Hog opponents threatened to kill me
Naturally I have terrible regrets about losing my state legislative race last fall. (Voters rejected my candidacy and then 598,000 U.S. jobs are lost during the first month of the new session.) But what I don't miss is the dangerous world of politics.
The Des Moines Register published claims today by Democratic State Rep. Delores Mertz that her life has been threatened by members of the public interest group, Citizens for Community Improvement. The organization had filed an ethics complaint last month against Mertz, charging a conflict-of-interest between Mertz family hog operations and her service as the head of the House Agriculture Committee. For 10 years, CCI has been a leading opponent of large-scale hog-confinement operations in the state. Mertz claims members of the organization have tried to run her off the road near her home, and she purports to have a tape recording at home of members threatening to shoot her.
I'll be curious to see Mertz produce this tape, or to find out if she'll be required to produce it by the news media. CCI is one of the truly enlightened public interest groups in this state. They sponsored a community debate I participated in during the run-up to the election, and I found their members to be not only serious and committed, but good-natured.
Mertz's accusations have taken the headlines today over the findings of the House Ethics Committee, which ruled against a conflict of interest between the Mertz's 4,000-head hog operation and her influential position in the House. Their verdict was ludicrous-- an example of House members protecting their own. (Here is CCI's official response to the ruling.) Each legislative member may have a conflict of interest of some kind in the chamber, as Rep. Dawn Pettengill suggests to the Register, but that doesn't mean they should be allowed to serve ashead of a committee that directly conflicts. The ranking member has tremendous influence over what bills make it to a vote on the House floor and what the bills look like when they get there.
The Des Moines Register published claims today by Democratic State Rep. Delores Mertz that her life has been threatened by members of the public interest group, Citizens for Community Improvement. The organization had filed an ethics complaint last month against Mertz, charging a conflict-of-interest between Mertz family hog operations and her service as the head of the House Agriculture Committee. For 10 years, CCI has been a leading opponent of large-scale hog-confinement operations in the state. Mertz claims members of the organization have tried to run her off the road near her home, and she purports to have a tape recording at home of members threatening to shoot her.
I'll be curious to see Mertz produce this tape, or to find out if she'll be required to produce it by the news media. CCI is one of the truly enlightened public interest groups in this state. They sponsored a community debate I participated in during the run-up to the election, and I found their members to be not only serious and committed, but good-natured.
Mertz's accusations have taken the headlines today over the findings of the House Ethics Committee, which ruled against a conflict of interest between the Mertz's 4,000-head hog operation and her influential position in the House. Their verdict was ludicrous-- an example of House members protecting their own. (Here is CCI's official response to the ruling.) Each legislative member may have a conflict of interest of some kind in the chamber, as Rep. Dawn Pettengill suggests to the Register, but that doesn't mean they should be allowed to serve ashead of a committee that directly conflicts. The ranking member has tremendous influence over what bills make it to a vote on the House floor and what the bills look like when they get there.
posted by CM @ 4:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home