The working poor and the $2 million dollar impact of the Events Center

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While our city ‘Leaders’ and supposed ‘Progressives‘ talk about increasing regressive taxes in Sioux Falls to build a $169 million dollar playground, WORKING people can’t even afford to feed their families;

South Dakota’s working poor slipping into food insecurity is a phenomenon emergency food agency heads already have recognized.

“We are seeing more people coming in where one or both parents have a job,” says Tamera Jerke-Liesinger, executive director of The Banquet. The Banquet fed notably more people in 2009 than previously.

The Feeding America report suggests 36 percent of households requiring emergency food aid have at least one employed adult. But 74 percent of those families have incomes below the federal poverty level. About one-third of those families reported having to choose between buying food or paying for utilities or housing, and 25 percent had to choose between buying food or medicine or food or transportation.

“Until the early 1980s, food stamps provided most of people’s food needs. But during the 1980s, so much of that public safety net kind of unraveled,” says Hugh Grogan, Minnehaha County human services director.

“It used to be there was almost no way you would not qualify for food stamps if you were poor,” Grogan says. “Now there are lots of ways.”

Also, food stamps don’t go as far as they used to, according to Davidson. “With bigger families, food stamps just aren’t enough,” she says.

Gassen said the numbers in the Feeding America report on the working poor “told a unique story about South Dakota. People are reaching out for hope. They’re not doing nothing, trying to get free food.”

I started thinking about this the other day. Like I mentioned previously, taking $50 million out of the economy by giving it to the city in the form of new taxes actually takes money away from local businesses, which is very BAD for the economy. The irony of all this is that the Events Center Task Force has said that the EC would have a $52 million dollar impact on the city each year. So if you subtract those numbers, it seems building the EC would have only a $2 million dollar impact each year. Whoo-Hoo! What are we waiting for, we are losing money!!!!!! Let’s get it built!

All Snark Aside…

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The situation in Haiti is only going to get worse as time goes on. Respiratory illness and infection will kill more people in the coming weeks than the earthquake did.

Take a second away from drinking your morning starbucks & bottled water while reading this stupid blog on your fancy computer which runs on the electricity you take for granted, whip your phone out and text ‘HAITI’ to 90999. This will tack a much needed $10 onto your next wireless bill as a donation to the Red Cross.  You might have to share a meal next time you eat out at the Texas Roadhouse instead of getting your own texas toothpicks. But it will taste better, trust me.

That is all. Thank you.

Once again the Gargoyle Leader proves they don’t know how to review restaurants

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It’s not like my blog was the only one in the state railing on Sioux Falls’ newest hot dog stand. Several blogs have complained, not only about it’s service and food, but about the concept all together. So now it is the Gargoyle Leader’s turn up to bat and they give the place 3 stars out of 4. At first you may be a little stunned, until you see who wrote the review, Dorene ‘Gooey’ Weinstein. This line alone says it all about her food review skills;

Crown your wiener with a choice of 24 hot and cold toppings available at 50 cents each.

Sorry, Dorene, I stopped Crowning Wieners as soon as I got out of prison.

My hot dog was tepid rather than hot.

Nothing like a lukewarm weiner

The roll was fresh and chewy

Yah just couldn’t get thru one food review without using that word, could you Dorene?

and the chili flavorful but not spicy, just how I like it.

What is up Gargoyle food reviewers and their love of bland spiceless food? I have often said, the thing I like the most about Parker’s restaurant is that the chef is not afraid to use some spices, but the Gargoyle railed on them about it a few weeks ago. I went in there for lunch a couple of days later and told my waitress my water was too spicy and to send it back, the cooks heard me and got a good laugh.

It’s time the Gargoyle got a food reviewer that likes to eat different food and understands good service.

UPDATE; South Dacola Restaurant Review w/ Angry Guy

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I just couldn’t resist to bring this back to the front of the line, there has been some new comments that make me laugh balls;

This has nothing to do with the review, I just liked the image

I made the snap decision to have lunch at Senor Wiener earlier this week. I would have written my review earlier, but the chili dog I had left me with a case of the lingering trots.

Let’s start with the obvious. Penis jokes are funny for about the first 2 minutes you are there, and then it becomes apparent that this tired entendre is all that this place has going for it. I will admit that the service was prompt and enthusiastic, but only 6 seats were filled with butts when we walked in, so no shocker there.  I should also note that I had to wipe my table off before we sat down, since it still hadn’t been cleaned since the last pseudo rush they had experienced. Lazy.

Not wanting to task the Wiener Staffers too greatly, I ordered the beef chili cheese dog on a wheat bun. The dog itself was MAYBE 10 degrees above room temp, despite sitting in the warming tray for god knows how long. The bun had been sitting around long enough to take on a strange rubber-like quality that resisted the flimsy plastic utensils. The paper sheet on the bottom of the basket, once soaked with the copious amounts of Hormel-esque chili and ‘Not-So-Nacho’ cheese, conveniently shredded into small bite size fragments to supplement my fiber intake for the day. The Waffle fries had also taken on the same ‘warming tray qualities’ as the wheat bun. Not a huge surprise, but would it kill them to make the fries to order once the lunch rush has died down? Seriously.

Here are a few pointers that will help keep your doors open an extra few months while you look for jobs next year:

  1. If your food isn’t at the required temperature, you’re going to FAIL FAIL FAIL! Get it right!
  2. Make your own chili. It might cost a little more, but a decent chili dog might up your street ‘cred’.  You need all the help you can get.
  3. Get a better Nacho cheese. Your SISCO brand cheese sauce is disgusting.
  4. Lose the paper liner in your baskets. Seriously gross.
  5. Don’t use the word “Chicago” ANYWHERE on your menu. Too many people have had a real one, which yours ain’t. (so I’ve heard)
  6. Cook your fries to order after the rush, and toss your old ones more frequently. Nobody minds waiting 3 minutes for hot fries, especially if they are going to slather them with your second-rate chili.
  7. Wipe your tables down! I shouldn’t have to do it myself. BIG F on that one.
  8. Store your bread products in a manner that makes them more edible than bouncy.
  9. Get a real garbage can, and then change it when it needs to be. Your tiny Wal-Mart kitchen can is weak and is a sign of how much time and effort you put into this inevitably failed venture.
  10. Before you think about opening a second location over by the new Target, maybe you should get this one right first.

I’m going to end this with a prediction. Senor Wiener won’t be in business for another year. If it is we’ll have a South Dacola New Year’s Sausage Fest 2010 there, my treat.