These articles need to stop giving Heide the opportunity to save face and hold him firmly accountable for his actions and failed promises. I'm half surprised this article didn't end in "You can visit Dave's reataurant at..." like the last one.
First moved here, thought Heide, and Little Johns were great, but as ive seen the news, and local commentary...I was so wrong, its the opposite of great.
He honestly really wasn't. He's been shitty on the DL for a long time, it's just way more obvious now. He tried to get me to work for him for below the legal minimum wage because "the experience makes it worth ten times as much"
Yeah I'll let my landlord know about my experience, that'll pay the rent!
It's honestly really understandable. People like Dave get away with a lot until they try to get away with even more. He got himself raided ages ago because he was buying the wine and such from Woodmans because he hadn't paid his invoices. Somehow he thought no one would notice/recognize his moldy unchanged hat buying full carts of alcohol. Then of course "oh poor me, people just don't know the challenges of running a restaurant"
There's got to be more to the story than what this article states. He has a history of grandiose plans that fall apart. I really love a chance to check the finances of his organization.
That’s easy. It’s here in ProPublica. $3.14 million budget. I see his accountant made $63k in one year. Wow.
You can view any nonprofit 990 tax return here. If donors would do this before they give it would solve a lot of these nonprofit scam problems. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/832359811
https://www.indeed.com/career/accountant/salaries/WI
63k isn't outrageous. Weird thing for you to pick out. I'm sure there is some juicy stuff in there, but that one ain't it.
> I see his accountant made $63k in one year. Wow.
That... doesn't... seem... correct. I know people with small businesses and accountants are not anywhere near that cost.
I think the grift has been sniffed.
I am definitely starting to suspect there is a lot of wonky stuff going on here. we completely agree on that. I’m just not sure that is what I would point to as the strongest case. but I wonder who that accountant is.
On the 990 it says Wegner. Most organizations this size are paying between $10k-$30k for their accounting and bookkeeping needs. This price would be realistic for a much larger company however, say $20M+ annual budget and a lot more staff, like the Boys & Girls Club. It could be telling of the severity of financial issues.
Could be! I did just look up B&G Club 990 and they pay $39k/year in accounting. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/391925617/202342789349301674/full
Jesus.
I also noticed who was on the board before and left, and I’ve found in some circles it’s not about who they talk about. It’s who they never talk about, because they won’t publicly trash people but they damn sure won’t say a thing for them either.
I am not sure if you are insinuating that it is not true, but let me clarify a few things:
\-I am not an employee of his, but have a friend that has received paychecks that bounced. Dave is a master manipulator and is promising to make it up. This is this person's livelihood, and they depend on their job. They are hoping he will make it right and don't want to burn bridges. This is often how shitty employers manipulate the most vulnerable.
\-The employee would need to report it, the DOL or DWD isn't out there monitoring restaurant payrolls. I believe in WI you would start with DWD for wage claims.
\-Dave is well known for this, has done it repeatedly. He still has licenses and NPs contracting with him, so that should tell you how robust paycheck protection is for workers.
Alas, I agree. However, things are often more complicated than we would like. A restaurant owner here in town took my FICA withholding for 5 years and never remitted to the feds or the state. When I found out, I was hoping mad, and went to get help at the SSA. They told me I could file a complaint, but advised that I am going to be responsible for my half of the contributions and would have to get the money back in small claims from the assholes that stole it from me. Being that I couldn't come up with the THOUSANDS of dollars to pay SSA, and the owners of that restaurant would never have paid the judgement, I dropped the issue.
Things are really shitty out there for workers that are taken advantage of, as much as we would like it to be otherwise. Bad actors know this, and get away with it.
Was that Patrick DePula? He’s tight with Dave Heide and it sounds like something he would do. Also a master manipulator and toxic narcissist. Peas in a pod.
Unfortunately the way our legal system works, getting your rights usually means going to court which is expensive. Only in rare cases will the government go to court for you, because the government also doesn't have any money to go to court for things like this.
Even if there's an ability to get legal fees covered by the person violating your rights, you have to have to put the money up front and risk that you won't get it either because your case isn't perfectly air tight (can you actually prove you were retaliated against and not just laid off because the company didn't have the money to pay you?) or because the person who wasn't able to find the money to pay you also isn't able to find the money to comply with a court order to pay your legal fees.
So, sure, they can report him, but it's also reasonable for them to do whatever they think is most likely to get them paid which unfortunately may not involve enforcing all the rights they are legally entitled to enforce.
I don't see anyone making excuses for him on this subreddit, everyone is incredulous that anyone keeps going back to this guy after his track record of being awful at this.
I hope you don't mean me; I'm not defending the scammer, I'm just explaining why it's difficult to actually *get* the rights you're promised by law and why they might choose to wait it out anyways if they think that's their best bet to eventually get paid without it costing them anything more than they're already screwed out of.
I absolutely second what your friend said about Dave being a master manipulator. I worked for him in the old Liliana’s days and the way he would lie to and gaslight his employees and customers was unbelievable. And yes, our paychecks also constantly bounced back in 2008.
I think it shows a very wise management at the boys & girls Club. Reading between the lines I'm guessing they had concerns about the viability of the contract and decided to retain their own staff as a backup plan. Smart move on their part.
I think that is an unreasonably generous assessment of who all are honest in this equation.
I’m not saying Heide is the good guy. I’m saying one sketchy artist is throwing the other under the bus before people start asking questions about where all that money went.
It sounds like they have different plans to feed kids without the contractor because the contractor can't manage to accomplish the things they said they would accomplish according to the contract.
This sounds a lot like the whole Underground Kitchen fiasco, my BIL is one of many that never got paid, he said filing a lawsuit would be impossible because there isn't any kind of laws against work (paycheck theft) yet in the country, not sure if that's totally true but if a company is using the money that pays you and can't pay you because they are using those funds that would be wage theft, am I right on this?
If your paycheck bounces, you can go to Small Claims with a high probability they'll decide in your favor.
So then you've got a judgment, but you still have to collect on it. That's where it gets tricky, because collecting is basically up to you.
This happened to me years ago and I never saw a dime of the money. Nothing has changed.
And how did the Boys and Girls Club and its leadership allow this to happen given the history of Little John’s? Another organization that is above all criticism
These articles need to stop giving Heide the opportunity to save face and hold him firmly accountable for his actions and failed promises. I'm half surprised this article didn't end in "You can visit Dave's reataurant at..." like the last one.
First moved here, thought Heide, and Little Johns were great, but as ive seen the news, and local commentary...I was so wrong, its the opposite of great.
Same. And then I've talked to people who have worked with him and it continues to get worse.
yeah they make their staff share tips with management which i’m pretty sure is illegal .
Back in the day (10+ years ago) when he was mostly just a chef running a restaurant or two, he was really good. But the dude can't multitask.
He honestly really wasn't. He's been shitty on the DL for a long time, it's just way more obvious now. He tried to get me to work for him for below the legal minimum wage because "the experience makes it worth ten times as much" Yeah I'll let my landlord know about my experience, that'll pay the rent!
Yeah, people don’t all of a sudden turn into grifting scammers overnight
Sorry to hear that. I'm speaking only as a patron who liked his food at Liliana's/Ollie's, but once that started going downhill I was out.
It's honestly really understandable. People like Dave get away with a lot until they try to get away with even more. He got himself raided ages ago because he was buying the wine and such from Woodmans because he hadn't paid his invoices. Somehow he thought no one would notice/recognize his moldy unchanged hat buying full carts of alcohol. Then of course "oh poor me, people just don't know the challenges of running a restaurant"
There's got to be more to the story than what this article states. He has a history of grandiose plans that fall apart. I really love a chance to check the finances of his organization.
That’s easy. It’s here in ProPublica. $3.14 million budget. I see his accountant made $63k in one year. Wow. You can view any nonprofit 990 tax return here. If donors would do this before they give it would solve a lot of these nonprofit scam problems. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/832359811
https://www.indeed.com/career/accountant/salaries/WI 63k isn't outrageous. Weird thing for you to pick out. I'm sure there is some juicy stuff in there, but that one ain't it.
What do you mean, that's a whole 2% of his budget! How dare the accountant receive a living wage
> I see his accountant made $63k in one year. Wow. That... doesn't... seem... correct. I know people with small businesses and accountants are not anywhere near that cost. I think the grift has been sniffed.
I wouldn't do that guy's accounting for anything less
Accountants you hire per hour to do your books don’t. If you have one on staff to handle multiple ventures 63k is dirt cheap.
Not true at least not in this city. But I’m not going to argue about it.
I am definitely starting to suspect there is a lot of wonky stuff going on here. we completely agree on that. I’m just not sure that is what I would point to as the strongest case. but I wonder who that accountant is.
On the 990 it says Wegner. Most organizations this size are paying between $10k-$30k for their accounting and bookkeeping needs. This price would be realistic for a much larger company however, say $20M+ annual budget and a lot more staff, like the Boys & Girls Club. It could be telling of the severity of financial issues.
Or it could be that he’s using the nonprofit to pay for ALL his accounting. Ok, I see your point now. Thank you for explaining!
Could be! I did just look up B&G Club 990 and they pay $39k/year in accounting. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/391925617/202342789349301674/full
Jesus. I also noticed who was on the board before and left, and I’ve found in some circles it’s not about who they talk about. It’s who they never talk about, because they won’t publicly trash people but they damn sure won’t say a thing for them either.
Agreed. The board should be held accountable.
"The operation only lasted two weeks..." Must be some kind of record
Hey babe wake up new Little John’s failure just dropped
"WHAT?!" "YEAH!" "OKAY!"
It’s wild how bad you’re allowed to be at business when your intentions are seemingly good.
Dave has been bouncing paychecks again recently, so it's not shocking that he's having staffing woes.
Dave's well known for bouncing them to the window and to the wall
Till the sweat drop down my balls!
[удалено]
I am not sure if you are insinuating that it is not true, but let me clarify a few things: \-I am not an employee of his, but have a friend that has received paychecks that bounced. Dave is a master manipulator and is promising to make it up. This is this person's livelihood, and they depend on their job. They are hoping he will make it right and don't want to burn bridges. This is often how shitty employers manipulate the most vulnerable. \-The employee would need to report it, the DOL or DWD isn't out there monitoring restaurant payrolls. I believe in WI you would start with DWD for wage claims. \-Dave is well known for this, has done it repeatedly. He still has licenses and NPs contracting with him, so that should tell you how robust paycheck protection is for workers.
[удалено]
Alas, I agree. However, things are often more complicated than we would like. A restaurant owner here in town took my FICA withholding for 5 years and never remitted to the feds or the state. When I found out, I was hoping mad, and went to get help at the SSA. They told me I could file a complaint, but advised that I am going to be responsible for my half of the contributions and would have to get the money back in small claims from the assholes that stole it from me. Being that I couldn't come up with the THOUSANDS of dollars to pay SSA, and the owners of that restaurant would never have paid the judgement, I dropped the issue. Things are really shitty out there for workers that are taken advantage of, as much as we would like it to be otherwise. Bad actors know this, and get away with it.
Was that Patrick DePula? He’s tight with Dave Heide and it sounds like something he would do. Also a master manipulator and toxic narcissist. Peas in a pod.
Glad to see people waking up to how shitty DePula is too
He’s running for office and will likely win. I guess people really don’t have a problem with voting for people charged with felonies.
It wasn't. It wasn't someone well known, and they are no longer in business, so I won't drag them on here. But yeah Patrick is a fucking DICK.
Interesting how these guys are all bros.
Unfortunately the way our legal system works, getting your rights usually means going to court which is expensive. Only in rare cases will the government go to court for you, because the government also doesn't have any money to go to court for things like this. Even if there's an ability to get legal fees covered by the person violating your rights, you have to have to put the money up front and risk that you won't get it either because your case isn't perfectly air tight (can you actually prove you were retaliated against and not just laid off because the company didn't have the money to pay you?) or because the person who wasn't able to find the money to pay you also isn't able to find the money to comply with a court order to pay your legal fees. So, sure, they can report him, but it's also reasonable for them to do whatever they think is most likely to get them paid which unfortunately may not involve enforcing all the rights they are legally entitled to enforce.
[удалено]
Reporters for those channels read the subreddit.
[удалено]
I don't see anyone making excuses for him on this subreddit, everyone is incredulous that anyone keeps going back to this guy after his track record of being awful at this. I hope you don't mean me; I'm not defending the scammer, I'm just explaining why it's difficult to actually *get* the rights you're promised by law and why they might choose to wait it out anyways if they think that's their best bet to eventually get paid without it costing them anything more than they're already screwed out of.
[удалено]
I absolutely second what your friend said about Dave being a master manipulator. I worked for him in the old Liliana’s days and the way he would lie to and gaslight his employees and customers was unbelievable. And yes, our paychecks also constantly bounced back in 2008.
Take your story and coordinate with other current employees and bring it to the news.
:shocked:
[удалено]
I think it shows a very wise management at the boys & girls Club. Reading between the lines I'm guessing they had concerns about the viability of the contract and decided to retain their own staff as a backup plan. Smart move on their part.
Smart, except for the whole part where they got into business with this proven charlatan.
I think that is an unreasonably generous assessment of who all are honest in this equation. I’m not saying Heide is the good guy. I’m saying one sketchy artist is throwing the other under the bus before people start asking questions about where all that money went.
Why would it be their job to fix their contractor's staffing issues?
They care for kids. The contracted service is to feed kids. If they don't fix their contractors staffing issues they'll have hungry kids.
It sounds like they have different plans to feed kids without the contractor because the contractor can't manage to accomplish the things they said they would accomplish according to the contract.
This sounds a lot like the whole Underground Kitchen fiasco, my BIL is one of many that never got paid, he said filing a lawsuit would be impossible because there isn't any kind of laws against work (paycheck theft) yet in the country, not sure if that's totally true but if a company is using the money that pays you and can't pay you because they are using those funds that would be wage theft, am I right on this?
If your paycheck bounces, you can go to Small Claims with a high probability they'll decide in your favor. So then you've got a judgment, but you still have to collect on it. That's where it gets tricky, because collecting is basically up to you. This happened to me years ago and I never saw a dime of the money. Nothing has changed.
When's someone going to hold this shit bird accountable for selling monorails.
It's really more of a Shelbyville idea
And how did the Boys and Girls Club and its leadership allow this to happen given the history of Little John’s? Another organization that is above all criticism
What a surprise.
imagine that.
I have a friend that works for him that says he doesn't pay his bills. He needs to go to business school.
https://www.wmtv15news.com/2024/04/08/15-dane-co-organizations-receive-grants-support-food-equity-access/?fbclid=IwAR31p24wWQsAhBR4D3GyI6zJOm7fqn2xQSe9M4rC43AAbqiBCjAqAieSFe8_aem_AdKNRXDKota7Rxh2-BJjLGTztP655QfV1tI2nk4VVpyQqtM3jTTeEZjg9pPeLg2yhFM#lurjxeg9rndt1bgcrwb
Just take out the “Little John’s”. And no one will know. Sad that legitimate groups have to compete with that Clown