South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2009

South Dakotans

The South will rise again, in South Dakota

l3wis 4Comments

confederate_flag

 

I missed this Gargoyle Leader

story from Saturday. It seems we have quite a bit in common with our southern states like West Virginia and Mississippi, and it isn’t corn fed, barefoot and pregnant women with bad teeth either;

Adding to the state’s business-friendly climate is a work force that accepts relatively low wages: Only Mississippi and West Virginia workers are paid a lower median hourly wage than South Dakota’s $12.82.

Woo-Hoo, eat that West Virginia! We rank 48th for once instead of 50th! Who is drinking more Old Milwaukee now – Suckers! And guess what else? We work harder for less. Nanner, Nanner, Nanner! Let’s get the word out so more cheap-ass corporations come here and take advantage of us;

Taxes are important but probably aren’t the top priority for people looking to do business in the state, said Mark Slade, regional director of the Small Business Development Center in Sioux Falls.

Businesses are drawn by the state’s cheap labor, strong work ethic and state economic development officials who are accessible and responsive, he said. But low taxes do encourage people to start their own businesses.

Duh, Duh, and Duh. Taxes aren’t shit when compared to labor costs. Just another thing us South Dakotans can be proud of, working too much for too little.

Sioux Falls

Citizen Debt Burden in Sioux Falls and poverty levels

l3wis 13Comments

I found this figure in the city audit that will be presented in the info meeting this morning, very interesting. Notice the massive climb in debt in just one year. 

Figure 10

Long-term Debt to Population (Debt per Capita)

 

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Review

 

Standard & Poor Debt per Capita averages

Low: <$1,000

Moderate: $1,000 – $2,500

High: >$2,500

 

Conclusion: Long-term debt for the City of Sioux Falls increased dramatically in 2007 and 2008 primarily due to bonding for the Lewis and Clark water system project and other infrastructure projects.[1]  However, the City of Sioux Falls is still in the moderate category for debt per capita according to credit industry analyst Standard & Poor.  Sioux Falls is considerably below the average debt per capita of the ten comparison cities.

 

I also found this section interesting, especially the 11% poverty rating. Which I think is probably a lot higher consdering the census numbers probably didn’t include this year. Also considering that almost half of the kids in our school district receive FREE or reduced meals.

 

Characteristics of the ten communities used for comparison

We reviewed data from the United States Census Bureau American Community Survey for 2005-2007 to identify ten Midwestern communities with similarities to Sioux Falls.[1]  The comparison cities (urbanized areas) were:

  1. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  2. Duluth, Minnesota
  3. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
  4. Fargo, North Dakota-Minnesota
  5. Green Bay, Wisconsin
  6. La Crosse, Wisconsin-Minnesota
  7. Racine, Wisconsin
  8. Saint Cloud, Minnesota
  9. Sioux City, Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota
  10. Topeka, Kansas

 

The eight measures we used to identify these comparison cities were:

  • Population of the urban area.
  • Median age of population.
  • Median household income.
  • Median value of owner-occupied housing.
  • Poverty level: percent of population living at or below federal poverty income level.
  • Geographic mobility: percent of population (at least one year old) living in the same residence as a year earlier.
  • Education: percent of population (25 years and older) who had at least a high school degree.
  • Housing: percent of housing built after 1990.

 

Measure

 

Sioux Falls

Average of the ten communities

Population

147,000

127,354

Median age in years

34.5

34.1

Median household income

$47,551

$43,908

Median value housing

$134,100

$129,800

Poverty level

11%

15%

Geographic mobility

78%

79%

Education

90%

89%

Housing built after 1990

32%

21%

 

Although every city is unique, we believe that the ten comparison communities, when looked at as a composite, are very similar to many characteristics of Sioux Falls.  In addition, the local governments are “full-service” governments, like the City of Sioux Falls.  They offer a wide variety of government services including public safety, utilities, street maintenance, parks & recreation, et cetera.

 

And speaking of the poverty level, the YWCA will also give a report on their summer meal program during the same meeting. Notice the 16% increase from last year.

 

metaviewer-foof

 

School Laptop Program

Clunky-junky laptop computer saga continues

l3wis 7Comments

Untitled-1

A word of advice to South Dakota school districts; If a piece of equipment you are considering buying for the school says ‘Gateway’ on the side, probably not a good investment (I’m surprised that the Harrisburg school district isn’t sponsored by Gateway . . . I’m just saying.)

A collections company wants more than $78,000 from the Baltic School District for 50 laptop computers the school ordered for its high school students and staff last year. But school officials say they won’t pay full price because of a contract dispute with the bankrupt computer manufacturer.

 

Baltic was one of 15 school districts in the state chosen to receive the Gateway laptops to begin the 2008-09 school year. It is part of South Dakota’s Classroom Connections laptop program, in its third year.

 

The program is part of Gov. Mike Rounds’ 2010 Education Initiative that sets specific goals intended to improve the state’s education system by 2010.

Rounds/Gateway. When those two words appear together, that should scare the crap out of anyone. I’m curious if Rounds does anything for the best interest of South Dakotans? Or just special interests and contractor friends, while the rest of us are left holding the bag.

And Gateway isn’t helping the situation;

Officials at Britton-Hecla School District are dealing with a similar situation. The entire order of 210 computers arrived months late and, like in Baltic, they don’t have a warranty or service agreement. Ten loaner computers never were shipped to the school, they say.

 

“We don’t want them without a warranty,” Superintendent Don Kirkegaard said. “We’re trying to resolve the issue.”

Gateway offered 10 percent off the purchase price for the computers, Kirkegaard said. He said he doesn’t think that offer is reasonable.

Ten Percent discount?! BAHAHAHAHAHA! Give me a break. I say ship the computers and a bill to the Governor’s mansion so he can eat the big fat giant turd sandwich he has created, kind of like the vehicle registration software.

When is his term up again?

Uncategorized

Ned & Jed's Excellent Venture – Start of Summer Vacation 2009

EggBert 0Comments

Hello – How are you all?

Ned & Jed Nugent wanted to share some family “action” photos of their recent family vacation which they have officially & fondly deemed their “Fight White Right Lite-Brite” Start of Summer Tour – 2009

—————————————————————————————–

New York, New York –

Washington, D.C. –

Wichita, Kansas –

Bangkok –

Video Lottery Establishments petition drive across South Dakota –

When the boys had some downtime in their newly-customized Nugent Winnebago family truckster station wagon tank, Ned & Jed proudly (and EVER-SO-CAREFULLY, mind you) worked together on this Lite Brite project –

Sincerely,

EggBert & the Nugents (except Creamy Nugent, her warm & fuzzy poochie, Pubes, and her lip-smacking pussy, Mr. Lucky O’LickMeister, who all stayed in Sioux Falls to suckle such local tasty treats such as Bob Jamison Junior’s delicious & stimulating Tax Abatement idea & rootin’ for the soon-to-be construction of the new even HIGHER-PRICED city event center/coliseum.  Creamy’s comments: Yippy Yay! – ain’t suckling Sioux Falls just the best?  These great things are gonna make Sioux Falls develop better and for sure be all that more sucksessfful, like the other day when  Pubes sucked on Mr. Lucky O’LickMeister’s hair-ball.) 

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