UPDATE: Gannett Employees set up Go Fund Me

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Well, yah gotta know employees are NOT happy about a holiday furlough when they blatantly set up a Go Fund me page;

Gannett, which owns the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the Watertown Public Opinion and the Aberdeen American News, is requiring all of its employees to take a week unpaid over the holidays. This decision affects 15 journalists.

The funds raised will be distributed evenly to help cover the lost income during the furlough week. Many of the journalists affected are young and not from the area. They are worried about not being able to pay rent and their bills while still being able to go home and see their family. This fundraiser aims to help them enjoy the holidays without stressing about rent payments.

Gannett has been doing this for several years now and it should be NO surprise to the employees. I guess over the years I have personally just gotten used to NOT getting vacation, insurance benefits or holiday pay from several of my employers (mostly hospitality). While I agree it sucks, one week unpaid is not the end of the world. If you can’t afford to miss one week’s pay out of the year, you really need to take a closer look at your finances.

UPDATE: I was informed that this page was setup by a NON employee for the employees of Gannett

Lennox Man accused of Child Abuse is City of Sioux Falls Technology Manager

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At least this time it wasn’t in the Police Department;

Technology • Larsen, Daniel W • Information Tech Infrastructure Mgr • $ 107,702.40

You have to start wondering about the Culture overall within our city when it comes to the workforce. Maybe Mayor TenHaken is correct, maybe the city’s employees do need an overhall in culture. I’m just not sure he is the man to do it. I also wonder if he is found guilty of the charges if he will not ‘work another day’ for the city.

UPDATE: But the Sioux Falls City Employee Bonuses were NOT a political bribe

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UPDATE: I guess the SF Police Union endorsed Poops also. This is no surprise that both unions endorsed him . . . they know who they will be negotiating with over the next 4 years and it would be a very bad political calculation to endorse one of his opponents when they know they are probably not going to win. But I would be curious how many of these city employees will either NOT vote (because they are not registered, don’t care or don’t live here) or will vote for one of his opponents. This is just political theatre and little else.

I know, I am as shocked as you . . . not!

The membership of Local 519 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has overwhelmingly voted to endorse Paul TenHaken for his re-election bid for Mayor of Sioux Falls.

During the Mayor’s tenure in office, he has prioritized the needs of the workers of the city of Sioux Falls, and the general membership of Local 519 believes that he will continue to put the needs of the hardworking public servants of the city at utmost priority.

Local 519 President Jason Ness said, “We have enjoyed a good working relationship with the Mayor’s office through many rounds of contract negotiations and we appreciate the Mayor’s desire to ensure that the employees of the city of Sioux Falls are paid appropriately and are treated with respect while they do the difficult work of keeping the city running.”

The labor movement is strong in Sioux Falls, and Local 519 looks forward to a continued healthy labor management relationship with Mayor TenHaken.

Recently Appointed City of Sioux Falls Director flaunts new ride

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Last night a foot soldier told me he saw one of these pull into the gas station. It was a brand new Denali. Who stepped out? A newly appointed department director. The list price on these can run anywhere between $68-$82K. If you are making payments/insurance you are looking at about $1,400 a month.

This person asked me if the city is paying for the ride? I could not answer that for sure since this director doesn’t run a pencil pusher department and could possibly need a city funded vehicle.

Either way, that’s quite the ride. I have seen other directors in similar positions drive vehicles like this that had city plates (I wish they would have checked).

But let’s assume for a moment that it was their private vehicle. I have argued for a long time that city director’s pay is over the top, they are paid like banking executives. I think this person probably checks in at around $138K a year plus benefits (they were promoted from within their department).

See the latest 2022 salaries HERE. Our highest paid city employee only got a $6,400 raise this year. Poor thing ($262,579). Hope they can afford the mortgage payment on their newly constructed McKennan Park mansion? Maybe we need to start a Go Fund me page?

There are around 45 city employees that make $90K+ and 92 that make $100K+.

Does the City of Sioux Falls really have a full-time employment shortage?

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When you factor in the city having well over 1,000 employees, it is hard to fathom that they have a retention and worker shortage problem. I clicked on this web ad today and out of 27 positions, only 8 are full-time and the remainder 19 are part-time.

My guess is if you are only looking to hire 8 full-time people when you have over 1,000 current employees, you are sitting pretty good as an organization. Ironically, besides more officers, that we supposedly need, and a mechanic most of the other positions are not really applicable to the service of the public when it comes to infrastructure and public safety (really the only main expenditures a city should have). Does the finance department really need another accountant (as of 2021 they had 6 in the finance department) or a Librarian (they have 9 with 40+ Librarian associates) I will agree though hiring a full-time counselor is a good idea since the current private contractor we are using has a counselor director that is a Federally convicted criminal.

I’ll say it again, the retention bonus had nothing to do with retention, it had to do with an election and a mayor who has done almost absolutely nothing for 4 years for either the citizens or the city employees and is trying to play catchup 30 days before an election.