Gazette Column Archives » Page 3 of 45

30Jan 2019 by Lynda Waddington

Put people at center of public policies

Gazette Column

Maybe, now that the business community is raising red flags, something will change. Members of the Iowa Business Council, a group that represents the state's largest businesses, held a news conference at the Statehouse Monday to release their annual, nonpartisan review of economic trends. Dubbed Iowa's Competitive Dashboard, the report measures statewide progress in five areas relative to other states - economic growth, education and workforce, governance, demographics and diversity, and health and wellness. Headlines from the rollout have focused on demographics and diversity because the Business Council found the greatest shortcomings in that area, and because the issue rolls nicely into the larger national conversation about immigration. In the coming days, the Council plans to launch a public-private partnership to research and implement ways the state can attract and…

14Mar 2018 by Lynda Waddington

Bill Dix should have been long gone

Gazette Column

What does it say about our state when an illicit kiss is considered more professionally disgraceful than failed leadership? Please, don’t get me wrong. I’m not sad about the decision by Senate Majority Bill Dix, a Shell Rock Republican, to resign from his leadership post and the Iowa General Assembly. I’m just wondering why his ouster took this long, and why his other expensive failures weren’t considered horrendous enough to force his resignation. Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, (left) and Senate President Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, (right) confer on the Senate floor during the 2017 legislative session. (Rod Boshart/The Gazette) Last fall the state settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with former Senate Republican staff member Kirsten Anderson to the tune of $1.75 million. That settlement came out of the…

12Mar 2018 by Lynda Waddington

Iowa Republicans prefer to lie in private

Gazette Column

Iowa House Republicans are behaving like children who have something to hide. Because they do. Last week, the Iowa House Public Safety Committee took up House File 481, the misnamed “sanctuary city” bill. Not only did members choose one of the smallest rooms in the Statehouse for the meeting, but Chairman Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, reserved nearly all the seats for GOP clerks. As Gazette political reporter James Q. Lynch noted in his article, such staffers do not typically attend committee meetings. Baudler said it was an attempt to maintain order as lawmakers again discussed the possibility of withholding untold swathes of state funding from local governments that do not go above and beyond what federal immigration law requires. Although GOP lawmakers want to frame this bill as a law-and-order measure…

10Mar 2018 by Lynda Waddington

Iowa House bars school lunch shaming

Gazette Column

Feeding kids linked to academic achievement, economic productivity Members of the Iowa House unanimously voted this week to protect Iowa school children from shaming — and give communities an economic edge. House File 2467 directs school districts to feed children, even those with meal accounts in the red, while continuing to pursue parents for payment. Alternate meals remain permissible, if the alternate is available to all students and not only those with negative meal account balances. It’s an effort to end what’s known as “shaming” of children whose parents and guardians don’t or can’t pay. Across the nation, and here in Iowa, students have had lunch trays taken from their hands and dumped into trash cans while other students watched. For some students in the Cedar Rapids area, this happened…

04Mar 2018 by Lynda Waddington

Iowa Legislature is ignoring red flags

Gazette Column

Debate on bill, amendments aimed at preventing gun violence denied Wary lawmakers in Iowa and around the nation insist ongoing debate about gun violence should center on mental illness, and not guns. So why is legislation aimed at temporarily removing guns from people in crisis being ignored? Iowa Rep. Art Staed, D-Cedar Rapids, made headlines this week for killing his own amendment, a red flag law he’d attached to a bill concerning mental health. The bill, which came out of the House Human Resources Committee, added provisions for involuntary commitments and hospitalizations and provided rules about how behavioral health information is disclosed to law enforcement agencies. Staed’s amendment would have allowed concerned family members and close friends to petition the court for a temporary weapons injunction against a person who…

03Mar 2018 by Lynda Waddington

March 8 is for women worldwide

Gazette Column

People around the globe will gather on March 8 to celebrate and advocate on behalf of women and girls. One such International Women’s Day gathering is a collaborative luncheon in Marion. The Women’s Equality Coalition of Linn County and the local branch of the American Association of University Women are partnering to host a catered box lunch event at Hills Bank, 3204 7th Ave., beginning at noon. Space is limited; advance tickets are $15 with all proceeds benefiting the Nancylee Ziese Scholarship Fund. “I think it’s important that women locally hear about and understand that many of the problems we face are faced by women and girls around the world. We are not alone; we are sisters,” said former Iowa lawmaker Bev Hannon, who serves as secretary for the Women’s…

28Feb 2018 by Lynda Waddington

Anamosa police chief ouster is a good start

Gazette Column

Anamosa’s police chief was released from duty Monday night with little fanfare. It’s the beginning, but hardly the end, of a lengthy trail of community distrust. Following years of largely unchecked inappropriate behavior by former chief Bob Simonson, city officials seemed determined to make the process of his termination as low-key as possible. Council members held a closed session Monday afternoon to discuss Simonson’s transgressions and consider a proposed retirement agreement. Back in public view, council formally rejected further negotiations and then quickly voted to adjourn without additional explanation or discussion. Two hours later, when the body met again in regular session, the agenda was shuffled. The first action item was a motion for summary termination of the police chief with an order for Simonson to surrender all city equipment…

25Feb 2018 by Lynda Waddington

No room for racism, sexism

Gazette Column

In any political climate, actions in Anamosa demand accountability. Imagine opening an email message from your boss and discovering a video clip of a woman in a Santa hat peeling off her clothing and presenting her breasts like a gift. Now imagine that your boss is the police chief, and that the email was sent to a group that included at least one City Council member and several of your fellow law enforcement officers. Finally, imagine the email isn’t an isolated incident, that it is one of several disturbing lewd and/or racist messages. That’s part of the situation that led former Anamosa police officer Amy Ford to file a gender discrimination lawsuit against the city, and also part of why the lawsuit was settled for $750,000 earlier this year. Anamosa City Hall,…

24Feb 2018 by Lynda Waddington

Consider legislative solutions to recidivism

Gazette Column

Key pathways in Iowa’s quest to reduce recidivism are initiatives the Department of Corrections can’t initiate. About 95 percent of the Iowa prison population will eventually be returned to local communities. For several years, the Iowa Department of Corrections has explored ways to reduce the number of those who return to state custody. And, until recently, departmental efforts have been paying off. In 2014, recidivism fell to 29.7 percent — down from a staggering 45 percent 15 years earlier. But recidivism is once again climbing. It was 34.2 percent for 2016, the most recent figures available. A look inside Housing Unit #2 at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison on Friday, Apr. 10, 2015. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette Archives) This year marks the end of a $3 million, three-year Second Chance…

22Feb 2018 by Lynda Waddington

This is what democracy looks like

Gazette Column

Hundreds of area residents who took time this past snowy Saturday morning to attend a League of Women Voters’ Legislative Forum also should take a moment to pat themselves on the back. It was a job well done, and all participants — residents, lawmakers and organizers — deserve kudos for creating and being part of such a civil political display. Despite inclusion of hot-button issues like abortion, state finances and gun rights, Democratic and Republican lawmakers sat side-by-side and answered questions while people listened — a refreshing exercise of democracy that has lately become the exception instead of the rule. And, given the most recent national revelations, such events may serve as a cure for our political dysfunction. [caption id="attachment_1945" align="alignright" width="500"] Local members of the Iowa Legislature answered questions…