MASON CITY – During its regular meeting in January of this year, the Mason City Human Rights Commission declared that the city’s web page dedicated to Human Rights would be wiped clean and that brochures with Human Rights information would be placed in City Hall and in the community.
As part of an on-going investigation into the Mason City Human Rights agency and its actions, NIT has discovered that in the months that followed that meeting, no brochures were ever placed anywhere in the community, nor in City Hall and that no attempt to update the city’s website has been made since it was erased months ago.
It should also be noted that at the January meeting, the commission voted to ask the city council for only $10,000 in funding, after the council itself had previously approved a budget of $15,000 for Human Rights.
There is a brochure rack inside the main lobby at City Hall, as well as a large desk with several stacks of reading materials. Neither have anything related to Human Rights, but some of it features materials on the North Iowa Corridor, home to some businesses who have been said to be anti-Human Rights agency because of complaints filed there by employees. Many of Mason City’s top business leaders and landlords have lobbied for decades to shut down the Human Rights agency in order to halt or make difficult the process for citizens to file complaints against them. Many in the community are convinced that Mayor Eric Bookmeyer spearheaded this behind-the scenes dismantling, as a condition from business owners and landlords for political and thousands of dollars in financial support which helped him win two elections. It is clear to some in the community that City Hall, through the mayor’s office, a willing city council, and appointments to the Human Rights commission through the mayor and council, that the underlying idea is to make it extremely difficult or nearly impossible for a citizen without means to file a Human Rights complaint or even find information on the agency. Some say by removing a direct phone number, closing offices, placing no brochures, completing little or no community outreach , and doing zero intake of new cases, that ample proof now exists that a conspiracy is in place that likely began in 2009 when Eric Bookmeyer began his first mayoral campaign.
Several current and former Human Rights commissioners and at least one city council member work for businesses that financially support the North Iowa Corridor, where Bookmeyer is a board member.
For example, Ann Harty joined the commission this year. She sells insurance for First Insurance, a paying Corridor member. Commisioner Mark C. Stanton owns Boxes Unlimited. (He is being sued, personally, by former Human Rights Director Lionel Foster. He allegedly proclaimed “we got him” and other crude remarks at a Mason City bar after his very first Human Rights Commission meeting, in reference to Foster. It was said that he was drinking heavily that night.) Armour-Eckrich Meats employed a commissioner, Jackie Huesman. Henkel Construction Co. employs Democratic councilman Alex Kuhn who, along with 5 other council members, voted to drastically cut the Human Rights budget, which effectively shut down most operations of the agency.
There could be other examples, but information is scarce since the city’s web page dedicated to the Human Rights agency is all but blank. NIT is attempting to uncover the names of all current and former (in recent past) commissioners. When reached today, Administrative Assistant to the Human Rights agency Diana Black referred our questions to commissioner Steve Palmer, who recently declared there is no legal basis for the Human Rights commission to exist. In nearly 7 months, the Human Rights commission has shown no prerogative to place any useful information on its website besides a generic phone number that produces a recorded voice and general City Hall menu.
It should also be noted that the commission voted at that January meeting to request a budget from city hall of only $10,000, even though the City Council had previously approved $15,000 in funding.
Stay tuned for more shocking facts NIT has uncovered about the alleged conspiracy to dismantle Human Rights in Mason City.
Bookmeyer & city council did what the taxpayers wanted – eliminate paying twice, at the state level & city level. No “conspiracy” in play or anything “diabolical” about it.
Good luck with your “investigation” but I doubt you will find anything nefarious to report.
@4ever49-still sticking up for the mayor even though you know it was nothing but a vendetta against Foster. Get real. You back the establishment no matter what they do. It is to be expected of you. Keep drinking the Kool Aid.
Vendetta against Foster? What is your proof?
All the city did was to down size its HRC comparable with similar sized cities in Iowa. Show where the majority of MC voters are upset about this outcome.
@4ever-where is your proof it isn’t true. Your mayor got drunk (again) at the country club and told all the world that wanted top listen that he was going to get Foster’s job. If you were to read instead of making up bull crap you would already know that.
Make sure you brush thoroughly after smooching Eric’s behind.
I don’t get it. Why are you folks so down on the revamping of the Civil Rights Commission? It was a duplication of services offered by the State at no charge. Seems like a no brainer to me. This begs the bigger question of why it took so long. You guys really need to think about the facts of an issue instead of opposing it just because the Mayor and Council are for it. And stop being Mr. Marquardt’s sycophants instead of doing a little independent thinking of your own.
Clearly you are clueless on this issue. It is way beyond your comments. I hate to go negative, but in this case this is exactly as most bloggers and Matt have explained. This is just the most obvious on our Government leaders agenda. Just stay tuned for more outrageous and egregious antics..
@Grizz-you really don’t have clue do you. This was nothing more than a power play and a vendetta by our mayor and his henchmen to get rid of and control the one agency that kept them honest. You should really learn the facts before spouting off. What Matt and the rest of us say is the truth. You are just drinking the mayors Kool Aid.
@Grizz: A duplication of services is a stretch here. Really, the service has been disconnected. Sure, it may be in Des Moines. However, reaching that service is not easy for some people, especially, I would argue, the “easy targets” of discrimination. These would be poor people, single moms who are very busy with jobs and children, people without internet access, people who are inching by and don’t have the time or energy to call and deal with people in Des Moines. As I wrote, the unwritten goal it seems with Bookmeyer and his cronies is to make it difficult or impossible to file complaints (see my list of their methods and strategies), to slowly strangle the life out of the local agency, and let people like yourself (sycophants, perhaps people benefiting because they cannot be caught now) argue that the complainants are “too lazy” or “didn’t follow through” with their complaints, so there must not be any substance to them. Soon they will proclaim “Look, no Human Rights complaints from Mason City! There is no more discrimination here!” Meanwhile, there is no intake of cases, and people have forgotten that a “service” even exists, no matter where it is located. You can’t catch a roach if you don’t set out a roach trap.
Of course they didn’t update. Why would anyone think they would. They have no one to do it and they do not care anyway. They much prefer that no ever files a complaint and they intend to make it as difficult as possible to do it.