Bring Back Sidney, Sidney, NE (2025)

11/11/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
We have thrown millions at economic development, but as I think everyone can see, our county and city are still suffering. Why haven't all your tax dollars made a difference? Because we develop business, not a community. Let's look at some numbers provided by the U.S. Census and U.S. Department of Labor, and see why this is happening. Then, when we all clearly see, let's fix it.

Here I show a graph. The base of the graph comes directly from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is also using U.S. Census results. Since the Bureau only goes from 1970, we added the Census details from 1960 to the left side of the graph. We did this because in 1967, when the Sioux Army Depot closed, Cheyenne County took a huge loss in population. Loss of residents, neighbors, and customers for businesses. Over 4,000 residents. That is HUGE.......

Look at the graph!!!! Cheyenne County and Sidney have been declining for more than 60 years. There is no up and down. No, "Sidney always recovers". Those are the true numbers. The whole truth. More coming this week. Hang on.

Cheynne and Sidney's decline slowed, even went up a little while Cabelas grew during the 1990s through 2017, but while the growth of Cableas was HUGE, the community growth was small. Because you built a company, not a community. Cabela's was a 5 billion dollar company based here. The community was built to support it, not itself. These numbers show that. For 8 years living in downtown, I have watched millions be thrown towards selected businesses, but actual community development never happens, and we are still declining. Oh, they promise and promise, but selected businesses here get the money and the development. If you want true community development, you should be using enterprise zones, not grants. But we use grants... selectively building on business, not community, and it is not working. We need to change that.

So let's fix this. First, we need to concentrate on cutting spending. All spending. Reduce taxes. ALL taxes because that strengthens the people, the community. People here are struggling and moving to areas with better opportunities. We have wasted millions of tax dollars on economic development that has changed nothing since 2018. Nothing. COVID had a larger effect. We listened to economic development. Spent thousands on AI tracking like they wanted. None of that worked. Wasted tax dollars.

This week, we are going to show more graphs, numbers, and statistics as to why we are still declining. These will be numbers from the U.S. Government. The TRUTH. Not made up fairy dust and sunshine. It is time we all pay attention. Learn what is really happening here. Then, when we ALL clearly see, let's work together and make better choices, and build a strong community. Lots more coming. We need to fix it.... Our future depends on what we do next.

11/06/2025

Hey Sidney,
We have a fair chance of seeing the light show tonight. It is supposed to be clear, a little chilly, but what the heck. 🙂
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental

11/06/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
So, on Tuesday, we showed the true numbers of what happened to our community as people left and incomes dropped. Why aren't grants and new businesses helping? Simply put, we don't have the money circulating locally to support any new business. Let's look closer....

We know for a fact from census figures that the median family income in Sidney was $73,958 in 2016, before we lost jobs. Today, the median family income in Sidney is $51,704. Over $20,000 per year decline per family. Our last post shows that. Retirees came here with a lower median retirement income.

In March of this year, I wrote a post about Sidney's Vanishing Economy https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=652947070847008&set=a.122532460555141
I showed the true numbers for sales tax revenue from 2016 to 2024. When you adjust for inflation, we are well below 1 million dollars just to hold EVEN with 2018 and 2019. What does that mean? Well, if you take that loss, then multiply it by our local sales tax rate, you come up with a decline of over $50 million in sales each year. Who is going to increase our sales downtown by $50 million a year?

When you increase taxes, you slow our economy. How many of us do not work on our houses because we are afraid of our taxes going up? Many of us. How many businesses don't fix up their building because their taxes will go up, and right now, as their incomes are going down? This slows down hardware stores, equipment rentals. Construction is practically nonexistent here in Sidney for years. Taxes are too high. Fear of tax increases slows down construction improvements to our homes. Incomes are going down; we see that in sales tax revenues.

Bringing in new businesses will not help right now. Money is not flowing through our local economy. You just divide the revenue pie smaller and smaller between existing businesses. Wages can't go up because businesses are not successful. You bring in more businesses right now before we fix our workforce issues, as we showed in our last post, and you will completely destroy what is left of our downtown as you divide that revenue pie even further. Dollar General comes here, Family Dollar closes. You're just replacing businesses, but we as taxpayers are paying for that with matching grants. Wasted money. We do not need more economic development. We have spent MILLIONS since Cabela's. It hasn't worked. We need to cut spending and soon, before we reach a point we can not recover. That point is coming. Let's come together, put off the luxuries, and be a rural Nebraska town, and fix our economy. We can do this. We need to do this.

11/04/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
We have spent millions on economic development here since 2018. Why isn't it working? Today, we are going to explain why, using the latest charts and statistics from the U.S. Government for Cheyenne County. NO rhetoric, fairy dust, and smoke, just statistics and real numbers that apply to us. Right now.

The first chart at the top shows the population of Cheyenne County. We all know we lost about 2,000 jobs at he end of 2017. Some people stayed, found new jobs, and created new businesses. 1,139 people left Cheyenne County after Cabelas. This is a fact. The 2020 census shows this as well. Cheyenne County recovered slightly during COVID, gaining almost 600 new residents, mostly out of state and retired residents. The chart shows this as well. Today, Cheyenne County's retired population, those over 65, is 21%. The average retired population in Nebraska is 15.7%. So we have a higher percentage of people of retirement age living in Cheyenne County than the rest of Nebraska. That is not a bad thing, but it is an economic thing.... Let me explain why this is important.

The second chart shows our unemployment rate. The U.S. national average right now is 4.3%. As you can see in this chart from the Department of Labor, Cheyenne County's unemployment rate is 2.7%. Any economist will tell you that below 3 to 4% is a bad sign. Strong employment, but no room for growth. A good unemployment rate stays between 3% and 5%. Room for growth. We don't have that.

The unemployment rate means, only 2.7% of our workforce is available workers. Those without current jobs. There are currently 9,602 people living in Cheyenne County. Remove students, retirees, disabled, etc., then multiply that by 2.7%, and you get less than 200 people able to work in Cheyenne County who are not working right now. That is really low. Very low. There is NO large workforce here any longer. They left in 2017 and were replaced by retirees during COVID. No big business can come here to save us. There is no large workforce, nor enough available housing to bring in new workers.

Our problems today are workers, wages, affordable housing, child care, and most importantly, SPENDING. We have no choice but to return to a small rural Nebraska Panhandle town, with a lot of retired folks living here. Reset, then build slowly. Right now, we are making it difficult for a huge portion of our residents on fixed incomes with excessive spending and taxes by local governments. It has to stop. Remember, our mean family income is $20,000 below the rest of Nebraska. That makes it even more difficult. Yes, we need growth, but first, we need to cut spending and reset our priorities. That is the only option that will work. Throwing millions at economic development will not work, and hasn't worked since 2018. Time to do what will work. Cut spending. Next post, we will analyze the business environment... more coming.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NECHEY3URN

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NECHEY3POP

Health and Human Services U.S. Government- Retired population of Nebraska.
https://mchb.tvisdata.hrsa.gov/Narratives/Overview/4eac548f-4794-43fe-ae5a-477edd2b6c23

11/01/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Well, we were not going to post until Tuesday, but last night, during Halloween, I was told about the agenda for Monday's Commissioners meeting and the discussion of the “Economic Corporation” that would be formed to control economic development in our county and cities.

As we explained for a number of reasons, our group, along with others, does not want to see corporate influence in our small panhandle government. It is not necessary for a variety of reasons in our opinion, which we will be happy to go over again after we make a major post on Tuesday with new figures from the U.S. Federal Government about Cheyenne County. It will show exactly why this type of development will be difficult in our cities and counties at this time. We will post about this on Tuesday. What is the rush to spend this money? Let's look at the numbers and see what our next steps should be, not just throw more money at development.

You can read about the meeting on the Sun Telegraph page. We thank them for posting the information. Here is a link. https://www.facebook.com/SidneySunTelegraph/posts/pfbid0BFen8qtfPssizeB91r1wTmy2uugKfGXRuSS6Wi1tyb4UcgGNcN3R1hoGJGoB9S9Bl

Holding the meeting at 8 am on a Monday will make it impossible for many of us to attend and speak out. Also, a regular commissioner meeting is not the forum to handle this type of public concern. This is a “touchy” subject right now in our community. It will certainly divide our city and county if not handled carefully. We will implore our commissioners to table this matter until the public has full opportunity to comment on this matter. Many will not be able to attend this meeting. Public comment is needed. Have a great weekend, everyone.

10/31/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
Happy Halloween. Today, we are getting ready for Trunk or Treat this evening from 4pm to 6pm in Hickory Square. Grandkids will then come over and polish off the rest of the candy. We hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween.

Our next post will be on Tuesday next week. We have some new numbers about our local economy to share that are really important. This weekend, have fun with the kids and family. Next week, we have some very important issues to address as a community. Have a great weekend!

10/29/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
In 2017, we lost 2,000 high-paying jobs. That caused a huge $23,000 a year loss in median family income in Sidney in 2018. The 2020 census shows us just how impactful it was. We have studied those numbers for the past 5 years on this page. It is scary. We write about it, but get called “negative” by some here who really need to study the numbers instead of calling names. You can't ignore these numbers. This loss caused a $60 million loss in local money flowing through our economic engine. That is huge. We are now seeing the result in Sidney. What we have been saying on this page for 3 years. What is the city and county's answer to that? Raise taxes. Wrong answer, people. Absolutely the worst thing you could do. Makes a larger problem. Over and over and over again, wrong answer.

Everyone says, “We need more businesses in Sidney”. While we agree with that, it is NOT the answer. What is the most important pillar in any business? CUSTOMERS. Sidney, the customer base here is down over $60 million dollars, which means our economic engine is down $60 million. You don't make that better by adding more businesses. You make that better by raising wages so existing customers have more money to spend in those businesses.

If the customers don't have money to spend in local businesses, those businesses fail. That is happening here. Now. Look at it this way. A new business is like having a new shiny car. Let's all get a new car. That car, though, is no good to anyone if it doesn't have gas. Our gas is our residents; they are customers. Customers with money to spend. You can fill our downtown with shiny new cars, new signs, new buildings, new businesses, pickleball courts, parking lots, on and on, but unless we have gasoline, which is customers, none of it works. Plain and simple. We need more gas. The key to any economic recovery is customers. They have to have a higher “consumer confidence,” and right now in Sidney, consumer confidence is at an all-time low because we have taxed the heck out of all our customers. Taxes and spending are destroying our gasoline supply.

We don't need new economic development, shiny new businesses, shiny new cars. Those don't do any good unless they have customers with money. Pure economics. For 3 years, we have been saying we need to cut spending so we can cut taxes. It is never done. It is getting worse. Last night our council once again spent more money. Unreal. We need gasoline, Sidney. Either through spending and tax cuts or more people. New businesses alone will not fix our economy. Those new businesses will need customers with MONEY, gasoline. Shiny new cars still need gas. We are losing gas because of spending.

10/28/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
It is 4 am. I am thinking about new troubles that have just come to light in our community. Searching history, the law, and wondering what I can say to my community that will inspire them to get involved and help fix some of these issues. Sidney is a great place. Just get involved, and let's change for the better.

How many read the last article I referenced in a post from Nebraska State Senator Jana Hughes? Here is a link. Read it, get informed. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0H2hwQTDiSEbt6bCgf1sshgTFsPBQnnA5v59x7iqjgLBLD1h3xvVefGqXHqALpyckl&id=100089096333521. She said in her post that the citizens of Nebraska are often referred to as the “Second House” because it is the people who provide oversight, attend public hearings, propose ballot initiatives, and so on. Community is the answer. It says so in Nebraska law.

When I addressed the city council, several were shocked to find out that Nebraska created a “Public Records Act” a full year before Nebraska was even a state. That was 1866. Transparency, open meetings, and oversight in Nebraska law are the job of the public, and we are failing. No more fear. Let's be a community that cares.

Do you know that Nebraska has several statutory laws governing the direction of community development? Statutes such as 19-0903. By law, a community must develop a “Comprehensive Plan” for development and direction within a community. Nebraska Law. Do you know where to find it in our city? County? Here is a link to Sidney's Plan. https://www.cityofsidney.org/DocumentCenter/View/177

Sidney's plan is 2 ½ years old. It has never been fully used. Look who is listed in the plan. I lived in Pennsylvania for 22 years. Our township lived by our comprehensive plan. Myself and others residents used it to change the quality of a local development. IT WORKS! Community control. Oversight by the people. Here in Sidney, it was shoved aside by our ex-city manager, so he controlled everything along with the influence from a small group of people. Too much power was given to one person. The same names appearing over and over again in city politics, control groups. We need to change that. That must never happen again. Power returns to the community. The ENTIRE community. More people need to get involved.

In the last couple of weeks and even the last few days, we have been finding more tragic mistakes. Like I said 2 weeks ago, there will be more. Keep moving forward. We need to create oversight following Nebraska law. Transparency laws are there; we just need to use them, so it doesn't happen again. Move forward. We need to be the “second house” as it is intended in Nebraska law. We need to follow and learn from history. Our forefathers were here. They created laws so this doesn't happen, but it is happening here because the community is not providing oversight. That needs to change. More people involved in providing oversight, fewer mistakes. We can do this. Let's get it done.

10/26/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
God's creations are amazing. I have stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the halls of Notre Dame, the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and the shrines of Miyajima, Japan. But yesterday's trip into the depths of Nebraska was so moving, I am going to post about it today.

Brian Fort is a walking encyclopedia of Nebraska history. This week, he came to my daughter and me and said he is going to find this old homestead in this hidden valley out in the middle of nowhere. “Want to go?”. Of course! There are no roads. 4 wheel drive through amazing country. Running herds of antelope, some of the largest Golden Eagles I have ever seen. Bald Eagles and breathtaking views.

My daughter wanted to paint. She is an avid “plein air” artist who travels to beautiful areas to capture the feeling of being there. She was blown away by what Brian shared with us. Some of the largest cottonwood trees I have ever seen, decades old, with such bright, amazing colors.

The rancher's grandson finds us driving along a ridge line. We stop and talk about the amazing sights. Thousands and thousands of untouched acres full of history. He points to a clump of cottonwoods and says the homestead is down there. There is also a natural spring coming up from the ground. Great place to paint. He is out, moving cattle off the range for the coming winter. An amazing young man.

We found the old homestead. Brian's passion is to preserve the history. He hunts for relics and gives them to the property owners, who mostly donate through him to museums. He preserves and shares history. How can you not love sitting on a huge Cottonwood log, under a deep blue sky, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while listening to the history of how this small valley was settled and watching your daughter paint a beautiful cottonwood? Looking through the old homestead, sharing Brian's passion to preserve history, the dreams of the past.

God gave Nebraska a special kind of magic. Different, but full of life and energy. Thank you, Brian, for finding this and sharing it with us. A truly magical adventure. Today I will thank God for yet another amazing day. We are blessed to live within this beautiful creation.

10/24/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
While reading the newspaper last night, I saw a letter to the editor from a local resident about property taxes. It was difficult to read, so I contacted the resident (Tom) and asked a few questions.

Tom sent me the letter last night from Governor Pillen. He said he also wrote our City Council and County Commissioners. He only heard back from Governor Pillen. PUT POLITICS aside, everyone. Look at the law. Under Nebraska law, ALL property taxes are controlled locally. We have been saying this for 3 years. This is also what Governor Pillen is saying in the letter. Further, he goes on to say that there is a SPENDING problem, which we have been saying for 3 years. We have no problem with revenue. It is spending. Governor Pillen went on to say that the state is placing “revenue caps” on cities, counties, and schools to try to keep them from raising property taxes as home valuations go up. Interesting. Sidney, it is a local problem. We have done all this to ourselves because we don't control our spending. Our budgets are out of control.

These are facts. Property taxes hurt start-up businesses. Those of you who follow business like we do know that 90% of all start-up businesses in America fail in the first year. Here is an article from Forbes about it. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2024/09/10/90-of-startups-fail-how-to-secure-your-place-in-the-10/

We make it worse when we are the highest-taxed area around. That lowers wages and discretionary income. Our disposable incomes ( Median Family Income) in this area are already $23,000 a year BELOW the Nebraska average. Wages and taxes have to be addressed. More business start-ups are not going to do that. We need to cut spending. That is the root cause, and even the state of Nebraska knows it. We do not need to spend hundreds of thousands on economic development; we need to cut spending so we can cut taxes, and businesses can afford to give raises. Full stop!

Here comes the broken record again, but we will keep saying it until everyone hears it. Our sales tax revenue was down again last month. Look at the numbers. It continues to decline. We have told you exactly why. It is going to get worse over time. A roller coaster ride of uncertainty. We have shown you post after post about sales tax revenue. When you use CPI and adjust for inflation, we are over $1 million less today in sales tax revenue than we made in 2018, one year after Cabelas left. That is over $50 million dollars of sales to make $1 million in sales tax revenue. How many small downtown businesses will it take to make up a $50 million loss of sales? That is not growth; that is just keeping us even with 2018. $50 million is a HUGE number to try to make up. It will take time. Until then, we need to work together and cut spending. Gov. Pillen is saying it, we have been saying it. It is time to do it. Time to be a community and work together on our problems. We can do this.

Gov. Pillen's Letter
https://changecheyenne.com/images/PDF/Gov%20Pillen.jpg

10/21/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County,
We are going to get a new City Manager. The City Manager's job is to steer the city in the direction of the goals or objectives of the city. BUT, many forget the most important aspect. The city is not an entity; the city is the residents who live in Sidney. PEOPLE. Far too many times, I have heard the council and commissioners say they need to raise taxes to help the city or county. Well, those taxes are hurting the people. You have to look at the city as people. That is the first step.

Does the Manager need to help cut the budget? If so, you need a financial manager. Does the manager needs to help with city development, then you need one who is well-versed in planning. Do you have employee problems, then you need on who is skilled in leadership. These are important tasks. To start, the city council needs to set a proper course for our city. In other words, where are we going, Sidney? Should we cut the budget and downsize? Should we grow? Do we do a little of both? We need a rudder, a direction. We are floating around in a sea of uncertainty without a rudder. Sales tax revenue is down again last month. Income is down, taxes are up. Time to set a better course, with a rudder.

I read the city's plan to create a selection committee. I applaud them for including residents so they can accept different points of view. The problem we have is it is not set up correctly. First, you never put people/employees on a committee that will be selecting their boss. No. Bad idea. They will be thinking of the work environment over the goals of the city. You don't let employees hire a boss. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. In this committee, they have 5 people from the city and only 3 from the community. That is also a bad idea. It should be the other way around: 2 or 3 from the city and the others representing a cross-section of the residents. Business, families, and generational. They should also be free from entitlements from the city. In other words, not part of the system being used in the city currently. Then and only then do you get a committee free from criticism and, most importantly, cronyism, which we have a problem with.

Time and time again over the past 3 years, I have posted that we have spent THOUSANDS of dollars on creating “Master Plans” but never used them because we had a city manager who followed his plan, not the community's. The reality is, we have no direction, so economic development doesn't work. Taxing doesn't work, planning doesn't work. We don't follow what we create, and we are sailing through life without a rudder. Let's create some community goals and move our community forward in a direction that will work with our goals as a community. Create a rudder first.

Please rethink this process. Start with community input. Listen to the residents. There is no rush. Our city has very competent people in management positions right now. They know their jobs. It is not going to fall apart. Do this right. Include more residents. Avoid any appearance of cronyism. That only builds criticism. Establish a rudder with goals so we can move forward together as a community. This is not a council decision; this is a community decision. We are invested in this town. Please consider that.

10/17/2025

Good Morning, Sidney and Cheyenne County
Now that our city manager is gone, we are beginning to see things he did behind closed doors. Not good. Trust us, there will be more. We can fix this, however. Let's get started.

First, learn through history. In the 30's and 40's, as America was going through the great depression, President Roosevelt started the “Fireside Chats”. Radio addresses that were transparent, instilling confidence, talking about direction and goals. It worked. He served 4 terms. It always works when the people know what is going on.

When Reagan came into office with out-of-control inflation, the soviet threat, and so much more the first thing he did was address the people in weekly radio “chats”. Every Saturday. I listened to them. I listened to the direction our government was taking and built my business around that. It worked. Transparency, open government, goals, he talked to Americans. This is why he won 49 out of 50 states in 1984. Transparency.

Our City Manager and City Council, and many others in government, made mistakes. No doubt. Either we own up to them and move forward with transparency, or we continue trying to cover it all up. We need transparency. This weekend, I read a report from 2015 put out by the University of Nebraska. Population projections for rural counties in Nebraska through 2050. You can download it here. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cparpublications/449/
Read page 35. It is a chart showing what will happen to Cheyenne County. It is true, made even worse by the loss of Cabela's. Residents of working age are leaving. All throughout Nebraska. Interesting report.

Last night, Eric sent me a new article on News Channel Nebraska about the “Uncertainty Index” in small businesses. I read it and then went to the NFIB source for the full report. I will put links below. Basically, it outlines the 2 main problems we face here.... TAXES and Labor Supply. Labor supply is short because our wages are so low. The high cost of housing and low wages lead to labor problems as people leave. If you bring more business here now, you will make our labor shortage worse. Sidney, please pay attention. We have to address spending, wages, and taxes. Our leadership just raised taxes. Wrong direction. They just made all this worse.

We are a small town in the panhandle of Nebraska. We have to cut spending, create affordable housing. The houses we built with grants are a joke, $299,950, seriously? That entire process and cover-up is a joke. Acknowledge it and move forward. We should hire 1 economic director, not a corporation. Corporations do not belong in government. Local history shows that. Trust comes through people, not corporations. It is really easy in today's media to build trust. Open social media pages. Let the people comment and give everyone a voice. TELL us what is going on. No secrets. Work together.

https://panhandle.newschannelnebraska.com/story/53167188/uncertainty-index-growing-for-small-business?fbclid=IwZnRzaANeegVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmi-jJwSIqqESw4uu-3qZU1NEmqJb9QVm3ltP7cr40JUlZFavwlRZ8UsUOpX_aem_V4eH3nk7LUheHn7iDX0BuA

https://www.nfib.com/news/press-release/new-nfib-survey-small-business-optimism-declines-in-september/

https://www.google.com/search?q=president+reagan+radio+chats&rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS1095US1095&oq=president+reagan+radio+chats&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCjExNDM3ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Bring Back Sidney

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