Sioux Falls Is Open for Business, Not for Sale

I want to be direct with you, because I think this moment calls for it.

This week, hundreds of Sioux Falls neighbors filled a City Council meeting to speak about the data center proposal. Hundreds. That doesn't happen by accident. When a room fills up like that, it's a signal. Something in our process isn't working.

And instead of pausing to listen, the Council pushed the vote forward.

I'm Not Anti-Business

Let me say this clearly: I'm a small business owner. I believe in development. I believe growth is how Sioux Falls moves forward and stays competitive. I want us to attract investment and create opportunity.

But what happened this week wasn't just a development decision. It was a failure of leadership.

Responsible Growth doesn't mean saying yes to every deal that lands on the table. It means asking the hard questions first — about impact, about cost, about what we're committing to — before the ink is dry. When hundreds of residents show up with legitimate concerns and the response is to push forward anyway, it sends one message loud and clear: the deal was done before the public ever walked through the door.

That's not how this city should operate.

We're Making Decisions in the Dark

Here's what makes this even more concerning.

Right now, the State Legislature is actively debating HB 1005 — a bill that introduces significant ambiguity around 50-year tax exemptions and water usage rules for data centers. The rules aren't written yet. The state hasn't finished deciding what this kind of project actually costs a community.

So why are we rushing?

If we sign a contract today, we may be locking Sioux Falls into decades of uncertainty. We could be giving up tax revenue and control over our own water resources before we even understand the full terms. Responsible Growth means you read the fine print before you sign the lease. By refusing to table this vote, we aren't just ignoring our neighbors — we're gambling with our city's future.

This Is Personal

In 2016, major bridge construction started near my parents' restaurant on West 12th Street.

My mom and dad built that place from nothing. They came here in 1993, opened the first Vietnamese restaurant in Sioux Falls, and spent over two decades making it a home for this community. The city needed that bridge project — I understood that. But nobody really talked to them about it. For months, customers couldn't get to the front door. Business dropped. We almost didn't make it through.

That fear — the fear of decisions being made about you, without you — is not abstract to me. I lived it with my family.

And I heard it again this week. From neighbors worried about noise, about water, about what a data center the size of several city blocks means for the streets and services around it. Same fear. Different project. Same feeling of being left out of a conversation that will shape their lives.

What Responsible Growth Actually Looks Like

Growing a city is not the problem. How we grow is.

Responsible Growth means the hard questions get answered before the crisis meeting — not during it. It means water impact studies, honest conversations about tax implications, and neighborhood safety reviews that happen at the front end of a process, not as an afterthought.

It means treating residents as partners. Not obstacles to be managed. Not a comment period to be checked off a list. Partners — people who deserve to understand what's being built in their city and why, and who have a genuine say in how it happens.

Equal Opportunity means the benefits and the burdens of growth don't fall unevenly. Not every neighborhood should bear the infrastructure strain while the gains flow somewhere else.

And Vibrant Community means we protect the things that make Sioux Falls worth growing — our quality of life, our public spaces, our small businesses — even as we welcome new investment.

We can do both. Welcome business and listen to people. Grow responsibly. I believe that without hesitation.

But it requires leadership that's willing to slow down long enough to get it right.

Sioux Falls is the best little city in America. I want it to stay that way — for every family, in every neighborhood, for generations to come.

It's always been our city. Now is our moment.

Let's rise together. ☀️

— Vince Danh Candidate, Sioux Falls City Council At-Large | June 2nd 2026

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