Lack of leadership in city hall reason for blight in Mason City

Op-ed by Matt Marquardt –

The finger-pointing is now rampant here in Mason City. One of our largest landlords takes the blame in certain circles for much of the blight and the run-down appearance you see about town.

Russ Hardy isn’t the only landlord in town, however. There are others with beat-up dwellings whose reputations are starting to take some hits, depending on who you talk to.

I took a tour of a Dodge rental once, and the tenant showed me just how nasty the place was. Are all Dodge rentals hell holes? No. Just as all Hardy rentals also are not. Mr. Dodge seems to be more adept – or at least has taken a different path than Mr. Hardy – at navigating the political waters in Mason City to keep his rental empire sailing along. When Mr. Dodge was introduced to trouble with human rights complaints at city hall, he ran to the feds in Kansas City. When that didn’t pay enough dividends, he found himself an ally in Eric Bookmeyer and got himself appointed to the human rights commission – his nemesis – and together, along with the likes of Mark “we got him now” Stanton, Kaplan College‘s Julie Valencia and others, turned that agency into a punchline.

Corrupt from within, it seemed, was the play there.  Mr. Dodge will never face scrutiny from the Mason City Human Rights Commission again – especially as long as he serves on it. A convenient outcome for a big landlord, some say, and a deft political move to protect his business.

Russ Hardy didn’t get himself appointed to anything in Mason City; up until recently, he lived outside city limits. He has played the game differently.  There’s been some tough talk from city hall at times regarding Mr. Hardy’s properties and the condition they are kept in.  But in the end, he negotiated terms of upkeep and repair for the sore points and has met their deadlines.  City hall made demands, and he met them.

These brief profiles of two large Mason City landlords and their tactics to do business here highlight the lack of leadership in city hall – and their basic methodology at navigating tough situations.

Eric Bookmeyer and his council, when things don’t go the way they want them to, threaten and attempt to destroy what is in their path.  That is proven and well-known now, especially after their massive settlement with Lionel Foster.  I, too, know this from personal experience.  Mr. Bookmeyer and at least one city council woman tried very hard to destroy my business through dirty dealings.  They failed miserably, but the attempt was made.  That episode is still playing out, and a surprising outcome may be in store.  They were successful, however, in defeating the human rights agency that served our community for decades.  It had given a voice to the socially and politically unconnected masses in town.  Bookmeyer and his hand-picked stooges choked the life out of it.

They also leveled (hollow) threats at Mr. Hardy.

“Do this or else,” was the hot air we heard last year.  Trumped-up deadlines were broadcast; March 1, I believe, for the commercial properties on North Federal.  That date came and went, and in the end, they were forced to negotiate rather weak terms (again, behind the scenes), and Mr. Hardy has come out unscathed.

This negotiation could have taken place without the threats in the first place.  Just as a solution with Mr. Foster could have been found without the threats and, maybe, without the lawsuit.

Bookmeyer and his cronies lack that touch, however.  He has proven, he really can only negotiate if a bar stool, drinks and a pile of napkins are involved.  Otherwise, he will attempt to crush you.

The mayor does business like a child.  That’s not leadership.  That’s a cancer in city hall, plain and simple, and the people have paid for it with complaints, settlements, no progress in the neighborhoods and never-ending downtown boondoggles that cost millions.