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.
Why isn’t anyone commenting on what I have to say instead of bickering do your research and tell me I’m wrong about everything I said. I dare the people that are in favor and against the hog plant.
to prove what I’m saying is wrong or right for that matter.
As far as racism I have to laugh at all of you trying to be politically correct. Your all stuck on one race which happens to be hysterical.
Which leads me to believe your all to lazy or inept to do some research. One, refugees are not Mexicans they come in all shapes and colors . So read my stuff do your research and let me know what you think . Make me proud I live in one of the least racist towns in Iowa because even though you don’t know it I do.
I’ve been to at least 80 percent of the biggest cities in Iowa
I love my town they way it is thank you.
That asshole called everyone in Mason City and North Iowa a rasist and we are all kooks. This makes my blood boil. I hope it does the same to you. He is dead wrong. We know what the Pigman was trying to do. Rush this deal through with out having a economic or environmental study done because if one was done we would find out how distructive it is. The people of Mason City and North Iowa have spoken and said No! Make sure you call Bill Shickel tomorrow at 512-4502 and remind him
When in doubt, yell racism. I’m a former Iowan who’s lived in the desert SW many years, and I can tell you that Hispanics don’t like “Mexicans” (especially illegal immigrants). Get over your White Guilt and do what’s right for your community – NOT your goddamned wallet. Not everyone wants to smell “pig in the air” 24/7.
This plant will have minimal smell. CAFO’s, which is an entirely different argument, do have a big problem with smells. We need to give the power back to the local jurisdictions to control these.
What really get’s me is that most people thought the workforce prestage was going to have was Mexican. Unfortunately the workforce was going to be made up of refuges from around the world. The reason for this is that president Obama has sent more Mexicans packing out of the pork slaughter plants than any other president . He has been working on this behind the scenes for the past 3 years and hardly anyone knows this. Now the important part is the plant not only would have had incentives from the citizens of
mason city but also from the rest of the united states. The plant would have brought in the refugees instead of Mexican people because the plant probably would have to only paid a percentage of their wages while we in the U.S would have paid the other percentage through taxes . Because the Mexican people aren’t around in big numbers thanks to President Obama the plant only had one choice which would have been a win win situation for them.
So if you are in favor or against the building of a hog slaughter plant anywhere in Iowa please do your research so at least you have the facts all this is at your finger tips just ask your senator or Representatives.
I will say it one more time. CAFO’s and the Processing plant were two different issues. The Plant was state of the art and the smell was going to be minimal. We should push for change in the regulation of CAFO’s so the smell cant cross property lines just like fugitive dust cant cross property lines. You cant blame the CAFO’s for not doing something that is not required of their competitor.. This can be done but will cost more money. Therefore unless it is a law it makes no economic sense to do it. Unfortunately, unless it is a Federal law, we will lose these businesses to other states.
@Reggie (red)-although I agree with most of your comments on this subject, I must point out something about your fugitive dust comment. We came down 12th st. N.W. last Thursday night and the farmer was planting in using no till and planting in the field by Curry’s. The dust was so bad you could not see the road and went for at least a mile. One can only think he was doing that at night because of the dust.
For all you Google Scholars’, Google: “psychological projection”. It may be a teeny, tiny, bit applicable to Dr. Ron’s perceived bias.
And, poor racist Janet. Look in the mirror dear.
At worst, many may have had fears regarding cultural and social change as is discussed in research papers available with….ta da, a Google search.
“Blame shifting” I think not. Calling a spade a spade is more like it.. People don’t like change in their Lilly white world. Again we blew a chance of a lifetime IMHO
The chance we are blowing is to use the process we’ve all learned researching the Prestage farce, to solve existing problems in our community. There is no need to bring new problems associated with a slaughter house into our community. We have a choice. Many towns with a closed slaughter house are forced into a cycle of poor choices. To beg and bow for every new purchaser. We don’t have to make their mistakes. There is a renewed sense of community spirit. One that could be nurtured and used to buid upon. Keep doing what you’ve done in the past and you will get the same results. This time, it could be different. It all depends on the leadership within our community.
The leadership brought a large company that wanted to spend 240 million on a new state of the art plant. This is what most bloggers on NIT said couldn’t be done. Will this project pose some problems? I would say yes BUT we are a good community with mostly good people. We could have worked through this. We will never see a like project in our lifetime. You might be OK with that but this was are best chance to keep Mason City from slowly dying .
Many of the financial plans were not risk adjusted for Prestage, the city, the scoop district or the community. Any project that would increase the tax basis by 10% and employ 1772 employees would create a boom town scenario with a bust town ending. We’ve seen it when the slaughter plant left town. We’ve seen it replay in slaughter house town time and time again. There are more negatives than positives for anyone willing to research with an active open mind. Anyone willing to challenge their own beliefs to find truth can see through the false claims of the benefits. No wonder why 1/2 time ELL teachers, realtors, project engineers, and wealthy business owners put financial self interest before community.
“Any project that would increase the tax basis by 10% and employ 1772 employees would create a boom town scenario with a bust town ending”. Boom town scenario sounds good to me. That would be exciting ,like West Des Moines has been for the last 10 years. Bust town ending doesn’t have to happen, If we can increase population and diversify we would be OK.Even IF it did it would be 30-40 years down the road. Nobody that invests that much in a plant is going to walk away from it anytime soon.
Typical short term thinking. Rape the environment. Let our kids deal with it. Use and abuse the aquifer. Who needs clean water in 30 or 40 years. 100% financing, no big deal to walk away. It’s other people’s money. All anyone has to do is look at the history of the industry honestly. Short term, mind blinded thinking, ignore the obvious consequences. 10% get 90% of the profits. 90% pay 100% of the costs. Sad how a few people care more about money than community.
I sure hope Dr. Prestage is not vindictive. If he was he could buy up land around Mason City and put up CAFO’s surrounding the town. Nothing we could do about it. In my mind the plant and the regulation and potential proliferation of the CAPO’s were 2 completely different things. Immigrants are what built this town but mostly European not Spanish/Mexican. The fear mongering was incredible. I expected some of the citizens to buy into it but NOT the council. I am very disappointed in the 3 of them. This kind of opportunity only comes around once in a lifetime.
I hope you are not that naive. IF any town is dumb enough to fall for this corporate welfare, they will get the pleasure of having hog lots near them. The cat is out of the bag now. Mason City turned them down (after having Deckers). Fort Dodge turned them down after having IBP and Hormel. Only the truly uniformed will take this deal. Last time I checked, council members were supposed to represent the people, not decide for them. I am VERY disappointed you don’t know that.
I don’t think i am naive. Incentives ,or corporate welfare as you call it ,is the unfortunate way it works. If we didn’t offer it someone else will.Council members are supposed to represent all the people not just the most vocal ones. I really think that we will regret this. I hope I am wrong. Our town is shrinking and we need a influx of new people.Not this company and not these people is what you would say. I feel sorry for you.
@Reggie-I agree with you on this. They used scare tactics to block the project and the city will pay for it in the long run. Prestage has hog confinements all over Wright County.
Appreciate your comments as well as Reggie. We live in the middle of the Heartland. Agriculture is our bread and butter. Saying No to Prestage just cost us our future. We will never attract another major agriculture related industry. And if you think a Fortune 500 Company will consider MC seriously you are kidding yourself. In that regard we are in competition with Rochester to the north and Ankeny to the south. Last one out of town, please turn off the lights, the party is over.
Much of the protest was organized and promoted by out of town folks who have an agenda. Its a Des Moines based organization.
http://iowacci.org/
A good way to get the opinion of ALL the people is to put it to a vote. Our greasy mayor would not stand for such a thing. He was fast tracking this deal and nothing was going to get in his way. I say you can put a hog plant (or any business for that matter) where ever it is properly zoned and without a vote but don’t expect to plop a tax burden on us or lower our property values without letting us vote on it.
I really wish this could have been voted on. I think it would have passed with a huge majority. Unfortunately, according to Ken Kline, this was not something that could have been brought up for a vote.
According to what the mayor told Ken Kline… You can bring ANYTHING up to a non binding vote. It’s called a survey. The mayor didn’t want to hear what we had to say about how he wanted to spend our money. He wanted to bring more labor intensive jobs to our town that already can’t fill positions with it’s citizens. THAT is a recipe for disaster.
You have to be kidding ,if being called a racist when your not
isn’t vindictive I don’t know what is.
Besides what made you think he was going to import Mexicans to mason city that’s very narrow minded .
They probably were going to be refugees from all over the world.
Since you seam to be a little narrow minded let me enlighten you.
If he was to bring refugees to the plant he would get a % of their wages paid by you and me and the rest would be paid by the company.
if you don’t believe this do your research and find out for yourself.
Sorry to disappoint you about the Mexican folks.
By the way if you new anything you would know behind the scene’s
Obama has sent more Mexican people packing than any other president. Do your research all of you before you speak.
So you are saying he has already proved he is vindictive by calling some folks in Mason City racist? Stretching it a little but Ill go along with your hypothesis. Therefore you are saying he probably will build CAFO’s around Mason City? I hope not. About the Mexicans, it was some of the citizens that were saying it and I also heard it. I wouldn’t doubt the company would have some kind of wage help for awhile until the employees got trained. Not unusual. As far as Obama deporting Mexicans, I never commented on that.
Every new employer wants state or local money or both, so they go through the State of Iowa Economic Developmental Council. A big F.U. to the State of Iowa Economic Council (Des Moines) as they keep all good businesses to themselves and send us the crap (literally). Even the local businesses game the system. Close down their car dealerships for a year, only to “reopen” as a new business and get TIF from the city. Mason City said “no” to one of the ruling class government elite and they respond with calling us racists.
Exactly the place is trashy. Why would these people want any dignitary here and see it? Or friends from out of town? Don’t any of them travel to cool places and get ideas of what works? Amazing to me…maybe they do want to keep it down. Prestage saw what a mess we have here and thought hmmm they won’t think twice about a smell. Wake up and go travel a bit.
Of course MC willl never be a metropolis of fantastic things so get over it. We don’t head north for a skating rink or to look at a hotel or even south. Use your brains while you are still in for the short time. Picture the places that are cool you visit and do those things. Why is that so hard to get?
Well NOW it seems ya’ll are TURNING it into a race thing. Did you forget about the hundreds of real reasons we didn’t want it? Racist around here, hardly. Drive around and look at porches!
It just hit me that Bookmeyer Solberg and Hickey WANT this town trashed. WHY would they let any bad element in and carry on with what we see? Not to mention the hideous streets with weeds and trash. I don’t understand their thinking. I guess they don’t think.
“Racist around here, hardly. Drive around and look at porches” If that doesn’t sound racist I don’t know what does. It sounds like he is stereotyping all Black people in Mason City as lazy, porch sitting losers. Then he says ” WHY would they let any bad element in and carry on with what we see?” Bad element meaning Black people? Dr. Prestage was wrong,this isn’t even thinly veiled,it is blatant racism.
I have no idea why the hog plant was voted down. But everyone I’ve talked to has taken me aside and, in a whisper, said “you know about them mexicans.”.
Cerro Gordo county lost more people than any other county in Iowa from 2000-2010. There are very few Mexicans living here, and many of the “native” krauts and norskes are leaving in droves.
For those who remain–you need to understand that this place is not even good enough for the Mexicans. Everyone else is leaving. What immigrant in their right mind would move here?
Not good enough for Mexicans, let that sink in.
You should change your moniker to Dumbo
It would be great if we could file a class-action lawsuit against this guy. You need 100 plaintiffs, and with the amount of publicity, it should be easy to claim economic damage to the area.
Obvious it was not wanted from the beginning. Big shocker when it finally got shot down
Ata boy Ron. When people don’t agree with you they are racists. Play the race card like a true libtard.
Fred, you are a dumbass.
If you did any research, you would know that Ron Prestage is a devote Republican.
He has contributed to both Joni Ernst & Steve King
Fred is getting more and more like LVS every day with his “libtard” labeling and accusations. Prestage and the Guv are good buddies as well.
Ah, LVS is alive and well, as well as his dumbass can be.
I see that you just deleted my comment there LVS, you pussy.
You must now be posting as “Fred” as well as anonymous.
You idiotic hypocritical sack of shit.
You are exactly right! Every time I call him out on anything he just delete my post.
Did you actually listen to the interview? He actually complimented the majority of people from MC. Did you pull the race card from your Southern Orifice or your Northern Emptiness?
I guess this guy only wants to be a good neighbor when he can get the public to give him millions of dollars in incentives. As soon as his scam is brought to the attention of everyone he starts to name calling. Glad we found out what kind of person he and his company are before we were stuck for the bill.
As a Hispanic living in Mason city. I guess I am a racist too along with my black relatives. I guess we are all racist in Mason City because we saw what Prestage was going to do to are city.
I was against Prestage from the beginning. Mostly because of the crime that comes in when you have disposable employees.
When employees can no longer work and their fired they have no where to go but to fend for themselves. At that stage is where the crime comes in.
Good thing those $7.50/hr employees at Hyvee, McDonalds, Walmart, etc., etc., etc., don’t go all full-blown criminal when they lose their jobs.
What the heck are you even talking about?
Fred what do call the wage at the super stores? $ 13 bucks is a lot better than 7.25. I will agree working in a factory deserves at least $15 to start or pay what the curries, kraft start out at, but its not ever going to happen here in MC, Does anyone know the wage for McKesson for the common laborer????
Dr. Ron’s true colors came out. MC figured out the FACT that the amount of hogs daily needed was more then north Iowa can produce, hence confinements. The city payout was over the top. Good luck to Charles City and others coming up with the millions required to host this company. Dr. Ron should be more concerned with the HUGE lawsuit they already lost and another one pending….poverty line wages hinders a community way more then it helps.
honestly, i listened to the whole interview, and while a coupe of his comments were a bit unfair, he had several good points as well. and considering how much insults he had to silently suck up over the course of three looong council meetings, i’m impressed he didnt have worse to say about us.
i really believe that if you’re going to have a packing plant in town, you can do a LOT worse than prestage, ownership wise. i wish dr ron and prestage the best of luck in finding a more accommodating town for their plant, i’m sure they will find one and it would not surprise me if it will fare less bad than storm lake, postville et al
Paying immigrants a wage barely over the poverty level for back breaking work. Who’s the racist now, Mr Prestage?
Hate to tell you this but starting wage at ALOT of business in MC are below 13$.ALOT of people have 2nd job because to proud to live off handouts.Alot say 13$ isn’t much, it is to people that make less.And I don’t think Curries,Kraft,Woodharbor.Cargill 15$like someone metioned to start.This town in full on Temp. to hire crap you have to be real hard up to go that way.Wouldn ‘t work for any employer that did this type of hiring practice.And Yes I’m employed and don’t just sit around.Make 13.50hr.and small part time job.Ya! it would be nice to make more but where would you go in this city.On my wage was able to buy house,2 cars,motorcycle,boat, pay bills,and yes no govt.handouts.So yes you can live on 13$hr.you just have to be wise and smart with you $.
FYI amigo, here in America we put the $ before the number. When you say “13$”, you pretty much announce that your not an American, and therefore have no business weighing in on American economic policy. Buenos dias!
Alot isn’t a word. Please stop using it a lot.
Mason city jobs are temp to hire because temporary jobs are a necessity in today’s workforce! Assuming you can pass a drug screen and don’t have felonies on your record, workers will stop and shop their employers. If they don’t like the work, they’ll collect unemployment, find a way to get “injured” on the job, or jump to conclusions they were term’d because of discrimination rather than the fact that their work ethic plain sucked. Employers need protection against these bottom feeders who would be great workers if they spent half the time working that they spend trying to figure out how to not work! Show of hands who here is on disability, food stamps, ssi, Ssdi, unemployment, work comp, WIC, TANF, etc. Go get a job instead of continuing to make excuses
I have news for everyone: it isn’t the Hispanics who quit their jobs so they can collect unemployment & then go on welfare. It’s the deadbeat whities & blacks. I didn’t want the hog plant here but please understand I have nothing against Hispanics. They’ll take jobs that no white or black person will even consider. We’re lucky to have them & would be in dire straits without them.
Sounds like a slow way of starving to death to me.. Perhaps you have made your peace with working like a slave for peanuts… Most won’t!!! They move on to something somewhere that pays a living wage… Having said that the good news is when enough move on. When they can’t find anymore SUCKERS to work for crap wages and crappier benefits.. They have to up their game… If you are silly enough to work for nothing , someone will be more than to pay you exactly that….
FK him and the horse he road in on ! Corporate elite insider.. He’s just pizzed obout all the bribe money he paid out through his lobbyist staff that he won’t get back. You should have brought Bernie to town with you and all his commie buddies – maybe LYING TED or that lying bitch with the cell phone up her arse.
Cockadoodledoo!!
He is absolutely correct and you liberals just do not want to admit you are racist, but you are. How many comments were there about people who can’t speak English. You were scared to death of people you don’t know. Bunch of racist and welfare queens who are afraid of jobs.
it is language like this that has hyperinflated words like ‘racist’ and ‘bigot’ to the point that they just plain don’t mean anything anymore.
being concerned about hundreds or even thousands of high attrition ESL children flooding a small school system makes you a realist. it does not even qualify you as xenophobe and certainly not an actual white supremacist, aka racist.
These people do not want to assimilate like the rest of the immigrants to this country. They expect us to learn their language. That is not racists, that is an expectation that everyone in the USA should have.
Calling us racist kooks because your fast tracked backroom deal was revealed and derailed. How dare that flim flam man say that.
Keep talkin’ Ron! You’ve just proven every last thing that we said….every last thing!
..and his TRUE colors emerged!….this whole deal was so sugar coated that when truths did come out, they had no where to run..now we know the true crooked people on our city board don’t we.
The power of the Branstache is diminishing
Wow! He sure has Mason City pegged. Kooks and racists – nailed it!
Hilarious Matt! With these comments so far we are not only a SMART bunch but funny too! Let’s have a yrly party on that wonderful day to remember the sweet smell of success and not POOP!
Don’t you just love a sore LOSER!! Answers so much of what we were dealing with.. Call us what you want we don’t care one bit. The truth is YOU LOST ya spoiled brat and WE were just too smart for your ass. That’s the short answer to your unforgivable breach of southern etiquette. Terrorize someone else.
Damn and we good folks in NC thought you Iowans could have a fine time with this freak of a pork pounder.
I thought you said you will continue to be respectful either way the vote went. Oops well that isn’t happening. Mr Kook please be gone with yourself before a pork plant falls on you!
Wow if this isnt a PERFECT example of what we were headed into! Sorry Prestage or whatever your real name is your thought of “kooks” were simply smarter than you thought. We may talk slow or fast but our minds were right on. You are the kook. Get outta here NOW! Guess what? This will get out to every other community in Iowa even if we have to make Solberg drive us and hang out for 7 hours in each place you try to lie to! Sounds great to me! Now GO!
O snap. Ole Solby makes 7-hour car drives just to smell poop. Seems logical. Can’t you just envision her, battling high winds in her crappy GOOFYGAL over-size tank mobile, head slung out the driver’s side window as she fights for her life, sniffing for pig farts? I bet she yearned to smell poop. She actually sought out the smell of feces. “Oh fecal matter, aroma of the Swine Goddess, where art thou?” she cried out in agony. But alas, the poop evaded her. Poop 1, Solby 0.
Solberg likes to drive around, and waste Trouts time as well. I reported to a year ago, I told an out of town relative directions on how to get to Target from Kum & Go on South Federal and 19th Street. I told them to go west on 19th and take a right on Eisenhower. Turned out at that time there was no sign over the lights headed west out of time on Eisenhower so they ended up in Clear Lake. I reported it to her and she told me that she picked up Trout to confirm there was no sign there, and sure enough, what I said was true. (I responded to her, “why did you have to take our City administrator out there when you live a few blocks from there and could confirm it yourself”) What a waste of time for the administrator. She never responded to me after that. She needs to be removed from the council, as well as Hickey, neither respond to citizen questions very well. If they don’t want the job, they should quit. Otherwise, respond to us.
This guy is just as big a baby as Bookmeyer and hickey when they don’t get their way. People are tired of the government giving welfare to corporations and we are not going to give up our way of life for jobs that would not benefit citizens of Mason City.
Oh for the love of god, it didn’t pass because we love our local farmers and we don’t need hog shit in our waterways, on top of that the proposed tax/loan deal was completly one sided. The benefit to mason city was 10%, the benefit to corporate was 90%. Tell Prestige to pay their own bills.
perfectly said