Pork plant vote not Broin’s first foray into ballot process

Broin’s pool fight seeps into slaughterhouse debate

A pool formerly-owned by Jeff Broin was at the center of a public vote to change Dell Rapids city ordinance in 2004. (Zillow)

Sioux Falls’ proposed meat-packing ban isn’t the first time the South Dakota business mogul behind the pending vote has used the ballot in hopes of making change.

It’s no secret Jeff Broin, founder and CEO of biofuels giant POET, has his fingerprints on Smart Growth Sioux Falls, the campaign committee that earlier this year petitioned to block the construction of a new pork processing plant in northeast Sioux Falls. The 57-year-old’s home and a gated development that surrounds it sit within two miles of the site where Wholestone Farms, LLC intends to slaughter as many as six million hogs each year.

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And while he’s so far declined to publicly discuss his opposition to the agriculture- and business-backed project, it’s clear he’s hoping for a more favorable outcome in the Nov. 8 vote than the last time he tried to use the ballot for what his political adversaries characterize as a desire to preserve his personal housing plans.

Pool fight portends slaughterhouse ballot

Nearly 20 years ago, Broin was in the spotlight of another Minnehaha County community. That time, it was Dell Rapids captivated by a months-long saga that – like this time around – started with a construction project, ended up in court and ended at the polls.