s a John Wayne reference)
I’m a late to the party admirer of Trump’s handling of things, but you’d have to have no IQ points to miss the great things he did on this trip.
Sec. Ben Carson seems to think that “poverty is a state of MIND.” Now, we find out that quality of life is in your HEART. Mind? Heart? We now have a pretty good idea what part of the gastro-intestinal region Republican ideas come from. Good grief!
When we lived in Pierre, we loved the parks. My daughter always would ask to go to the park, and I was happy to take her. Her favorite park was just a little neighborhood playground that we called Huckleberry Hound Park. Sometimes we went to the “Central Park,” where they had a great swing for underdogs. Of course, the Municipal Band played in a park, and LaFromboise was the site of my daughter’s “mining project” in the sands there. Parks are a huge part of our memories in Pierre. People who don’t realize their value hate children, and shouldn’t be elected to any office.
Loren, good comparison. Carson and Robinson appear to represent the weird relativism of the new right wing, which can’t brook all the facts that contradict their worldview and thus dismisses practical reality in favor of wishful thinking.
Donald, I completely agree with you about the importance of shared public spaces where we all can play.
Loren beat me to the punch. When one believes that poverty is just a state of mind, then surely quality of life can just be supplied by what’s in your heart. The poor can just imagine that they are not hungry and kids can just imagine that they are playing in a park.
What’s coming next from Republicans, maybe we don’t need proper healthcare in a medical setting, we just need to imagine that we are healthy? Imagine the savings we can achieve and the tax breaks we can give the 1%.
I know I love to imagine that Trump isn’t our President.
Good one , Darin. I’m spending his Presidency trying to ignore him. Luckily we have The Free Press to keep eyes and ears on these ne’er do wells.
I’ve spent a couple happy afternoons in Nick’s neck of the plains. But even from his happy seat in paradise, Nick recognizes it takes more to make Pierre thrive than a song in one’s heart. It takes practical investment.
Ascribing social conditions to hearts and minds is the conservative excuse for wishing away policy problems, ignoring data, and believing whatever they want.