Postville Lost 40% Of Population Since Raid – “We don’t have enough population left to maintain our obligations," Mayor Says

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Postville on the brink of collapse, town leaders tell Braley
By JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD, Courier Staff Writer

POSTVILLE — In a visit Thursday with Rep. Bruce Braley, Postville city officials painted a dire picture of a town decimated by population loss and unemployment.

Blighted homes abandoned by owners unable to make mortgage payments mar city blocks.

Simply providing water and sewer utilities leaves the town in debt.

City clerk Darcy Radloff said she receives less than half of the $95,000 in monthly water and sewer fees from 860 residential accounts. The City Council voted to stop monthly payments to the federal government on a costly water treatment plant because the the city is broke. It relied on Agriprocessors to pay off most of the loan, and the company has not paid a single bill to the city since September.

Postville, which used to be home to 2,300 people, taps surrounding county jails to handle the increased number of arrests.

Mayor Bob Penrod said the town has lost at least 40 percent of its population since an immigration raid last year brought Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant that employed 900 people at its peak, to its knees.

“We don’t have enough population left to maintain our obligations. We are running a deficit,” Penrod said. “It’s not a pretty picture, believe me.”

School principals are concerned about taking a step back on standardized test scores with so many new students. In addition, recently arrived children often come from troubled homes and require social services.

“I never had dealt with DHS (Deparment of Human Services). I’ve talked to them more this year than I probably will for the rest of my career,” said Chad Wahls, Postville’s elementary and middle school principal.

To top it off, a $698,000 federal  grant designed to keep people in their homes is set to run out at the end of February.

Braley encouraged the town to stay in contact with his staff and apply for the many grants that will come available if a proposed $825 billion stimulus bill passes Congress. The money could provide more cops on the street and grants for things like water treatment facilities, he said.

He told the group to also talk to Iowa’s two senators. They hold powerful positions on important committees, he said, and might be able to pull some strings for Postville, a town he called the poster child for the country’s broken immigration system.

“If you’re in the situation I sense you’re in, you’ll want to take any train leaving the station,” he said.

City and regional officials were only one of several groups to meet with Braley. The Iowa congressman said seeing so many people banding together gives him confidence that the town will rise back on its feet.

“It reminds me a lot of the communities after the floods and tornadoes this summer; people knocked on their backs trying to come together and rebuild,” he said.

Comments

[face]

It's the governemtns fault for meddling. If they didn't stick their nose in other people's business postville wouldn't be in the mess it's in now. It's not like the workers didn't want to be there, they did and they contributed to society. Now postvilles gonna be a ghost town.

[JB]

Braley is the one who brought Postville to its knees. I am surprised they didnt send him home on a stretcher.

[Max]

face:
So the government is guilty of upholding the law so its the governments fault? Just because Rubashkin broke the law, engaged in bank fraud, conspired to hire illegal aliens, engaged in document fraud, violated child labor laws, you think its the governments fault???
Get real.
And don't blame this on anti-Semitism. Being orthodox does not give one special dispensation and allow one to break the law.
The law is the law and it applies to all.

[State of Postville 2]

JB - I'm curious. How did Congressman Braley "bring Postville to it's knees"?

[Curious Postville Native]

As a lifelong resident of Postville, I truly believe the time has come when we, as a unified community, must heed the words expressed through 'The Serenity Prayer'~

[G-d, grant me the serenity to-
accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.]

It is time we move our focus to concerns with regard to the whole community. We need to stop focusing on specific individuals or groups within the community.

This is realistic and is not heartless. This is similar to what behaviorists convey when they say . . . A mother needs to take care of herself, so she will be able to care for her children.

[State of Postville 2]

CPN -

Good point and even better advice.

However, I strongly believe we need to perform our own "due diligence" with anything and everything related to new ownwers and new employees.

We need to know who this mysterious "American investor" aligned with the Sogloewk offer is.

We need to ensure the labor supply companies they must ultimately employ will not be making false promises to prospective employees and these labor supply outfits will not be recruiting from homeless shelters again.

[Curious Postville Native]

SOP 2-

Yes, agree. In the future, we need to weigh every potential opportunity. We, Postville citizens side-by-side with community leaders, need to think every decision through, then decide if the opportunity presented is beneficial to the Postville community, WHOLLY beneficial.

[State of Postville III]

Why wasn't the city council invited to the meeting. They are the governing body of the city not the mayor and clerk. We need to be very diligent that we aren't persuaded to take a deal when it will not benefit the town. The long-term residents are paying their way, and why are the water bills increased and the water deposits increased during athis time of unemployment. It is the landlords who are not paying their utilities. CPN and SOP 2 are so correct. Hopefully they will step up to the plate and initiate some communication with the city leaders to pursue the best for Postville.

[State of Postville 2]

SOP 3 -

It is the responsibility of every resident of this town to call the council members and the city hall to voice their concerns.

Speak often and loudly!

[Hometown Postville]

I will be curious to see what kind of workforce this potential owner brings out of the woodwork. Jobs are certainly scarce enough now to motivate many to apply. Hopefully there will be intense scrutiny of the practices/work conditions so people can expect an honest day's wage for an honest day's work. Much has also been said about water bills not being paid from unoccupied rentals. How many of those Postville homes have been heated this winter? or will the majority end up being sold at garage sale prices because of burst water pipes/no heat?

[State of Postville III]

Members of the city council were aware of the meeting but were not invited to attend. A lot of homes have not been heated or winterized and the pipes have burst. This town based their economy on illegal immigrants, and therefore, is paying the price. Those of us who did not "bail out" when things weren't going well are paying our bills. It is easy to speak loudly but hard to get people to listen. Many times I have felt like Condoleza Rice who apparently no one much listed to either. This is a labor hungry enviornment so there is no excuse for bringing in people when this area has a work force, just make it a job worth working with adequate pay and beneifts.

[State of Postville III]

Oops--wrong the council was invited to the meeting. But when you pay your water bill think about how GAL investments were let off the hook for thousands of dollars. Another example of the fleesing of citizens who are responsible and pay their way.

[State of Postville III]

CPN & SOP 2 need to organize folks to attend the next council meeting and ask, if the city doesn't have any money, why they let GAL off the hook for the rumor is, $120,000. We should do a protest and not pay our exorbent bills for several months and see what happens. They, in all their good sense, raised the rates by approximately 40%, and if they weren't paid, too bad. Now they are giving a BIG break to the greedy. One more injustice to the beleagured folks who try to skimp on water just to be able to pay the big bills. Let's scream and holler because being kicked over and over is not pretty.