There goes the Neighborhood
l3wis 
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls Poverty
At the City Informational meeting yesterday, a school district representative gave an informative presentation about impoverished kids in our community. I’ll warn you, the numbers are shocking and should be a wakeup call about taxes on food and utilities.
CLICK ON THE DECEMBER 15 INFORMATIONAL MEETING AND FAST FORWARD TO 27 MIN. IT LASTS TO ABOUT 55 MIN.
I really think this report should have been put out before the retail tax increase vote. While our city continues to blow money on historical windows and $750,000 pedestrian suspension bridges we have people in our community that can’t afford to buy food for their kids – food that is taxed so we can buy these WANTS.
The presenter even said one of the main reasons Dr. Homan doesn’t like to close schools on cold days is because school is the only place some of these kids get a warm breakfast. Pretty sad.
Greg Jamison even had the nerve to ask, “Thank you for the presentation, but what are we supposed to do with this information.”
Really Greg? You have to ask?
You should work on making cuts to our bloated CIP budget so we can reduce taxes for working families. That’s a start.
Jodi really needs to get a hobby besides reading my blog
City Spin Cycle on High
And calling up her media buddies at KELO-TV.
In less then 24 hours after I posted about the Sioux Falls Calendar mysteriously Jodi Schwagg (our very own overpaid press release writer) was on KELO-TV (trying) to counter everything I pointed out in my Sunday post about the calendar. It was so blantant, when I emailed KELO reporter Ben Dunsmoor about ‘bogarting’ South DaCola’s stories, I was literally crying I was laughing so hard.
So let’s review;
I said the mailing list was 70,000. But according to the city;
It went out to more than 67,000 households and cost thousands of dollars. For the first time, the City of Sioux Falls sent out a calendar to its residents in an effort to keep taxpayers informed.Â
I said the publication probably cost $50,000 or more. They claim this;
So, how much did taxpayers shell out for the publication? The Mayor’s office put out the calendar and says it cost more than $33,000 to produce.
And Jodi just couldn’t resist to do a little stompy-stompy dance-dance on my brochure idea (which would have saved taxpayers thousands of dollars).
But, city officials believe a calendar is something residents will keep all year, instead of fliers and brochures, which typically get thrown away.Â
You could of also done a magnet for a fraction of the cost that would stay on people’s refrigerators ALL YEAR LONG. I have a feeling half the calendars will get thrown away anyhow. People usually get gift calendars (Sports Illustrated swimwear for instance or Norman Rockwell) Other people use their day planners or PDA’s and some people build their own calendars with that fancy-smancy calendar software you can buy Walmart for $19.99. And instead of pictures of snowplows and mustaches they put pictures of their family and pets. And if you need a city department number, there is always the phone book or internets.
Even if by chance someone USES this calendar, it is still a waste of money. It is taxpayer funded propaganda, and nothing could be a bigger waste.
No where is there a reference that there were under a 1000 respondents to the survey – and that’s what makes this propaganda. When you mislead the public using half-truths and use taxpayer money to do so, it is always a waste – A HUGE WASTE.
Sorry, Jodi, you could have spent 1 cent a piece and it still would have been too much. Please, stop reading my blog and go back to blogging about how hip and cool SF is for young professionals.
City’s voodoo math
Okay, so we raise taxes to build new roads on the outskirts of town that only benefit new development, then borrow against bonds to maintain infrastructure and then cross our fingers and hope the feds pay us back, without interest.
The city can prepay the U.S. government’s remaining share of the cost at $24.7 million and Congress will reimburse it.
Um, wouldn’t you wait until the check cleared the bank before we started these projects? I’m beginning to think that Eugene ‘Montgomery Burns’ Rowenhorst and Mayor Minions are trying to shove as many projects through as possible before they jump ship and leave an empty galley to the next administration.
Bonding is like a long-term mortgage, Beninga said. The CIP, which comes from the second-penny sales tax, typically is a one-time-only expense with no interest cost to the project. With a bond, interest would be added to the bridge project’s cost.
“We have lots of other issues that we’re going to have to address in the future, and I would prefer that we keep our bonding indebtedness as low as possible,” he said.
Munson doesn’t care, he’s done in 16 months.
There should be laws against this recklessness.
The SF Secret District
So let me get this straight; Property tax payers fund the school district, pay employees and build schools, but we don’t have a right to see the list of names that may have been chosen? They pulled this crap last time with the Rosa Parks school. Then they wonder why they have to pull in lawyers at the School Board meetings to advise them.
“Out of respect for the people who submitted names and because of the names of people who are still living … but not chosen … we are not going to make the list public,” he said.
“I think it has already been destroyed for that reason,” said Ben Schumacher, communications specialist for the district.
How about outta respect of taxpayers? What are we? Chopped Liver?
What’s the big secret anyway? It’s just a list of names. Did someone suggest “The Abortion Hurts Women school” or the “Dr. Homan Horse Farmer school”?