Results tagged “Flood”

There's a reason why Bob Vander Plaats has lost so many campaigns -- and that reason was on full display Wednesday.

The city of Ames and the Iowa State University campus have been devastated by flood water. A teenage girl was swept away from her family and later found dead in a waterway. Once again, thousands of state residents will have to push their way through government's red tape in order to access the assistance they need to recover from a natural disaster.

Residents in other parts of the state -- Monticello, Vinton, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Mason City, Columbus Junction, Coralville and Delhi, just to name a few -- simultaneously watch film of today's flooding while reliving the stored mental pictures of their own disaster.

At roughly the same moment when emergency workers were pulling that young woman's body from the water, Bob Vander Plaats held a press conference. Not only did he show a complete disregard for Iowa residents dealing with a disaster, he did so for no real purpose. That is, even conservative state pundits have acknowledged that there was no real reason for the press conference -- the second in as many weeks on the same topic.

While we may have come to expect such a single-minded, self-promotion approach to politics from Vander Plaats, it's worth noting that by his side on Wednesday stood Iowa Rep. Jodi Tymeson, who represents District 73 just south of the most recent flood destruction, and a Coralville (!?!) clergyman.

The pastor -- Brad Sherman -- also serves on the board for the Iowa Christian Alliance and, notably, sent out a call for all pastors throughout the state to get involved -- not with the new and ongoing flood recovery efforts throughout the state, but in the battle against same-sex marriage.

Natural disasters are precarious things for politicians. There is typically an emotional need to reach out to constituents or would-be constituents, but also a logical need to keep promises and pledges vague and at a minimum. That's why you see so many "we're going to make this right" comments from politicians who are on the ground immediately following a disaster. It's difficult to know what's available, what will eventually become available, and who is willing to provide what during and immediately following flooding, tornadoes or any number of horrific events.

Also, while people are going through the stress of the disaster, there is actually very little focus put on politicians. Weeks and sometimes months later, residents will begin to digest news clips from those times when they were too busy thinking about survival to care about the larger picture or what promises may have been made.

This very personal aspect of disaster recovery -- "rejoining" the world, so to speak -- is why Vander Plaats and especially Tymeson are so very ignorant for going forward with a needless press conference. Tucked away amid pictures of a flooded Hilton Coliseum, a train derailment, the closing of I-35, a horror-stricken family confronted with the loss of their daughter and the evacuations in Pleasant Hill will be pictures of Vander Plaats and Tymeson campaigning on the steps of a very dry and safe Iowa Judicial Building.

I know that people think we have to be making a mountain out of a molehill that the crazy stuff several of us say is happening in Cedar Rapids just can't possibly really be happening. 

Let me tell you about Beverly's day.  She awoke to sounds of demolition, an 1890's built home was coming down by the jaws of the excavator.  Tears rolled down her face.  The home had been gutted and was no danger to anyone.  She thought of the places that had not been cleaned since the flood that were not being touched.

Early in the afternoon Beverly was online and noticed her internet was acting up.  She called Qwest and found out the problem was on her end.  Beverly went outside and found Zinser Company digging in the street.  She told them they were messing up her phone line.  They had previously cut the line last month.  They were now digging in the exact same spot.  They didn't stop.  Her phone line was cut.

Beverly went outside to tell them they cut her phone line.  They denied it and told her she needed to move her car.  There were no "no parking signs" put up. The Zinser employee told Beverly if she did not move her car she would call the police.  She did.

You can watch the videos of all of this happening on crsmells.com. 

The thing that concerns me the most about all of this is that no one seems to care since it is not happening to them.  Beverly is not going to move from her home and they want her to move.  The construction company or rather the deconstruction company told her they would be cleaning the entire block and that includes her home.

Today the company dealing with the buy outs called to make sure that they didn't want to be on the list.  How many times will they have to say no.

A city councilman told Beverly that she would not be able to depend on having city services in the future.   Yes, they are calling this a voluntary buyout.

Are you your brother or sister's keeper?  If this were happening to you what would you want someone to do?

UPDATE

Beverly says this all started before Noon.  It was hours before her phone was back on.

What do you do when your City Council changes a law without the public's input or even an official vote.  You contact the State of Iowa's Citizen's Aide/Ombudsman.  A group of citizens in Cedar Rapids were tired of what was going on in their community and had a meeting.  I was chosen to be the spokesperson.  I talked to the Ombudsman's office and told them of our concern.

A year or so after the flood of 2008 it was obvious to all that there were going to be many needs of Citizens that were not going to be met through FEMA and Jumpstart.  A couple of the communities that were hit with flood waters were working class neighborhoods.  Many of these people are retired and on a fixed income, many more live from paycheck to paycheck.

Discussions began about a local option sales tax.  As the discussions continued, many citizens were concerned that if the tax were passed there would be no guarantee that the money would be used by the council in the way it was meant to be.  A lack of trust in politicians is nothing new. 

On February 20, 2009, the City Council sent out a press release.   This is a portion of that release.

For Immediate Release: Friday, February 20, 2009

Contact: Cassie Willis

Phone: 319-286-5055

City Council Confirms Housing Buyouts & Rehab Priority

At Wednesday evening's work session, the Cedar Rapids City Council unanimously confirmed its decision to prioritize flood-damaged property acquisition and housing rehabilitation as the first investments for tax revenues from the 1 percent local option sales and service tax (LOST), if the initiative is passed by voters.

"Our number one priorities are buying out significantly flood-damaged homes and rebuilding and repairing all the other flooded homes," said Council Member Chuck Wieneke. "LOST will provide the funding we desperately need." The City has requested state and federal funding to provide a voluntary property acquisition program for approximately 1,300 flood-damaged properties in Cedar Rapids. So far, that funding has not been made available to the City.

Council Member Chuck Wieneke was appointed to be the liaison between the Council and flood victims.  He was quoted in the Press Release saying "... all the other flooded homes".

On March 3, 2009 the citizens voted and the L.O.S.T. became a new tax of.01.  We were believing the money would be spent helping out the flooded home owners.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Mayor Ron Corbett and Councilman Chuck Wieneke will tell you in no uncertain terms that they will NOT spend one dime on the properties of the Greenway and Construction Zones.  These self-drawn zones by the City of Cedar Rapids did not appear until 6 months or so after the vote.  All of a sudden we don't have "all the other flooded homes" we have "all the other flooded homes BUT those in the Greenway or Construction/Study Zones". 

This is not what we voted for.  How can they change it?  We don't know and that is why we contacted the Ombudsman's Office.  If they can change the meaning of this law what's to keep them from changing anything else their hard-hearted selves want to do?  Doesn't the rule of law mean anything?  If not, losing our homes is the least of our concerns.

Mayor Corbett told me that the City Council changed it (the law) and we could do nothing about it.  I told him to change it back.  He quickly told me he did not have the votes to do it. Can you believe that?  Ron Corbett saying he doesn't have the votes to do something and letting that stop him.  I asked him about it again and he lost his temper, in public.  Yes, he got that mad.  The group at www.crsmells.com is going to put up portions of the taped conversation with the Mayor.  I sure don't have anything to lose with it.  He told the other participants they needed to distance themselves from me.  He said I had burned all sorts of bridges.  Maybe, we'll have them post that part of the conversation as well.

Now we wait to see what the Ombudsman's Office has to say.  I've gotten nothing in writing but I have been told they are looking into the matter.  They have requested information from the City.

I hope we are able to get the City Council back to the original intent of the law and repair the homes before the City is able to demolish them all.

Wish us luck, or call the Ombudsman's Office and tell them you can't believe this is happening in Iowa!


  

Tonight at the Cedar Rapids City Council meeting I met a young African-American woman.  She was there to tell her story about the flood.  She was timid and wasn't sure she would be able to read it.  I told her I would read it for her.  This is what she wrote:

"On June 11th 2008 I was a Linn County jail inmate on a probation violation.  As the water started rising we said to the guards are we gonna go to safety and they said it won't hit the jail and if we have to we will move you to the next floor.  We was watching the water go up and up.  We all was praying and freaking out that we wouldn't be stranded on Mays Island.  They didn't let us see if our family was alright.  I couldn't sleep cuz I was scared I was gonna die in jail and not be able to see my family before that happens.  I watched the water go over the wall by Smulekoff and up the 4th Ave block by block the lights went out. That was the most scariest thing I've ever seen in my life time.  I watched the Smulekoffs van float down the street .  The guards came in and told us about 5:30 AM the 12th and told us we would be leaving the Linn County jail.  The guards moved their cars and mattresses before us.  They left us in the building all night with a gas smell that was making me dizzy and sick.  We had wristbands with our number on it to identify our bodys.  And handcuffed 2 people together and shackled our legs.  We went to the first floor and the water was to my knees.  The guys and girls were all together on the 1st floor.  The guys were put in moving vans pilled up.  We had around 40 women on one city bus.  The bus I was on was full of water almost to my knees> The buses barely made it over the bridge.  The guards wouldn't even tell our familys the truth about us.  They told my mom and family that they moved us 2 days before they really did.  We didnt even know if our family was dead or alive.  Then after the flood all I got was $65.00 for my things.  I had a $100.00 shoes and a jacket.  We wasn't even allowed to bring our stuff such as pictures when we was moved to Oakdale we ate peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and dinner every day.  Nothing to even almost fill us up.  I didn't get to take a shower or brush my teeth for 3-4 days."

Who treats people like this?  Shackled together in a flood?  That's stupid and cruel.  In movies you always see those horrible prisons that are in Louisiana or Texas, just somewhere down South.  All I have to say is, that's a movie.  This is real life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Oh, I did ask her why she was in probation to start with.  Forgery.  Not a crime worth a chance of an accidental death by drowning.

A couple of weeks ago I bought Sarah Palin's book.  I've not been a fan, but I've heard her say she is not fairly portrayed by the press.

I liked some of what I read.  I could relate, I too am the mother of four and have a wonderful husband.  I've also been known to buck the leadership in the Republican party and go rogue.  Me, complaining about the boys. There are other examples, but I'll leave those for other times :0)

When I got to page 248 and read about Sarah's visit to Cedar Rapids, I was appalled!  She did not remember a thing about us.  If you checked the above link, it is rather obvious that the McCain-Palin event is an event I remember well. 

I told asked Lynda to check it out. Iowa Independent has her report.  Cedar Rapids does not need to be portrayed this way.  What if people really are reading this book? 

If this was the picture I had of Cedar Rapids when Rockwell Collins asked my husband to interview, I would have said, "NO!"  Fortunately it was during Mayor Clancey's administration and we were sent a CD showing us the benefits of living in Cedar Rapids.  We ultimately chose Cedar Rapids over Tampa, Florida.

I hope our City officials take this opportunity for a bit of free national press since Sarah Palin is a Fox News analyst.  If she's to be believable at Fox, surely, they want to correct what has been done in error to describe our wonderful City and the heartache that Sarah should have seen when she visited.

Kathy Potts

Late Wednesday night, following a special nominating convention, Linn County committee persons in Cedar Rapids precincts 1 through 11 chose Kirsten Running-Marquardt as their candidate in the special Iowa House District 33 race that is scheduled for Nov. 24.

Two days later, Running-Marquardt has issued her first official campaign statement, pledging to make flood recovery in Cedar Rapids a top priority.

"After the devastating 2008 flood, Cedar Rapids has the opportunity to come back better than ever and I'm excited to be a part of the future of Cedar Rapids," Running-Marquardt said in the prepared statement. "Our community is grateful for the support from the Iowa Legislature for recovery initiatives like IJOBS, unmet needs assistance and Jumpstart programs. However, we know there is more work to do and I will fight for continued support to give flood survivors the help, dignity and respect they deserve.

"We need smart flood recovery and prevention, which includes hiring Cedar Rapids workers to rebuild our community both stronger and safer while coordinating state level incentives for better watershed management upstream."

Running-Marquardt, the 32-year-old daughter of former Iowa Rep. Rich Running, was born and raised on the west side of Cedar Rapids. She attended Kirkwood Community College and graduated from the University of Iowa. After working for quality, affordable health care as director of SEIU's Iowa for Health Care, she became district representative for U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, a Democrat representing Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

She is married to Coy Marquardt and has one son, Jack.

The special election, prompted by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Dick Taylor, will be held Nov. 24. On Thursday night, the Republicans selected Josh Thurston, 27, an Army veteran and union member as their candidate.

House District 33 has voter demographics that would suggest that residents will continue to be represented by a Democrat -- as they have been for the past two decades.