This morning Mr. John Skipper warns us about the Bermuda triangle a.k.a. The Prestage debacle. It was John’s belief that the consternation caused by the Prestage proposal that was in lockstep with Bookmeyer and his puppet council shouldn’t be a deterrent to any current or future local aspirants with the urge to govern…..I disagree.
I think the orchestrated assault born in deceit behind closed doors with the eager cooperation of several accomplices such as the Chamber of Commerce, the North Iowa Corridor, the former Governor of Iowa and probably a few more that we will never know….or care. Don’t forget our side won…..but the final bill was unthinkable to those with with a heart, a functioning heart.
No, to set this catastrophic event aside will never occur, in fact I sincerely believe that it will span one or two books and maybe even a film that will illustrate the devastation that is the progeny of Big Ag. While we may live in an agricultural state and while we may be known as the breadbasket of the world, does not mean that there are not other people living here who are engaged in other endeavors.
The front page of today’s Des Moines Register is focused on farming and farms and the evolution of how agriculture is continuing to transform the face of our state. From my viewpoint I see ambition and greed overreaching the science and technology needed to process quantities being brought in that risk our environment.
By passing legislation that would ban the use of fast growth additives in the food we eat would be a start. Why couldn’t companies like Prestage contract with producers in Third World countries to raise hogs and chickens without chemical contributions. Mexico has the land and they have the knowledge. If they can make automobiles in Mexico they could be contracted to supply Prestage, who should build their facilities in Mexico. If this were done, eventually our poultry and pork would be chemically free leading to better health which could in turn reduce money being spent on healthcare.
Iowa could be the first agricultural state free of livestock. We all watch television, every home I believe has more than one television set; yet there are no television sets being manufactured in this state. Why couldn’t that translate into pigs and chickens? The truth is it could. Our supermarkets are loaded with produce raised in Mexico; fruit, berries everything imaginable comes into this country from across the border or offshore that ends up on your table.
Here at home, Bookmeyer and 4 of the 6 council members were ready to throw this city, this top of Iowa to the wolves for what I believe was centered on personal gain. What took place and how it was introduced should be textbook requirement for every would-be politician that wants to govern the way you live.
Peter Children
Mason City, Iowa
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Tommorow is Sunday, the Sabbath let’s see then what rhetoric comes forth from John Skipper. And let’s not be vindictive in our opinion. We all have our own view of how things should work and none of us are far from the mark……
so again you’re waiting for skipper to give you material to write about? you’re a loser of the worse kind,
Name calling shows how shallow your intellect truly is. Mr. Children is simply waiting to see what the next sneak attack from Bookie, the Glob and 9 North Federal Avenue will bring. At least he’s looking out for the public good and taking them to task before they rob us all blind.
enjoying your “free” public money you and others stole from the citizens?
Nothing is free, troll. Participating in a program created by the city isn’t exactly stealing; I play BY the rules, I do not CREATE the rules. In this case you make a lame-brained accusation about, I took a building that earned ZERO taxes (because it was a church) and transformed it into a taxable property that will bring many thousands of dollars back to the city in taxes over the coming years. Not to mention, I hired numerous LOCAL businesses to work on the structure and grounds. I’m certain they appreciated the work – and paid taxes on the materials, labor, etc, that go onto the city, county and state coffers. Listen, do not be jealous of me and NIT, no matter how painful it is. Just drive by everyday and stare longingly at the portrait of success and dream about what could have been for you.
“Name calling shows how shallow your intellect truly is.’ Matt Marquardt
Now that statement coming for you is hypocrisy hilarity at its finest, you have name-called so many people that it hard to keep track of.
If name calling denotes being shallow, that means that you have no depth at all.
But then hypocrisy is no stranger to you since you begged the city for $30,000 of taxpayer money (and received it) after castigating & condemning numerous others over the years for doing that exact same thing.
It is not applying for the money that I am calling you for , but for your hypocritical ways.
Awe. Someone’s angry this fine Sunday evening. Did I call a troll a troll? Oops. Someone has to give them a name, since ‘anonymous’ isn’t much of a moniker, and besides, who’s perfect? Anyway, I understand your anger when others succeed while you flail away at life, bitter and despondent for your lack of progress toward any semblance of a meaningful existence. They got med’s for that – try some – LOTS of it. If you fall asleep and never wake up, well, Jesus will deal with you. Until then, I’ll try one more time to explain it to you: Most all of the programs I have questioned previously were special giveaways or crappy deals by the city involving the Corridor or the Chamber of Crime that most common citizens are excluded from – due to the corrupt nature of things here. Again, (try to keep up here) the program I took advantage of – created by city hall – is being used by many small businesses in town to benefit THEIR businesses even while the city and county will be paid back in spades with cleaner / upgraded properties and boosted tax revenues. No one loses in the COR Loan program and of course, I never questioned anyone’s participation in that program – your argument is baseless that I have. In fact, the council has EXPANDED the program and I support that, too. The deals I have questioned benefited only the “good old boys” or certain elected or “connected” dolts and didn’t serve the public overall. Metalcraft’s move was one deal in particular I didn’t like. We’ve questioned a lot of others – like Eric’s dream of subsidizing a trash burning plant, his privatization of sanitation services. Anyway, how many pills have you popped so far? Need an ambulance?
Rick, it looks like you got Marquardt’s panties in a bunch with that statement. I see that he attempted to deny his previous history in regards to forgivable loans, pathetic.
Narcissists with vastly over-blown self-importance tend to do things like that. When it benefits their own self-interest, people of that ilk have very “poor memories” then deny, deny, deny.
It is also telling when he calls you a troll, a term that is much used by his “good buddy” LVS….interesting that. Then he goes on the feeble pill popping diatribe, a deflecting tactic used by weak people in an attempt to justify their denial.
And if he gauges NIT & the so-called Breakthrough web design to be a great success in life, he could not have set the bar much lower.
Rick, Bill, Reggie, anonymous … all from same IP address, but these sound like the names of some washed up has-been and his chums in the local rotary club. Something tells me you lay awake at night, all alone, completely flamed, bed bugs nipping at your toes, dreaming up your next comment here. I just appreciate the hundreds of page views you deliver. Thanks ‘guys’! See you over and over today and everyday.
Pete,
I just finished a book titled, THE SMEAR written by Sharyl Attkisson.
The premise of the book is about how shady political operatives and fake news CONTROL what you see, what you think, and how you vote. The book is spot on. For decades, I have known that the media was AGENDA DRIVEN and thus has kept the American voters in the dark. On any given issue the voters are kept confused. The result is a divided America.
Sadly, today the tactics that the media have been using for years are being adopted by the folks that blog on web sites all across America.
For example read the blog below where the he/she calls me a “dumb ass” and “old” to dismiss anything I have to say. They attack the writer and never address the points in the blog. That blogger thinks with a closed mind full of hate, and that too is what I attribute much of the division in the country.
Bias, hate, and bigiotry cause people to distance themselves from each other while love and respect draws people together. When people distance themselves they can’t HEAR the other person. So, when people post vile comments decent people look away. Makes debate and productive discussion nearly impossible.
The Smear validates my long standing concerns, it’s a good read.
I do support President Trump because of his agenda. I know Trump is not a “racist” and The Smear I just finished reading puts that into perspective. The current turbulence in Charlotte is nothing more than “organized” political chaos to undermine America, President Trump, and his America First Agenda.
Thank you for your vote of confidence about running again for public office. That would be a big undertaking for me. More important for Mason City, I am urging the “folks” to seek a new direction for development and job growth. I don’t see myself re-entering the political ring, at this time.
I am thinking of writing some articles for the voters to consider though, but that is a future project.
I offer all of this today, because I see John Skipper and his “Bermuda Triangle/Prestage Debacle” that you write about in your article as part and parcel why Mason City finds itself in the backwards development position it is in. The Globe Gazette and many of their writers over the years have contributed to “The Smear of Mason City”!
My reply is directed to Larry Loeckle. Larry is a former council person, I wish he’d throw his hat in the ring now….but he travels South each winter and he feels that excludes him. He has deep roots in this community and sound thinking.
However I don’t agree with his thinking on Trump, Trump is a avowed racist one that fails to recognize the landscape that is America. Trump has surrounded himself with dangerous people because that is his inclination to do so. But let’s keep our focused on our community.
This reply is to Peter Children. I too agree with Larrey, However, I disagree with your comment about Trump. There has never been a thing proven to back up your statement about him being a racist. It is all Democrat misdirection. I can’t believe that someone as intelligent as you would fall for those lies.
Did you hear this guy today? What more do you need to know?
What did you hear? All I heard was him saying BOTH sides were wrong, and he was right. Quit watching fake news on the Liberal channels. You are smarter than that.
Swamp Thing – Your reflection of walks puberty time miss deeds are secondary – he has professed beautifully into a pro like the old puppeteer bartzie from worthless county.
Thank you Peter. Great article and well written. Not sure I agree with all of our pork food going to Mexico. Many safety problems there.
Anonymous wrote a long reply trying to imply a “view from the middle”.
Well Anon, your disguised attempt to promote the River City Renaissance needs some attention. First some population stats.
Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1870 1,183 —
1880 2,510 112.2%
1890 4,007 59.6%
1900 6,747 68.4%
1910 11,230 66.4%
1920 20,065 78.7%
1930 23,304 16.1%
1940 27,080 16.2%
1950 27,980 3.3%
1960 30,642 9.5%
1970 30,379 −0.9%
1980 30,144 −0.8%
1990 29,040 −3.7%
2000 29,172 0.5%
2010 28,079 −3.7%
There is no dysfunction in Mason City. In the 1930’s Mason City wrote into their Comprehensive Plan, a plan to control growth. That was done to control “who” would immigrate to Mason City. It then picked up support by Cement Plants, Brick Yards, and Packing House owners.
Control the growth and you control the “wage base”.
The Chamber of Commence backed this effort and has been politically engaged in Mason City politics for decades.
We arrive at today’s so called River City Renaissance because it is the way to put some money into our local economy while at the same time making a “few” insiders wealthy. Big money to the elite and crumbs to the folks in the cheap seats all at the expense of the taxpayers.
To digress, Prestage had some good points but their negatives more then outweighed anything good it could have produced for Mason City. I am glad it went down in flames.
Now to address your propaganda; Mason City is NOT Dysfunctional at all. Mason City has woke up to the lack of job growth and the fact we need “new money” and “new jobs” to spur our local economy instead of local tax dollars drained from it’s citizens.
Once this Ice Arena to NOWHERE proposal is voted DOWN it is my hope that dialog can start between the voters of Mason City and a new Mayor & City Council. Dialog that will write a NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN that puts the emphasis on new jobs and growth instead of putting more money in Old Town they call the “down town”.
Mason City can have a bright future if we find and put open minded leadership in office. Hard to do I know when you have the Skipper’s in the press that promotes “putting your head in the sand”.
Loved your article Pete!
We’ve talked about ways to grow Mason City in lots of other threads. I keep mentioning that employers have several ‘needs’ when deciding where to locate (access to qualified employees, to give just one example). You brought up 3 large industries (cement, bricks, packing house) that Mason City was built upon. Can anyone spot a ‘need’ of employers that trumps all the other ‘needs’ and is common to all 3 industries? To ask this in a different way, why were those industries located here?
Resources and a positive attitude.
BINGO! Those industries needed access to raw materials. The brick plant needs clay. The cement plants need limestone. And the packing plant needs livestock.
Now, whats the one need of today’s growth industries (medical services, financial services, high tech manufacturing, pharma, IT) that trumps all their other needs?
Our focus should only be on jobs that GROW, MINE, or PRODUCE A PRODUCT FOR A PROFIT. This is the only way new money is created. Service industries only pass money around. They do NOT create NEW MONEY!
In the 80’s (go read Megatrends) the American movers and shakers, (whoever they are, I don’t know) made the decision to transform the American economy from an Industrial Based Economy to a Service And Information Based Economy. It’s been all downhill since then.
Mason City’s hope for the future also lies in the RE-INDUSTRIALIZATION of America. Thankfully we have a President who recognizes this. I can only hope the Globalists get out of his way.
If Mason City was smart (and currently they are not) we would start now laying the groundwork to take advantage of Industrial Growth if President Trump would get his agenda adopted. Trump totally gets what I am saying because it would bail out America’s tremendous debt with new money growth.
I don’t know if Mason City’s movers or shakers read any of this but I wish they would and open there minds to changing their closed minds on allowing Mason City to grow in a POSITIVE DIRECTION. Enough with the service based jobs.
We have spent enough money fixing up OLD TOWN and it looks good enough for me. Instead of 10’s of millions of dollars going into OLD TOWN-downtown, I am perfectly willing to spend my tax dollars on ANY INDUSTRY that GROWS, MINES, OR PRODUCES A PROFIT!
Let’s work for a brighter future for Mason City.
“Thankfully we have a President who recognizes this.” – Larrey Loeckle
What is it with all you old dumb asses?
You are supposed to garner wisdom & knowledge with age, what the hell happened to you.
Larrey, that fact that you belive in Trump speaks volumes about your ignorance & stupidity.
You and the other old idiots like Watchdog & LVS are an embarrassment to your generation.
To be successful growing Mason City, we must focus on ‘what is’, not ‘what you wish it was’. Industries that are growing are the ones listed above. High tech manufacturing, financial services, medical services, pharma, IT.
All these industries require a youthful and educated workforce. The city which has this demographic will grow.
Excellent comment Larrey. Too bad the liberals can only think of free stuff so they don’t have to work for a living. You are absolutely correct. Service Industries just recycle money. We need jobs that working people can do. High tech in this area is nothing but a wet dream. We do not have the population or the infastructure to support it.
LVS always sinks to cheap political name calling.
There was no name calling in my posts. Only the truth, which is very hard for liberals to understand when the lie all the time.
Excellent post. Print it off and mail it to 9 North Federal, maybe also stuff them in the inboxes of the council and mayor in city hall.
After reading Iowa Cold Case Files/ ADAM LACK/ Mitchell County I am concerned with your not so honest mitchell county public servants and the DNR.
Mr. Walk and Mr. Bartz are NOT to be trusted !
Kettles – Corruption -pay offs to elected officals and state/gov from the elites who could care less about citizens of Iowa – just as long as they get dirty dollars for their greedy pockets. Dead zone -New Orleans -google it.
What does this sentence mean? “I think the orchestrated assault born in deceit behind closed doors with the eager cooperation of several accomplices such as the Chamber of Commerce, the North Iowa Corridor, the former Governor of Iowa and probably a few more that we will never know….or care.”
It’s plain English. Prestiage was looking for a place to land; the Iowa economent development council make contacts with their counterparts on a community level. That person reports to the Mayor who then colluded with the others I mentioned. This involved numerous closed door covert gatherings with city council members, city administrator, mayor, chamber officials and top people from Prestiage. This was kept secret from the general public. The meetings were deceitful because they were orchestrated illgelly. The citizens of this community really knew nothing until the vote was taking place.
So, basically the word “was” needs to be between ‘assault’ and ‘born’ is what you’re saying? It very much is not “plain English” because it’s a sentence without subject. I’m not a grammar Nazi, but that sentence on its own means nothing.
But as you can plainly see….it’s not on its own…..
A view from the middle.
There were forceful characters on both sides of the Prestage issue. Each group of characters aligned among themselves, as they usually do. Each side projecting the propaganda they believed would influence their opposition. And, much of the propaganda was contrived on both sides. Again, a view from the middle….It remains obvious that maintaining an active open mind on issues seeking the truth is a near impossibility in this community and the country at large. The current propaganda machine on the side of the YES group fails to address the financial weaknesses of the River City Renaissance project. Choosing instead the advertising campaign to show the undecided people that there is a group in support and they should join that group. Text book advertising propaganda. Now to critique the opposition. Highlighting the obvious financial weaknesses the opposition immediate knee jerk reaction is “We can’t do it. it’s too hard. Let’s do some other half baked project.” Both sides as dysfunctional as the other. The scheming and strategizing on both sides would be funny if it wasn’t so, so discouragingly sad. The individuals in question are stuck in a repeating pattern of dysfunctional thought and behavior. Remembering what they think they know. Caught in a repeating loop. Looking at the last 30 years of non-growth, Mason City has been sucked into that Twilight Zone Dimension of downward spiraling dysfunction. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Truly thinking (not dysfunctional remembering) about problem solving AND leaving the F ing Ego at home may actually start solving some issues around here.
There is plenty of time to find a multi purpose center that has a great financial track record and model it to create an operations budget projection that works. There has been plenty of time for musical fundraisers to get MM square in the black. There has been plenty of time for the owner of the mall to explain why he is a great partner for the River City Renaissance. But, that’s too hard. Or, is it ,”We don’t know how to do that the right way.”?
To either side. When attempts to mediate the dysfunction go unanswered. When repeated calls to the dysfunctional leadership go unanswered. There is only one reasonable solution. These legacy leaders can no longer be involved in Mason City’s future building process. Good excuses, poor reasons, and rationalizations just don’t cut it anymore. The more things change, the more things stay the same. No really, silly me.
While I appreciate your efforts and your participation in this community crossfire from which we all learn and benefit….you are wrong. Those in favor used propaganda and those against used factual information. Big difference.
Sorry about the typos, my appoliges I should have proofed it.
I’m laughing at this “news story”. It is quite evident that the only time this guy writes and article is when he is pirating another writers topic. Let’s send you down to mexico to see if anything will be done differently in the operation of a hog facility located in mexico. you are a fool for just writing anything without putting any thought into what you spew from your keyboard except your emotionally irrational thinking
You talk like a man with a paper asshole; this isn’t rocket science, it’s a doable solution that is right in front of you. If Prestiage built in Mexico with what they sre preposing here, they would be creating 2000 jobs that are well-paying. That would mean 2000 less Mexicans risking their lives crossing the desert. You think they want to come here? Given the choice they would stay in their own country were they are comfortable. These people just want to earn a living wage to feed their family with.
Play nice, Brad.
Surprised you found time to break away from spending that 30,000 dollars that you begged for from the taxpayers of Mason City to make a comment there Marquardt, you hypocritical POS.
Cuddling up to Peter Children again, eh?
What is it with you and stupid old geezers?
An opinion piece is not news. It is merely one person’s viewpoint. At any rate, Mr. Children is an award-winning writer formerly with the Globe Gazette, and tops anything they have working there now.
“Mr. Children is in an award-winning writer..” – Matt Marquardt
What exactly do you mean by he is “in an” award-winning writer?
Who is he in?
Skipper? 🙂
It’s not even a close call, Peter Children is the better writer with Skipper coming in way down the pack. Maybe 7th or 8th!
Pete is an excellent writer with well thought out points he is compassionate about.
We should all know by now that using negative comments about the writer/author is called, “killing the messenger”.
And while I am on it, I recommend you read “The Smear” by Sharyl Attkisson. It’s a great read about how shady political operatives and fake news CONTROL what you see, what you think, and HOW YOU VOTE!
Nice joke there Watchdog, great sense of humor!
Peter Children couldn’t write a lucid article to save his soul.
Mr. Children was awarded the Gold Jacket or the Golden Pen or whatever the Globe gives its top writers. You can’t even write your real name. Shame.
I agree. Pete is the best. Tells it like it is, no propaganda or sell-out for the nasty chamber from him.
Marquardt you fool, the Golden pen was given by the Globe Gazette to dozens of people way back when.
To attribute that as “award winning” just shows your ignornance & stupidity.
You and Peter Children are quite the pair, one is a foolish old man way past his prime & an idiot and the other is a 40 something wannabe hypocritcal snake-oil salesman.
How sad, but you two deserve each other.
Excellent read and spot on!
I like your style Peter – The corporate owned county supervisors and the comprimised DNR (who hands are tied) have been lying to Iowa residents for 25 years – Take Merly Bartz and Stanley Walk (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello) corporate owned cronies backing CAFO’s in Worth and Mitchell county – hell most people from this area believe the new $80,000,000.00 -26 million worth county/34 million Mitchell county property owners is being built to supply gas/heat to these new mega hog lots – goes in line? Do you think if a foreign government/corporation cares what happens to Iowa;s drinking water/health/smell? Matrix is a trick as it does not add hog lots under 1000 pigs to the total pigs per area matrix area (sounds like a TV show) Try to get a water test (100%) in the state of Iowa and you will find out it to be impossible. We know over 750 of Iowa,s waterways are already polluted and 41% of our drinking water is questionable – keep drinking their KOOL AID and you will surely pay the price.
My mother died from cancer that I believe was caused by field runoff going into our well. All of my neighbors near where I grew up had the same type of cancers. All ate and drank from their yards. My great uncle was the first secretary of agriculture in Iowa. I come from a long line of farming families, and I will be one of the few to say we are poisoning everyone with herbicides and pesticides that are sprayed and spread on the fields.
Thank you for that. I am not mad at the farmers, on the contrary, I want them to be successful in every way possible. But there is a right way and a wrong way. If all livestock were to be moved out….we still have to deal with Monsanto and the pesticides that are used in copious amounts to kill the weeds, to kill the farmers and to kill the people who eat the food. If you were a grain farmer, there are more than enough hungry people in this world to buy every kernel of corn grown. There are countries that are buying crops before the crops are even planted…..
At least Mr. Childrens has the guts to use his own name. He does not hide in the shadows as this ill informed guy does. I assume you are ashamed to stand behind your comments publicly!
STAN WALK’S COURT RECORDS
02661 CVCV015288 (JMD)STANLEY WALK VS. ST. ANSGAR COMM SCHOOL DISTR WALK, STANLEY RAYMOND PLAINTIFF
02661 CVCV015288 (JMD)STANLEY WALK VS. ST. ANSGAR COMM SCHOOL DISTR WALK, STANLEY PLAINTIFF
02661 SMCR021560 STATE VS WALK, STANLEY R WALK, STANLEY R 10/15/1947 DEFENDANT
02661 SMCR021782 STATE VS STAN WALK WALK, STANLEY R 10/15/1947 DEFENDANT
02661 STP83SX6X STATE OF IOWA vs WALK, STANLEY R WALK, STANLEY R 10/15/1947 DEFENDANT
05911 CVCV027510 STANLEY R WALK VS RICHARD B CLOGG WALK, STANLEY RAYMOND 10/15/1947 PLAINTIFF
05911 SMAC106471 STATE VS STANLEY RAYMOND WALK WALK, STANLEY RAYMOND 10/15/1947 DEFENDANT
Because people do stuff like this (with no context) to people who use their real names in order to discredit what they say whether they make valid points or not. Welcome to the Internet Mr. Walk. It becomes about who’s saying it and not what they’re saying. “Oh my, Mr. Walk has a court record, he must be a criminal.”
Yeah, I’m not proud that my record is much longer than stans. Spot on kettle, I’m tired of justifying choices I made when I was a kid, and had no clue what I was doing.
“Director of the agricultural department for the State of Iowa” would be my great uncle Charles E Whitings official title. Iowa agriculture didn’t start in the 70s stan. Official titles change over time. Maybe I should write huge messages to explain things more clearly. My name doesn’t matter nor should it. Something meant to kill organic material should not be ingested. There is no refuting the chemicals and pollutants in the water in this state.