Chronicle Editorial

Oh, so close
     The entire region missed out on a huge opportunity last week when the Mason City City Council failed to pass a development agreement with Prestage Foods. Though the company’s plans for a $240 million pork processing facility in north Iowa are now dead, so too are any hopes of immediate economic expansion in the area.
     Opponents to the project were vehement in their disdain. Fears over environmental pollution, unsustainable population growth and increased criminal rates were frequently cited during public hearings. Some people also believed the plant would need to recruit foreign laborers, in turn straining local schools as they tried to accommodate an influx of non-English speaking students.
     While these concerns were warranted and deserved further attention, they seemed exaggerated by outside groups like Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement. Constant reassurance from city leaders and project coordinators proved meaningless as the well of public opinion was poisoned by outrage and protest. Though the impact of the plant would have been large, displaced fear over potential repercussions only worked to fan the flames of dissent.
     Iowa – known for it’s corn, soybeans and pigs – relies heavily on large ag-related investments like Prestage’s pork plant to keep the economy humming. While some of these developments are more desireable than others, they all invest in rural communities and provide much-needed jobs to areas in need. It seems arrogant to reject something that would have done just that.
     No project is perfect, and this one was no different. However, it was north Iowa’s largest opportunity for economic expansion in a long time. Rural communities like ours are faced with prolonged population decline and uncertain futures. Prestage’s development was a great chance to reverse that trend, adapt to change and diversify the region through a huge economic stimulus. Unfortunately, that opportunity is gone now and probably won’t return for quite some time.
 
Passing the buck, again
     The 2016 Iowa Legislature ended on a whimper April 29 when lawmakers adjourned following three and a half months of contentious debate. Despite fervent attempts at reaching a compromise on various hot-button issues, our elected officials were unable to move Iowa forward in the name of progress.
     The list is well documented by now. Legislators spun their wheels on water quality initiatives and medicinal cannabis oil while also failing to adequately fund K-12 education. Though there was some degree of bipartisan support for these issues, our legislators opted to play politics yet again. Both sides are to blame for this apparent hardening of allegiences, but ultimately it is their constituencies that will suffer the consequences of inaction.
     More and more, the Iowa Legislature is starting to resemble Washington, D.C. Hard lines have been drawn and there’s seemingly no end in sight unless one side gets a mandate during the fall election. Party leadership in the House and Senate frequently claim divisive politics have no place in Des Moines, but their actions and attitudes prove otherwise. Maybe our legislators would be better off taking a long look in the mirror instead of accusing the other side of dancing around the issues. It goes both ways.
     Nonetheless, it can only go up from here. Lawmakers are in consensus that key issues like water quality funding need to be addressed, and another year of inaction would be a severe detriment to residents across the state. The road to progress is often long and torturous for everyone involved – some believe it happens too fast, while others think it happens too slowly. Either way, it happens. Those who fail to embrace it and adapt simply get left behind.
     The 2016 legislative session was discouraging to say the least, but there’s a small window for optimism as we look ahead. The groundwork for progress has been laid on a variety of issues if our lawmakers can swallow their pride and reach across the aisle. Rarely do people get everything they want, and that’s something both sides need to learn.