This should be entertaining. Apparently Pastor Poops is feeling the pressure. I’m sure he will do what he always does, blame the tenants and tell them not to call him. I hope our diminishing press corps at this event will ask tough questions and hold his feet to the fire. As the chief administrator of our city he should be concerned for all renters (I believe 80% of our population in Sioux Falls rents, I saw this stat recently, but can’t find the reference, so just ‘Trump’ trust me on this one 🙂 Recently the council approved a 170 unit workforce housing complex that was in a perfect location and guess who was basically the only detractor? Another slumlord in town. I told a couple of councilors, ‘He is opposed because it will steal low income renters from him. I used to rent from this family, SLUMLORDS thru and thru.’ It’s time this city cracks down on these folks. I suggest the council put together a set of ordinances that would basically force slumlords out of operation, we will see if they have the courage.
UPDATE: So, things are not getting much better. So this happened;
So while the tenants are getting gouged on utilities by the service provider, the landlord isn’t even paying the bills. To turn tenants gas off in the middle of winter is CRIMINAL and it is time for the SFPD to produce an arrest warrant for this guy.
As you know, the city of Omaha is also dealing with that dirty rotten rat who owns Tzadik properties;
Health and safety concerns have been raised after conditions at City View Apartments were brought to the attention of the city, and it’s because of those issues that local attorney Dave Pantos said residents could possibly get out of their lease for free.
Well look there, a local attorney willing to help, in Sioux Falls, not so much. In fact I was in a meeting with an attorney and state representative Kadyn Wittman several months ago with tenants and all they got was the ‘HAND’ and little help, but no surprise. They have more important things to do, like making sure transgender females can use the woman’s bathroom 🙁 Most attorneys in Sioux Falls are on retainer with the city and won’t take personal cases against the city or landlords because they like the city’s butter on their bread. It is almost impossible to get a SF attorney to represent you against the city, maybe the SD Supreme Court in all their knowledge should address this? LMFAO! They are so useless, I don’t think I could even count on them to be a school cross guard. Either way, they are getting legal representation, unfortunately they have to get it from out of state.
Oh, but besides rent for an apartment crawling in cockroaches, frozen pipes, broken security, broken pipes, broken fire alarms, mold and nails flying out of the garbage disposal they make the residents pay a service company for utilities, and it is a doozy. I will post two bills that are completely different but still make no sense;
When this was first sent to me, I told them, “Pretty obvious you are being gouged.” I have a 900 Square foot house that I live alone in and these above charges equal about $177 in winter and $90 in the summer so I find this to be an incredible ‘GRIFT’ by the service provider and the landlord. I actually laughed with the service fee. Really?! After basically taking a 100% or more commission you still charge a service fee. RATS!!!!!!
The saddest part is the inaction from city hall. The city government has a lot of power when it comes to putting this person in compliance, but they are to big of wimps to do it. It only took 20+ years to tear down a recycling center that almost fell over before the bulldozers showed up by my house, so I am guessing that maybe in 2045 these folks will get some help 🙁
But hey, we gotta build a ninja warrior complex in the Arena! Priorities people!
Maybe they will come to the conclusion we need to send thousands of more dollars to Poops former(?) ad agency to tell people how to ignore the homeless problem. Maybe more 0% interest rates for wealthy historical homeowners is the answer? I think some of those Queen Anne and Victorians could hold quite a few transients.
If you go to my zip code, the average 1-bedroom apartment is $970 a month. You would have to make at least $38,000 a year or around $18 an hour to afford this (30% of income).
I heard a rumor recently that 70% of job listings in Sioux Falls pay $15 or less.
It seems in Sioux Falls we have affordability issues with all kinds of things like groceries, housing, and childcare. Maybe Sioux Falls doesn’t have an affordability issue, maybe it has a wage issue?
But don’t bother our local leadership with that issue, because they will tell us that wages should be determined by the FREE market, you know, the FREE market in South Dakota that allows business owning legislatorsto take government handouts, or that same FREE market that creates special tax districts so developers can buy skywalks and public art, or the millions and millions we give away for parking ramps that will be obsolete within 10-20 years.
While our local governments are quick to throw money at the top and hope it trickles down to the rest of us, they really need to put their foot where the sun doesn’t shine and get businesses to pay living wages, then things like buying a home or even a loaf of bread are a lot less challenging in our community.
The city council has the power and authority to pass policies that would help wage earners in our community, for example, an ordinance that requires all businesses advertising for employment within city limits list their starting wage, or raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour or more.
When we talk about the affordability of our city, it really comes down to what our employers are willing to pay and little else because all this talk about affordability is just a smoke screen to what our real problem is, CRAPPY WAGES!
l3wis 
