Earlier this month, the Public Utilities Commission staff recommended that the PUC suspend Utica Grain’s (dba Upper Midwest Grain Elevator) grain buyer’s license following revelations of financial trouble, funky bookkeeping, shortfalls of grain, and disrespect for PUC Grain Warehouse Staff. But the PUC let Utica Grain keep its license on owner Ralph Marquardt’s personal guarantee that he’ll make things right.
Now when H and I Grain in Hetland let its finances go to heck and put farmers at risk, the PUC shut Duane and JoAnne Steffensen’s show down.
What’s the difference between Ralph Marquardt and those poor folks in Hetland?
Well, Ralph Marquardt gave Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen $200 in 2012. Open Secrets says Marquardt gave former PU Commissioner and now GOP U.S. House candidate Dusty Johnson $1,200 this March and $2,000 last year, Mike Rounds $5,200 for his 2014 Senate bid, and the SDGOP at least $7,900 since 2000. Marquardt was appointed to the state Transporation Commission in 2003 by Rounds and remains on that commission today.
Ah, relationships.
This is so wrong!
This is why we need you in SD, Cory! Who else ever looks into these things? Please consider voting for Cory, Aberdeen!
And Stace Nelson, if you’re reading this, get mad at this typical SD sleaze in the way things are done! Please call for an investigation! I trust you and your call for fighting corruption!
There you go, Billie Sutton team – here’s your moment to capture a commercial vowing to stop this kind of corruption. Where’s the money Marquardt? SD voters should be outraged their GOP leaders allows this sleazeball to keep his license.
“What’s the difference between Ralph Marquardt and those poor folks in Hetland?”
The “difference” is: On September 4, 2018, at its regularly scheduled meeting, the Commission considered the Petition. The Commission heard updates from Staff and Utica Grain. The Commission voted unanimously to deny the Petition.
1.Utica Grain shall follow the Updated Compliance Plan it filed on August 31, 2018, provided the Plan’s provisions do not conflict with the language found in this order.
2. Utica Grain shall file monthly financial statements that have been reviewed by a third party. The third party hired by Utica Grain shall be approved by Staff and the name of the third party shall be filed on the Commission’s website.
3. Utica Grain shall implement a ring fencing plan. Staff shall review the ring fencing plan and approve the language of the plan.
4. Within 30 days of this order, Ralph Marquardt shall file a written, personal guarantee confirming that all producers will be paid. Staff shall review the guarantee and approve the language of the guarantee.
If they meet all the above requirements the elevator will continue to serve the community, workers will keep their jobs and money will continue to flow into the local economy. Anyone who cheers for the loss of these jobs is working against the welfare of South Dakota.
Hetland owed $7,000,000.00 to producers they could not pay. That is a SEVEN MILLION DOLLAR DIFFERENCE.
Come on OS, don’t try sugarcoating it, you’re in denial. Don’t try telling me that his name as a big GOP donor has nothing to do with his slap on the hand punishment.
You would just think that, for once, SD folks had had enough of this cronyism crap.
“Gimme me money” these greedy Grain Elevator owners say. It’s too bad that SD farmers can not trust their local Grain Elevators. How many times has this happened? Just sickening!
What happened to good honest decency among business owners? You should be ashamed of yourself PUC!
I can’t believe I am going to write this: OS makes some good points here. Some of his language “cheers for the loss of these jobs” is his usual editorial garbage, but he brings up good reasons why the two cases are different.
Marquardt has a history of this. He’s in over his head and I would bet that when the State comes back to check on him, he will be in the same situation.
The ol fart just need to get off the video terminals or something.
I don’t know if Ralph’s contributions made a difference in the decision. (And a disclosure — he never contributed anything to me in my campaigns and I doubt he ever voted for me.)
But I believe there may be a difference between Ralph and the other elevators: no farmer has gone without payment that I know of and none testified as such with the PUC. That’s a big difference from some of the grain scandals of past years.
Certainly his finances must be an interesting maze, and I applaud the PUC staff for trying to sort it all out. They should also be certain that all bonding laws are followed. And their attention to the matter has probably not gone unnoticed by the farming community.
But I hope we never hurry to shut down a grain elevator that has never missed a payment to a farmer whether they be Democrat or Republican. Small businesses are pretty hard to come by in Meckling, Utica, Lesterville and Irene — and Ralph’s competitors at Napa Junction are far better connected than he at getting public assistance.
Just saying there’s two sides here …
Hi Bernie, reading more into the story by just Googling it sounds like son has taken over several of his other businesses (Marquardt Transportation) and they went downhill. Employees weren’t paid for months, poor equipment. Maybe son is running the grain elevator also?
Same thing happened with the son that messed up bad at De Smet. Sometimes not the best thing to do to have the kids take over daddies companies I guess.
Is a personal guarantee worth the paper it’s written on? Maybe. Maybe not. If it’s not backed by unencumbered cash it’s an illusory promise to farmers who expect cash for their crops. Just the uncertainty alone would prompt me to go elsewhere if I were a farmer.
Here’s Sutton’s issue. Bonds put up by grain elevators are grossly inadequate.
I am open to hearing those other sides. But I do wonder if the Steffensens had a chance at the same sympathetic ear and the same trust that the PUC lent Marquardt.
H&I Grain had a long history of screwing farmers, the PUC gave them too many chances in the past. H&I screwed the farmers out of 8 million this time plus they left their bank with millions of debt. These two cases are not even close to compare. The owners of H&I Grain have several criminal charges the are punishable up to 80 plus years for all of them. I hope they put those crooked bastards away.
If IM22 was still on the books today, how would have it impacted this decision and in who could have made this decision?…. Yet, some Democrats appeased the Republicans with a watered down version and replacement of IM22 and called it “true reform”….
I think Ralph had a hunting violation that maybe Rounds granted him a pardon!!
Paul, you are half right! Marquardt got a pardon for two counts of hunting without a license (is that called poaching?), but he got the pardon from Janklow on his way out the door to Congress in 2002:
As Ross and Sponder reported, Marquardt was one of several donors whom Janklow pardoned. Pattern?
Corruption, cronyism and good ole boys network in this state is appalling. Can you imagine what we DON’T know about?
You have money, you get favors. Kristi Noem shows that everyday as she grants audience and perks in bills to her donors. Other constituents? Pee-shaw
Remember this little jewel from Mick Mulvaney? Yep, these corrupt politicians, it is just standard modus operandi. And it is exactly what Billie Sutton is hitting on.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/25/17279244/mick-mulvaney-cfpb-lobbyist-donations-banks
So Greg, are you saying that H&I is an even greater example of how corruption has destroyed South Dakota state government’s ability to protect the people from crime and other malfeasance? The PUC is so ineffective that it didn’t catch H&I’s blatant misconduct and has been unable to make H&I’s victims whole?
My understanding is though there were peoblems with the grain businesses liquidity there wasn’t problems with Marquorts and once he agreed to pump up the business they kept it open.
Cory, most of the corruption was with H&I Grain giving fraudulent info to the PUC.I think the PUC should have discovered this before they did. H&I Grain’s commodity broker from CHS should have stepped up and tipped the PUC of the huge hedging loss. In the end farmers are out several million for unpaid grain but the Steffensen’s have all their motorhomes, jet skies Harleys and other toys. They all four have criminal charges pending punishable up to 82 years in prison, but don’t worry they enjoy living the great life they had before. The farmers that got screwed out of their money have had to adjust their lives a lot.
Ralph Marquardt also gave Marty Jackley $2,500 in 2016. SO did Doug Marquardt, who lives next door to Ralph.
The above donation was to Marty’s PAC. Ralph chunked another $1,000 into Marty’s gubernatorial campaign fund in 2017.
Greg, would good investigators have been fooled by H&I’s fraudulent info? Did PUC do its due diligence on H&I’s books?
Joe, I dig the point about Marquardt coming up with the cash from some other business pot to cover the shortfalls. But I also see from the original PUC staff petition filed August 20 that Utica Grain failed to submit weekly financial reports requested by the PUC on August 3, 10, and 17. That failure alone, under SDCL 49-45-16, is grounds for immediately suspending a grain buyer’s license. By not suspending Utica Grain’s license, the PUC appears to have done Marquardt a favor.
The August 16, 2017, letter from Grain Warehouse Director Jim Mehlhaff to Marquardt notes that Utica/Upper Midwest Grain Elevator’s June 30, 2017, balance sheet showed owner equity significantly below the required $100,000. “Had our office been aware of this, it likely would have prevented UMGE from receiving a grain buyer license for the period beginning July 1, 2017.”
So Marquardt appears to have obtained his grain buyer’s license by hiding his noncompliance with licensing rules. Instead of dropping the hammer then, PUC gave Marquardt a break. So this year’s favor isn’t a one-off; it’s part of a standing pattern of Marquardt breaking the rules and PUC giving him a break.