08 Broadcaster Press July 1, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com Blood donations in great need Legislative inquiry on EB-5 might seek SDRC subpoena By Bob Mercer State Capitol Bureau Sanford Vermillion Medical Center and Community Blood Bank will host an “All American” blood drive on Wednesday, July 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 6 p.m. at Sanford Vermillion. All who donate will receive a special t-shirt and lunch. “We are experiencing an extremely high need for blood types O+, Oand A+ at this time,” states Ken Versteeg, executive director, Community Blood Bank. “It is crucial that the blood supply is at an adequate level after the July 4 holiday for use in treating patients in need throughout the rest of the summer. Please consider donating blood, your donation will help save patients’ lives at Sanford Vermillion. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve Vermillion area patients.” Community Blood Bank is a non-profit, cooperative of Sanford Medical Center and Avera McKennan Hospital. In addition to supplying Sanford Vermillion with their blood needs, it services 29 other local hospitals including Sanford Medical Center, Avera McKennan Hospital, Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota, and the V.A. Medical Center. Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with signed parent consent form), weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good general health the day of the blood drive. Bring a form of I.D. with you. To schedule an appointment or for more information call Sanford Health Vermillion at 624-2611. Walk-ins are welcome. PIERRE – A legislative panel will consider the unusual step of issuing a subpoena in an attempt to force a witness to testify, its leader said Friday. Sen. Larry Tidemann said the committee members would decide whether to pursue a subpoena against Joop Bollen of Aberdeen. Bollen is president of SDRC Inc., a company he created in 2008 while he was still the director for the South Dakota International Business Institute at Northern State University. After Bollen left the university, SDRC held a state contract from fall 2009 through fall 2013 to oversee and operate the regional center for South Dakota’s activities in the federal EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. Hundreds of millions of dollars flowed from foreign investors to SDRCrun loan pools that provided money to various South Dakota projects, including the now-bankrupt Northern Beef Packers plant at Aberdeen. The investors paid $500,000 apiece plus a variety of fees to SDRC. South Dakota’s general public didn’t seem to have any knowledge of the EB-5 program in which state government was secretly participating. Tidemann, R-Brookings, said he met Tuesday with state Attorney General Marty Jackley. Tidemann said he has asked Jackley to present a subpoena template to the Legislature’s committee on government operations and audit. That could happen at the committee’s next meeting July 29. Tidemann is the committee’s chairman. Tidemann said the Legislative Research Council staff doesn’t have a lawyer with subpoena experience. He said another legislator, Rep. Timothy Johns, would sit as special legal counsel for the committee. Johns, R-Lead, previously was a state circuit judge. The GOAC panel met Wednesday. At the start, Rep. Susan Wismer of Britton asked that a discussion of SDRC be added to the agenda. Wismer, the Democratic nominee for governor, was the only Democrat present at the meeting and is one of two on the 10legislator committee. Wismer said she asked the committee to consider a subpoena for Bollen and SDRC records, including any preceding or subsequent businesses. Wismer said she presented a copy of a subpoena drafted by a LRC lawyer. A vote wasn’t taken. Tidemann said he had already been conferring with Jackley. “Discussions behind closed doors between the chairman of GOAC and the attorney general do not satisfy our committee’s responsibility to get answers to questions that our citizens are asking,” Wismer said the next day. The Legislature approved a resolution during the 2014 session requesting that GOAC hold hearings on the Governor’s Office of Economic Development including three audits and reviews that were specially commissioned by GOED. Tidemann said Wismer didn’t let him know prior to the meeting that she would ask for Bollen and SDRC to be put on the agenda. Wismer said she told the vice Want to Downsize Your Gas Guzzler? Find your answer in the Broadcaster Classifieds – in print and online! chairman, Rep. Dan Dryden, R-Rapid City, the day before the committee meeting. Tidemann said the goal of a briefing by Jackley will be to explain to the committee whether Bollen would provide any useful testimony if a subpoena is issued. Tidemann maintains the committee can’t look at SDRC’s private financial records. The state contract called for SDRC to pay specific fees to state government based on business activity. State Auditor General Marty Guindon has said several times that his office’s inspection of the SDRC records showed the proper amounts were paid or placed in a special account that will eventually be transferred to state government. Tidemann said he believes a federal investigation is still underway and the U.S. attorney for South Dakota, Brendan Johnson, hasn’t publicly delivered a report that the legislative committee could consider. Tidemann acknowledged he hasn’t been public about his plans as chairman. Taking a phrase from sports, he said he doesn’t want to show his playbook to the other team. “I don’t like playing gotcha! I want to get to solutions,” Tidemann said. Jackley meanwhile has said he didn’t investigate the EB-5 management because it is a program established by federal law. He has also said he didn’t investigate former Gov. Mike Rounds as part of his probe of Richard Benda, the state official who gave SDRC the contract during the Rounds administration. Rounds appointed Jackley as attorney general in 2009. AUTOMOTIV E 06 CIVIC. Ru ns great. 34 MPG, 30k mil es. Call Jim (605) 555-321 0. Go to www.broadcasteronline.com or call 605-624-4429. Broadcaster Classifieds To the person who swiped a white wicker chair from our porch… Please either bring it back or come and get the other one. Half a pair isn’t much good; one of us has to stand all the time. Thank you, Jim and Colette Abbott 415 East Main Street Vermillion, SD Offices will be closed on Friday, July 4th for the Independence day Holiday. 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