Rapid City SD – Mayor Jason Salamun does not, as a rule, address city committees from the public comment podium. He runs the executive branch; committee members ask the questions, staff answer them, and residents line up at the microphone to weigh in. That’s the format.
On Wednesday, at the Legal and Finance Committee, Salamun stepped up to that same podium anyway — not as an elected official presiding over the meeting, but in the same public-comment lane used by residents and advocates.
He spoke roughly 10 minutes and 33 seconds into the meeting, stepping to the mic immediately after Domico Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Rapid City Sports Commission, had delivered his own positive words for the Sports Complex agenda items.
Transcribed live from the floor, in his own words Mayor Jason Salamun.
”Well, thank you. Like the previous speaker, I’m here to show my support for the various items of the sports complex, beginning with item 9.”
What He Said
Quoting directly from his remarks:
On the process:
”Just for clarity’s sake, we — the council — did approve a request for proposal callout for both, for everything: the management of the facility, to the architecture and engineering, to naming rights, as well as construction manager at risk…
Committee was formed, councilor Strommen was one of the members of that committee. There’s quite a few folks in various committees helping to guide the various proposals. What you have today is the result of that work.
Open bid process was followed very carefully. We had great competition, which is great for the city because it gives us the best bang for the bucks. So I think we chose, at the end of the day, great partners from great bids for various agreements that you have before you. What I want to see is what you have before you here at the committee as well as council meeting on Monday is the efforts of many months and quite frankly years of work.”
On the land donation:
”This has been a total team effort to bring this forward. I appreciate all of your support so far. Obviously with the sports complex, now we have the ability to actually make it happen. Beginning also to the land donation — and while there’s plenty of places we’d love to put this, at the end of the day we get a piece of land that’s worth 6 to 7 million dollars, and naming rights, which we’re working on right now, which we’ll bring forward in a different meeting once that agreement is completed.”
On why he supports it:
”…first and foremost, especially our young people, but people of all ages, because it will include a walking track, and it will include fields of play. The parks dept will have some programming within that space, but we will also be able to host more national tournaments and events as well as regional ones. Frankly, the Monument has to turn them away because they do a lot of conventions and other sports things. As well, there’s only so many weekends in a year, and we want [to] be a year-round visitor industry, and this will help us accomplish that mission — bringing more sales tax revenue to our city, allowing us to provide more essential city services, including quality of life initiatives to our residents.”
On closing:
”There’s a lot of reasons to support this. Council has shown overwhelming support throughout this whole process. This is one of those things that, again, [is] a total team effort. I’m very grateful for everyone who’s been a part of this — it’s consumed a lot of time, and I hope for a positive vote today. Thank you very much.”
What Wasn’t Said
Measured against the Sentinel’s own reporting on the same documents Salamun was praising, several things went unmentioned:
- That the $6.2 million figure in the actual donation agreement — which Salamun himself cited as “6 to 7 million,” a looser, higher range — is Pete Lien & Sons’ own number, from an appraisal the company commissioned itself, with no independent City role in verifying it.
- The permanent restrictive covenants the City cannot waive or amend without Hay Ground LLC’s written consent.
- The clawback clause requiring the City to pay full appraised value or return the land outright if the December 31, 2029 deadline is missed.
- The operator’s own financial projections, which show losses in each of the facility’s first three years.
- The $49,999 prepayment structure, or the two different legal thresholds it sits between.
Why It Matters
The Mayor’s unprecedented step to the public microphone highlights exactly how much political capital is being spent to push this project across the finish line.
Salamun’s remarks do not contradict the public record—they simply omit the most expensive and legally binding parts of it.
He is selling the vision of a multi-million dollar gift and a bustling youth sports destination. But the City Council isn’t voting on a vision; they are voting on a 20-year restrictive covenant, a guaranteed three-year operational loss, and a $12.1 million funding gap.
When an executive steps out of his lane to pitch a project from the public podium, it is a signal to pay attention. But as Monday’s City Council meeting approaches, voters and council members alike must remember: you don’t sign the pitch, you sign the contract.
Source: transcribed remarks from the July 15, 2026 Legal and Finance Committee meeting.
Leave a Reply