Poppi Pays

By: Mr. Wilson on June 6, 2012
The Journal Star called out two local restaurants on Monday for failing to pay the arena tax. The scofflaws are BBQ4U and Taqueria El Rey. Insert angry scowl here. Before you grab your pitchforks, though, there's an important note to be made. BBQ4U is closed. A new restaurant, Poppi's BBQ, has taken over the location (and phone number), but Poppi's pays its taxes. As Nancy Hicks reported today Poppi's has nothing to do with the BBQ4U debt. As for Taqueria El Rey, the Journal Star wasn't able to dig up any additional information because "no English-speaking manager could be reached". Translation: the LJS couldn't be bothered to find a translator. Think about that. In this city of over a quarter-million people, the Journal Star couldn't dig up one person capable of helping them communicate with the Spanish speakers at Taqueria El Rey. That's some fantastic journalism right there. So all in all, in the entire City we've got one up-and-running tax dodger. That's not so bad. Hopefully they come clean soon. It'd be a shame if they had to be shut down for non-compliance.

Tow Matters

By: Mr. Wilson on June 5, 2012
Capital Towing gets another four years as the City's car tower of choice. I don't really care one way or the other. I'm not a regular victim of towing and I have no idea how good (or bad) any of the alternatives might be. The thing that gets me, though, is how controversial and political a towing contract can be. It's one of those features of local government that has always confused me. A while back I ranted about how the politicization of local fire departments baffles me; this is the same sort of thing. We're talking about towing cars to a lot, then accepting payment for the release of said cars. It's really not a difficult thing to do, and it shouldn't be something that generates much controversy. Councilman Adam Hornung voted against the contract because he says he receives oodles of complaints about Capital Towing. Meanwhile, the City's Purchasing Department says it has zero complaints on file. There are a couple pretty simple explanations for that. First, it's one thing to bitch and moan informally -- an action that permits certain exaggerations in the tale -- but it's another thing altogether to file a formal complaint. Mr. Hornung himself is a perfect example. He claims that Capital Towing "did an unbelievably horrible job" when they towed his car. Yet you'll note that his complaint was never filed, nor were those of his constituents. He has contributed to the problem. Second, who would ever think to submit their complaint to the Purchasing Department of all places? Surely one of the reasons they've never received a complaint is nobody knows they're the ones to complain to. That problem is solved easily enough. Now you know: if you have a complaint about Capital Towing's actions related to a tow that falls under their contract with the City, contact the Purchasing Department. They're at 440 South 8th Street, Suite 200. You can call them at 402-441-7417, or send them an email. You can't affect the current contract, but you can affect the contract four years from now.
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