MASON CITY – Less than two days after a historic vote by the Mason City council which ended the prospects of his hog slaughterhouse getting built in town, Dr. Ron Prestage blamed “thinly-veiled racism” and “kooks” for the development’s demise.
In an exclusive interview with Brownfield, Ron Prestage of Prestage Farms discussed
the next moves for Prestage Foods after its defeat at the hands of three Mason City council members. Early Wednesday morning, the Mason City council voted 3-3 on a development agreement with Prestage to build a $240 million plant. The tie vote means the development agreement could not proceed.
Dr. Prestage gave Brownfield his reaction to the vote by the Mason City City Council that rejected the development agreement. He also spoke about the issues that opponents of the plant used in their campaign against it.
In the radio interview, Dr. Prestage blamed “mis-information” and “thinly-veiled racism” and “kooks” for the development’s demise.
He said “racism is alive and well in Mason City and Northern Iowa”. He also said he and his company are already looking for new locations in Iowa that could be home to the proposed plant Prestage Foods wants to build. This next time, he said, he and his team would be better prepared for the “kooks” who opposed the development in Mason City.
Passions ran high on both sides of the debate as the city council pondered how this hog plant might impact the community. In the end, three city council members could not bring themselves to vote “yes” on the development. The fallout from the vote is only just beginning.
Listen to the interview, here.