January 2010

The National City Survey for Sioux Falls

Citizens_Survery_results.ashx

See the whole shahbang here.

Nothing really surprised me here. Our parks got high marks. I was actually surprised we didn’t get a 100% rating on that. But since I am a cynical bastard I am always looking for the negatives. While I have said in the past that I find the survey VERY, VERY unscientific (It was mailed twice to 3,000 homes and only 922 people responded) I find the high marks and low marks right on. I have been saying for at least two years our city leaders have wax in their ears and we don’t spend enough money on our roads. Well guess what, the respondents said the same thing;

32% rated our streets in good condition (in other words 68% percent are not really impressed, and since we don’t spend our 2nd penny entirely on them, this should come as no surprise). Besides who has money for roads when the Rhinos at the zoo need 4-Star accomodations.

listen

I think if our public officials are getting an under 50% rating  on listening to citizens, that should be concerning. But I really think they do not care. Fast Forward to April 13th please.

Sioux City Morrells plant to close. Is Sioux Falls next?

This could be good news or bad news for Sioux Falls, depends how you look at it;

The John Morrell & Co. plant in Sioux City, Iowa, will close this spring, according to a copyright story on the Sioux City Journal’s Web site.

It could mean the Sioux Falls plant will be closing to, or it could mean expansion. I spoke with a 20 year retired Morrell’s employee a few weeks ago and asked him what he thought. He pretty much said the Sioux Falls plant is a money maker and doesn’t see the sense in closing it because they produce value added products (I think I got that right) it is pretty much vacuum packed meat that has a shelf life of 60 days.

It will be interesting to watch this story develop.

Brown wins and American voters continue the stupid F**king cycle

t1main.scott.brown.victory.cnn

Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) — Republican Scott Brown won a major upset victory in Tuesday’s special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

With 89 percent of the results counted, Brown had 52 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate, according to the the National Election Pool, a consortium of media organizations including CNN. Independent candidate Joseph Kennedy, a libertarian who is not related to the Kennedy political family of Massachusetts, had 1 percent.

I’m wondering when American voters are gonna wake up and realize the solution to our problems in this country do not lie in the hands of Republican or Democratic politicians. We aren’t happy with the Republicans so we elect a Democrat, we aren’t happy with the Democrats so we elect a Republican. Enough already, both parties are cut from the same cloth, they take special interest money from lobbyists and defend the special interests, they don’t care about you. It’s time that American voters started registering Indy and started electing Indy candidates. Fuck the two party system, it’s broken. Start electing people based on their values not on their political affiliation.