South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

June 2018

Equality Sioux Falls

Like a 3 Year Old relates rainbows with homosexuality

l3wis 30Comments

That’s the hilarity of the uproar about the rainbow buffalo. While as adults we understand the pride symbolism, I don’t think a 3 year old gets it, they just see a pretty buffalo. And if they ask, it would be a great opportunity for a parent to explain the symbolism. Not just about pride, but the native signifigance of the buffalo.

I think this parent said it best with a FB comment;

Mike Henriksen

June 22 at 8:10 PM

So, the lady who directs the Outdoor Campus in Sioux Falls crafted a buffalo with rainbow colors for Pride week. A Mom complained, saying it was promoting homosexuality to her 3 year old child. The Mom called the Governor’s office. The buffalo was taken down. I don’t want to tell anyone how to spend their outrage. But I would think having a 3 year old in one of 6 states that does not fund pre-school education would spark a call to the Governor’s office. I would think that having a 3 year old in a state that has one of the highest rates of child and teen deaths in the country might inspire a call to the Governor’s office. I think having a 3 year old in a state that spends less money educating each student than almost every other state in the country might want to make you pick up the phone to the Governor’s office. I think having a 3 year old in a state with one of the highest teen suicide rates in the country might make your fingers do the walking to the Governor’s office. But she decided to call about a pretty buffalo. Something that was meant to promote inclusion. It seems strange to me how some people choose to fight harder for or against symbols than they fight for or against actual human beings.

Developers Development Employment Sioux Falls South Dakotans

Wages not keeping up with housing costs

l3wis 3Comments

As you will see, this isn’t just happening in Sioux Falls and South Dakota, but across the nation;

Of the roughly 420,000 South Dakota jobs classified by the U.S. Department of Labor, several sectors dominate. About 63,000 jobs are in office support positions, another 47,000 in retail sales, about 42,000 in food preparation and service, 17,000 in grounds maintenance, 15,000 in personal care and service and 11,000 in health care support. South Dakota is routinely among the top states in percentage of residents who hold more than one job.

But what is that statistic? I have often wondered where to get that.

In the Sioux Falls metro market, inflation-adjusted median household income fell by 4.5 percent from 2008 to 2015; in the city of Sioux Falls, it fell by 8 percent over that time frame. Meanwhile, the number of households making $15,000 to $25,000 a year in Sioux Falls jumped by 50 percent during that period.

It’s really the middle-class income that hasn’t really changed at all.

That the housing shortage for low-income residents is worsening in Sioux Falls. The study notes that for every 100 families making 30 percent or less of the local median family income, only 39 affordable housing units are available.

I have often argued that Sioux Falls is growing too fast, growth for growth’s sake essentially. I was watching a news story last week where they were training middle school kids how to build houses. Really? While I don’t have a problem with industrial arts (I took 3 classes in school, drafting, wood working and construction) I also helped work construction with my brother and dad’s business.

Maybe we just keep building to just build. Sioux Falls really needs to slow it down a bit and concentrate on fixing up core neighborhoods and revitalization, which provides affordable housing. Sprawling out of our limits only drives up infrastructure and housing costs. Making due with what we have with the workforce to do it properly instead of this constant motion of ramrodding development.

We really don’t have a housing issue, we have a wage issue.

City Administration Building Sioux Falls

We should have put solar panels on the new admin building

l3wis 6Comments

(KELO-TV screenshot)

Funny how the small town of Sturgis has more common sense than Sioux Falls;

But then, someone suggested putting solar panels on top of the structure instead of canvas, and using the power to knock a big chunk out of the combination city hall/library building’s electrical bill.

While there has been plenty to say about our new $25 million dollar administration building and all it’s technology and LEED certification, why didn’t we put solar panels on it to power itself? Oh, because that would have made sense, and we can’t have any of that when building city facilities.

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