Breaking! Postville Evictions To Resume – Agriprocessors Workers Face Brutal Cold, Lack Of Govt Help

Details:

Postville landlords will be resuming evictions of former (and current) Agriprocessors workers.

Why?

Because the government broke its word again.

As exclusively reported here, state and county agencies promised landlords rent reimbursement at market rates and then, once landlords stopped all pending evictions, those agencies reduced rent reimbursement rates by 33%.

Landlords (and their bankers) objected and pulled out of the emergency assistance program, moving to resume evictions.

The state hit back, in effect forcing landlords to again stop evictions – this time until a meeting with landlords and government officials could be arranged.

That meeting was then delayed by a week, until Tuesday January 13, again unilaterally, with no consultation with landlords. 

But Monday morning city officials unilaterally cancelled that meeting, as well.

Why?

The weather.

But, as a source told me, all participants in that meeting are local, except for one state official – and that state official was scheduled to participate by telephone.

So? Why was the meeting really cancelled?

Postville's mayor, Robert Penrod, is the public works director for Calmar,  a nearby town. North East Iowa has had a lot of snow this year, and the mayor, I'm told, is too busy overseeing snow plowing for Calmar to hold the meeting.

So the mayor cancelled that meeting unilaterally, rescheduling it for January 20.

I'm told at least one major Postville landlord is so fed up, he has restarted evictions.

Other landlords are on the verge of doing so, as well.

The temperature in Postville tonight will be -18º below zero. The high temperature Thursday is predicted to be -4º below zero.

Agriprocessors' former workers face homelessness in lethal cold. There are no public shelters in Postville.

The mayor plows his snow. The governor, state and county officials continue with their lives as if nothing has happened.

And that is Postville, Iowa in a nutshell.

Previous Posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Comments

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

Clearly, the mayor is using the Weather Channel 10 day forecasts to help in stalling the meeting.

[fuck]

Fuck scott rosenberg!! maybe he should build a fucking huge house to put these under nourished ppl

[Sarg]

Since when has it ever been the responsibility of any government entity (federal,state,or local) to provide for former employees of a failed company? There are some forms of help in unemployment and welfare, other than that, no matter where you live, you're on your own. Not only has Rubashnik screwed everybody in Postville, we are in a recession, life is tough. Furthermore, even as stupid as I am and have never been to Postville, nobody can convince me that everybody and the dog didn't know exactly what was going on. A town of 2200 and half of them work at Agri and the half at Agri were illegals????? Postville is a town, not a prison. People are free to carry their ass out of there and look for employment and living quarters. Get over it, do what you have to do and quit whining about government help. Where's all the assistance from the Chabadniks? They're the ones who ruined Postville and the people loved it. Until now.

[justice seeker]

Well I understand why the meeting was postponed. Since last Saturday we have had 5 snow storms, and 4 large wind events which is the heart of the problem. Except for a few hours Tuesday afternoon our road has been impassable for 4wd, or tractor. I expect the maintainer to clear the road tomorrow. Although it has been cleared every day, the winds have re-drifted the roads immediately. I know that is hard for you city slickers to comprehend, but thems the facts. The wind is supposed to start to back off tonight, but whether I will want to get out on the tractor, to clear a path to the road, when it is -25 and breezy is another thing. In this type of weather even clearing your driveway is a big deal. Moving wind packed snow is like shoveling rocks. Being in charge of roads in rural counties is a big deal when you have health emergencies, accidents,checks on the elderly to perform, and storm related power outages. I don't believe that the sheriff is going to be tossin folks out on the street in this weather.

I expect that one of the ongoing issues is the "documentation" supplied with regards to rents, and verifying how many folks actually occupy the property.In other words is the fair market rent $400 divided by 3 tenants, or is it $400 x 3 for the same house. I don't think the "landlords" have a spotless record. After all one of them is currently in the pokey. I'd hope folks would take any assistance and get new digs. I've never seen any "comments" from the local banks with regards to "pulling out" of any programs. Maybe I missed that, but I don't think so. Who knows who the lenders are. I'd want to be sure that the lenders are getting paid and that the landlords are not pocketing the rents and in anticipation for foreclosure. Its been known to happen. Frankly I'd be somewhat suprised if the "local banks" are the lenders. Usually these banks have an ag orientation and are not usually very competitive, by choice, in lending for primary, rental, or commercial properties. Now their bond is at Luana Savings Bank which does advertise itself as the #1 real estate lender in NE Iowa with a portfolio of $133 million, which is a very modest portfolio. If the loans are concentrated there I wouldn't be suprised if a problem was looming.

I will reserve my empathy for the current and former Agri workers not the "landords".
For the most part they bought low and rented high, and probably refinaced to purchase more property. Now if they were tossed out in the cold, it probably would have a sense of justice to it, but it is awfully cold right now. I don't think resheduling or postponing for a few days is a terrible problem at the moment.

[Archie Bunker]

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/tax-issues-derail-fast-ok-for-geithner/305127

You'd think that Barack Osama could at least tap someone to head the IRS that pays his taxes.

[Rachel Batya]

Hey justiceseeker, thanks for explaining the situation. I live in the rurals and the snow, and I know what it's like just to wait to get the road cleared. It can take days, sometimes without power (which means no water, no lights, no cookstove).

I hope you're right that no one will be evicted in sub-zero temperatures. There has to be some decency, somewhere.

[just wondering]

The landlords must be OUTSTANDING CITIZENS to think they would evict people in the freezing temps vs. taking less (which is still probably too much) for rent. They are no better than Sholom, who also used people for greed and profit. Sarg hit it right on the nose with his comments. Thank you. Everyone is so sick of all the lies for personal gain, speaking in general about the Rubushkins, landlords and even Joe Sarachek. He must think people are pretty naive to think there are 12 companies looking to buy Agri. With the economy the way it is you'd be lucky to have 1 interested party (they'd be wanting it for bottom line pricing). Include 100 million in the hole and you'd probably lose the 1 interested party. Anyway you figure it out it would be doomed from the beginning. The only interest shown in all probability is more crooks. So if the workers want more of the same treatment they have been subjected to stay around. But don't complain! Most people are really sick to death of the ongoing diaster and are washing their hands from it. Tear it down, load it up and move it on!

[Curious Postville Native]

[He must think people are pretty naive to think there are 12 companies looking to buy Agri.]

I believe Joe. As a country-raised individual, I am aware of what happens when an animal perishes. There is always a minumum of twelve vultures circling the dead carcass hoping to partake in the feast. This situation is quite similar.

[just wondering]

Curious Postville Native,
Too funny! Thanks for the laugh!!
Don't you really mean 12 crooks? Either way let them all take it apart piece by piece, in other words tear it, load it and move it on!!

[steve]

Most people are really sick to death of the ongoing diaster and are washing their hands from it. Tear it down, load it up and move it on!

Agreed!

[sage]

G-d forbid, if even just one evicted person ends up dying in the bitter cold, then add murder to the roster of sins borne by the Rubashkins, the OU and the heartless slumlords.

[Shmarya]

G-d forbid, if even just one evicted person ends up dying in the bitter cold, then add murder to the roster of sins borne by the Rubashkins, the OU and the heartless slumlords.

Why not the Postville city government, the mayor, the state, the county and the banks?

Because that is where most of the fault lies.

[Sarg]

Shmarya, Have you lost your senses? The entire fault lies with Rubashkin and the way he did business. Bulldoze the place, forget the Rubashkin Crime Family and build a Wal-Mart superstore.

[neighbor girl]

I heard that the apartments on the northeast side of Postville, formerly owned by Ron Wahls and Sholom Rubashkin, have been foreclosed on by the Luana Savings Bank. Are they involved in the evictions?

[sage]

Thank you, Sarg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Isa]

I hope the stainless steel toilet that that ol Rubi has to use in his jail cell is REAL cold.

[Curious Postville Native]

[Postville landlords will be resuming evictions of former (and current) Agriprocessors workers.]

Shmarya-

Do you know when the evictions will obegin to occur?

[Curious Postville Native]

Correction-
Do you know when the evictions will begin to occur?

[Curious Postville Native]

[I'm told at least one major Postville landlord is so fed up, he has restarted evictions.]

Who?

[Curious Postville Native]

[G-d forbid, if even just one evicted person ends up dying in the bitter cold,]

Let's all pray (together) that no one was actually evicted today.

Equally as frightening is-

Supposedly, there are still some families, not 'caught' in the raid, who are living in homes without heat tonight in Postville.

[Equal Time]

--Because that is where most of the fault lies.--

Seems like there is plenty of fault to spread around here.

While something absolutely had to be done about the way the plant was being run - the mob mentality method that essentially ended with the shuttering of the place resulted in a situation where there really wasn't a plan in place to deal with the human issues you are effectively reporting on.

Seriously - what did anyone THINK would happen when you jerked direct employment for nearly half the townsfolk out from under them essentially over night - or the other half who were (not exclusively) employed supporting the needs of the first group?

Rationally - one would assume that the chaos coming would rsemble the chaos we have.

I have NO idea what the "proper" method should have been - but clearly, this isn't the model for "next time".

[sage]

+++ have NO idea what the "proper" method should have been - but clearly, this isn't the model for "next time".

Posted by: Equal Time | January 15, 2009 at 06:00 AM +++

Hi Equal Time,

One example of a "proper" method is in the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Feuerstein

[Jon]

Will Chabad raise money to help those who will be evicted?
Will they get temporary housing in Jewish community centers?

[sage]

+++ Will Chabad raise money to help those who will be evicted?
Will they get temporary housing in Jewish community centers?

Posted by: Jon | January 15, 2009 at 06:44 AM +++

Most likely NOT.
Most likely NOT.

[WoolSilkCotton]

Chabad is looking for handouts for their own in the Postville area, who are now out of work or underemployed. They are also looking to raise $$$ for SMR's legal defense.

They will not give a dime to anyone else.

[upset]

Why not take the money that Rubushkin was going to use to protect him in his home and use it for the people that he stole from so they don't get evicted. He deserves everything he gets.