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trusted him to make the decisions he thought best for the people of South Dakota. And this is another one of those times when he's making a tough call. Though not all of Johnson's Democratic supporters may agree - already the political press is saying Johnson's retirement opens the door for the Republicans to claim another Senate seat - we applaud Sen. Johnson's decision to retire as a difficult but correct choice, and we thank him for his service.
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• Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, March 27, 2013
• Why expand naming rights?
• Sioux Falls wants to open up its naming rights process for city property to include more possibilities than in the past.
• Plazas, monuments, park properties, library facilities and other buildings or properties would become fair game for being named after someone. That would provide additional opportunities for the city to receive donations for the right to name properties and would expand the ordinance from its current simple form that includes only a city building. The council will review this issue in April.
• At first, the expansion of naming rights is a bit off-putting, like the city wants people to buy a piece of the property pie. But clearly, the expansion doesn't include naming park benches, batting cages or library shelves.
• We're confused by the idea and hope to hear more convincing arguments before favoring the change.
• In a community where plenty of things are named after residents, do we need an ordinance to accomplish a naming rights expansion? If we do, do we need to add a minimum threshold for the contribution to make it clear and fair?
• So far, the proposed changes raise more questions than answers. It makes it feel like there is something in the works that is waiting for an ordinance change.
• We hope that is not the case. We hope that as Commissioner Kenny Anderson Jr. says, the change is needed simply to give commissioners some oversight and to provide consistency.
• Because of the city residents' sensitivities to naming rights for the new Denny Sanford Premier Center, it's easy to be suspicious of the proposed ordinance change. We're not sure any change is going to accomplish the city's goal of being fair.
• We would like the City Council to better explain the need for a naming rights expansion and clear up the confusion before making a decision.
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