Updates from SA's State & Local Committee

SPICY! City Council: 1/26

At first, last night’s city council meeting looked like it would be a short one.  The first 12 items of the agenda were checked off within an hour.  This included the student senate report, which informed the council that SA elections are coming up and that Capers is going on, though the condemnation of the upper half of Doner Auditorium’s seating inhibits maximum profit for APO and the City of Brookings.

The real action went down during the Swiftel discussion.  Several members of the community voiced their support for its expansion to include convention and conference space, but especially for a new hotel facility.  Three motions were proposed regarding moving forward.  The first suggested committing $8million to the project.  It failed 4-3, with Mayor Reed, Jael Thorpe, John Kubal, and  Mike McClemmens in opposition.

The same happened to the second motion, which stated that the Council would commit to going forward contingent upon the private sector presenting a hotel option for the city.  Mayor Reed underlined his concern that he wanted to be sure that that this is the best way to invest the taxpayers’ money. Proponents of the motion insisted that all the necessary information has been presented and that this risk is necessary for Brookings growth.

After much debate, Mayor Reed changed his position and the Council passed a third motion similar to the rejected second.