MASON CITY – On a sacred day in American history, a day where elected leaders proclaimed flags must fly at half-staff to honor the victims of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the local newspaper and city hall in Mason City mostly failed to live up to this level of respect.
As Mayor Eric Bookmeyer and City Administrator Brent Trout sat comfortably in thier remodeled offices Thursday afternoon, the American flag flew at full-staff across the street at the Vietnam War Memorial in Central Park.
NIT entered city hall after 1 PM and questioned Bookmeyer about the flag, and he only stared back, wide-eyed. He did not indicate that the flag would be lowered.
Minutes earlier, NIT fielded a call from a downtown business owner who alerted our newsroom that the Globe Gazette was flying its flag at full-staff, as well.
“We went inside awhile ago to tell them that this is disrespectful, and they turned their back,” the man on the phone told NIT.
Outside the Globe, at about 1:25 PM, a group of men working across the street from the Globe Gazette confirmed that the flag was flying at full-staff “until 1:22 PM. That’s when they came out to lower it.” The flag had been lowered, hastily, they said.
Across town, flags had been lowered. Many businesses had taken the time to be respectful and honor Governor Terry Branstad’s decree that “all flags in the state to be flown at half-staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, September 11, 2014, to honor those who perished in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”
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Let’s us use pat mortz award for his
Janitor FALURE DUTIES TO BLAME FOR FLAG
Trout you being a veteran you of all people should be ashamed of yourself. You must really love your drunken boss (boozemeyer) to not care about the US FLAG. I know BOOZEMEYER is a communist pig but you really surprise me.
I realize you were probably born in the late 40’s or early 50’s, and you grew up under the propaganda fed to you about “Communists”, but if you want to get literal, (while still being metaphorical) the term ‘pig’ has traditionally been denoted to Capitalists who are seen as greedy, lavishing pigs who consume and gather up all the resources for themselves (which is actually quite unfair to the swine animal who has been forced into deplorable living conditions by exploitative man)
You really are a troll aren’t you?
Troll? 99% of my comments I make under my own volition. Occasionally when a splatch of ignorance catches my eye, I drop in to comment and hopefully correct-enlighten. Pigs are thought to be those who eat up everything for themselves. The true embodiment of Communism is to share equally with others…a very Christian sentiment and practice. I think this old fat guy has it wrong, and I wanted to tell him so.
Occasionally?
Yes, it’s one of the benefits of us precocious, autistic, genius types: we entertain ourselves in our own worlds irregardless of outside influence. It’s usually some bully that crashes into our world, with their unreasonable and often ignorant demands. It’s one of the reasons I’m against socialized education and feel school should be optional or revised. Pay attention #maybe…someday you just might get it right. 🙂
So you now claim to be autistic?
@Captain-I don’t know about autistic, but he sure is off in his own little world.
I claim to be human, and Buddhist. Autism and Aspergerger Syndrome are labels given by some (pompously) to people not easily understood. Unfortunately this money-dominate society has inflicted lesser (values < $ ) criteria on humans qualifying the non-compliant as 'dysfunctional'. Mental health should NOT be based on the procurement of wealth- which functions to pad and insulate some from the harshness of want, need, and slavitude (slavery+servitude) to others…but it has.
LVS is starting to realize that I do in fact have solutions to historical conundrums plaguing the quintessential foundries of our free-market system; that trickle down method of feudalism doesn’t work, and that the way to end welfare is to distribute land evenly; provide for the common education/defense,and encourage local commercial interaction.The only way to truly route out laziness and ineptitude is to watch as a man flounders/sleeps on his acre of land or produces and thrives.
Anyone in the working world knows that jobs are assigned to different people within an organization. The CEO deligates work to those under him. This flag flying duty was or is now assigned to someone. That person is responsible for neglecting his or her duties. I grant you that from now on this flag will be flown. Someone’s job is in question.
Number 1) They are too stupid to even know that was protocol
today in the USA !!!!
Number 2) They could careless that something like this happened in America
Number 3) AAAH Forgot?
Number 4) Bookmeyer was pickin zits on his face on this tragic day in history and then proceeded with alcohol on that day, it meant ZERO to him. GROUND ZERO!
Bookmeyer has his mitts into EVERYTHING in this city now. He is moving houses, meddling in the airport, shutting down commissions, getting sued, bullying people, essentially. Some say that an organism that spreads like this is a virus or maybe a parasite. I think I heard that on Bobby’s radio program. Anyway, anyone as omniscient as this should have noticed the flag was all the way up and taken care of business. He chose not to, and that shows where his priorities are.
I comment about this every time the Governor decrees the flags to half staff when an Iowa soldier is buried. I have talked to people at the VFW and have told them that I would take care of lowering the flag when needed, to no avail. I called the VFW today and asked why the flag was not lowered, whoever I talked to couldn’t answer the question. The flag pole is locked, and the VFW has the key, the city has nothing to do with it. It’s a shame the VFW cannot or will not honor our veterans…:(
Just curious, was the flag at city hall displayed properly?
Yes
Maybe this is because the City janitor position was eliminated by the city council. So they have nobody on staff to observe the obvious.
He couldn’t observe the obvious either, he was asleep in the basement…
Maybe it is time to drop my subscription with the GLOB. I have thought about it several times, but have kept it because of the obits (a lot of people I know or knew have been dying) that is what happens when you get old. But with the poor service and lack of real news and now this I am not sure it is worth it. I was waiting for them to raise the price due to the new old press and I was dropping them anyway. Everyone else I know has.
We dropped our Globe subscription because there is nothing in it that interests us anymore not to mention our carrier is apparently moving. Hard telling what type of person the Globe will hire now. The carrier before the one we have now was a drug dealer. He got sent to prison. Its sad to see our current carrier go but understandable.
LVS they have to pay for that $2 million press somehow and they will ask you and all the other subscribers (dwindling by the day) to fork it over… meanwhile they got Skipper the Bully of North Washington out there covering for Eric and his Brownshirts who skyrocketed our taxes and make each other richer by the day. It’s a pitiful, ugly situation, and no one in their right frame of mind should ever buy a Globe Gazette except the 18% who voted for these thugs last fall.
Matt, the flags halyard in the park is locked the
veterans they control the keys, talk to them.
No, Trout and Bookmeyer should have put down their non-Blue Zone pastries and coffee and made that call. It makes the city look bad to have the flag flying full-staff in a city park on 9-11. They evidently did not care. Do not spilt hairs here and divert from the appearance that the flag made today in a city park, you are being disrespectful to veterans and victims.
Its no surprise that Bookmeyer is the way he is, but us veterans served in the Armed Forces for him to act that way, in our country, these assholes are that way because we served for people like him to have a choice of being an asshole, or a well respected citizen. he should thank us veterans for what we done. He is so sad of a man that I ever have known. For him to disrespect the veterans, and all the people that lost their lives in 9-11 is simply not acceptable I kinda feel sorry for this man
Now is this really a surprise… Bookmeyer is above it all and it means nothing to him… A mean, entitled, kept man-with no scruples… just another day in Mason City..
Branstad’s e-mail says. Flags will be flown at half-staff on the state Capitol building and on flag displays in the Capitol complex, and upon all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other goverment subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect. Key word encouraged not required, get the facts right!
Semantics… Encouraged on a day like this– ought to be honored as the right thing to do. Bookmeyer wouldn’t know the right thing to do if it bit him in the arse..
What an angry individual you are.
“All public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state” … thanks for the quote proving the disrespect and negligence by Trout and Bookmeyer in ignoring the flag across the street from their office in a public park. City hall had the flag down halfway, yes, but neglected the flag honoring vets in Central Park, just a stone’s throw away.
Plus the 2 little words they forgot about, “WILL BE”.
Right again. There is a Bookmeyer apologist amongst us, and now he has stuck his foot in his mouth so far he can taste his kneecaps. Good catch Maybe.
The public grounds, buildings and facilities they are referring to are “state” owned. Municipalities are simply “encouraged”.
Haha. Angry man is back, splitting hairs!
You are encouraged not to act like an asshole and stand during the national anthem too but it’s not illegal. It just makes you look like a jerk if you don’t do it.
Why is the National Anthem not recited at MC council meetings? They do it in Sheffield.
Speaking of today’s history holy crap Bruce Braly running for Iowa senate wants the Guantanamo prisoners moved near the Iowa border. Who is in favor of that?
This isn’t today’s news, it’s an attempt by the Joni team to try to juxtapose getting a failed prison project back on track and creating Iowa jobs with some older news that has already been discarded in congress.
It’s simply not going to happen.
You are missing the point that Bruce Braley thinks that is a good idea! Why trust his judgement in other matters? Besides I think Iowa should elect a woman for a change.
The flags over the Veteran’s Memorial located in Central Park are controlled by a veteran’s association out of the VFW, not City Hall. BTW, that is not just a Viet Nam memorial, as my father fought in WW II for the liberation of the Phillipines and his name is on this memorial. In deed,it is for all veteran’s including those who served in peace times.
The memorial is in Central Park. The city looks bad not making sure the flags were flying properly in that city park.
I shouldn’t think a veteran’s association should have to be “reminded”.
Angry man wants to blame the vet’s. Sounds about right from a Bookmeyer apologist. Angry man, tell Eric and Brent you tried to cover for them but in the end, you began to sound like a jackass and had to slink away under a rock.
Eric Bookmeyer has no respect for anyone, except Trout and whoever is mixing his drinks at his favorite drinking establishments. Maybe someone should let Branstad know that Bookie didn’t care enough about lowering the flags, and show our governor what a fake he is.