Tammy R. Lawson

June 19, 2008
By Tammy R. Lawson
MC Sun Staff Writer

We have all seen them wedged against a fence or blowing across the road-the ubiquitous plastic grocery bag-and the popular carry-all was the main topic at the Marshall County Board of Supervisors’ June 10th session.

Discussions were held with local citizens whether to eventually execute an ordinance that would ban non-compostable grocery bags used within the county. This ban would only affect two rural convenience stores outside of the city limits.

San Francisco was the first US city to enforce such a ban last November. If Marshall County was to follow through, it would be first in the state to do so. Other cities in California, Texas, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Arizona, and Maryland have also considered similar bans on the infamous bag as well.

The discussion came amid growing concerns, one of which over 100 billion of the handy bags end up in America’s landfills each year. But instead of entering their trash-heap destination, many are becoming airborne to get caught in fences, trees, and power lines while also clogging the throats of wild animals, gutters, and sewers, not to mention the long-term environmental consequences.

“I’ve found bags that have blown into my corn field from who knows where,” Board member Ron Goecke said. “It’s getting out of hand.”

“I think an ordinance is unnecessary and it should be left up to the individual to decide if they want to use a plastic bag,” said local farmer Grant Upah, who was against any future proposal. “The government should stay out of this decision. On my farm, it’s not a big issue, and I can’t believe it’s a big issue on any other farm. We’ve got more important issues to deal with.”

Bag manufacturers prefer the plastic wonders because they cost only a penny per bag to produce, while many consumers prefer their ease of carrying items home from stores.

“I think all three of us on the Board have had people call us with a misunderstanding about what we’re doing,” said Board member Pat Brooks. “We’re only considering banning those with a petroleum base and this is only a discussion about it. We’re not here to ban all plastic bags.”

Bags are manufactured from crude oil, natural gas, or other petrochemical derivatives which are transformed into molecules known as polymers or polymer resin. After being heated, shaped, and cooled, the plastic is ready to be printed for merchant distribution.

But that’s a misnomer, according to Phil Rozenski, Director of Environmental Strategies for Hilex Poly LLC, a manufacturer of plastic bag products based in St. Louis, Missouri. “Plastic bags aren’t made from petroleum…they’re made from natural gas. It’s one of the biggest misconceptions out there on the internet.”

He continued, “Ninety one percent less energy is used to recycle a plastic bag than a paper bag, so we have an energy offset with the plastic bags.”

Clair Long of Marshalltown said he didn’t feel the plastic grocery bags were that much of a problem. “I’ve seen some, of course, and we expect to see some but we do reuse the plastic bags and recycle.”

Resident Mary Stewart stated in a written letter that the Board of Supervisors was to be commended for their concern over use of the bags in convenience stores rurally. “These bags pollute the environment while providing a danger to habitat and wildlife in the area.”

Environmentalists have rallied against their use for years because they are difficult to recycle and take anywhere from 400 to 1000 years to decompose, whether in landfills or your local farm land.

Melbourne resident Linda Barnes said she was a biologist who would support a proposal if one was brought forth. “On our farm, we encounter a great number of plastic bags caught in fruit trees, fence lines, and Iowa is the most altered state in the nation. We have less original eco-system than any other state and it would be nice if Marshall County could make a simple statement.”

“All this would be is a statement because we’re only affecting two businesses,” said Chairman Gordie Johnson, “but it is a starting point as to say we do care.”

“Why have we have not, as a county, embraced the efforts of the city?” asked Curt Loney. “There aren’t any city personnel here and they should be very interested. If you get the city into this, there are lots of areas we can work together on, and this is a big one.”

“We talked with the city about this several months ago, and we delivered a copy of this [proposal] so they could see our efforts,” Brooks said. “I hope the city will do something, but it has to be something that makes sense and accommodates everyone.”

There was no word if or when the issue would receive future discussion, but it’s safe to say the cat’s out of the bag, and it’s not a paper one.

May 15, 2008

By Tammy R. Lawson

MC Sun Staff Writer

Likened to a baseball game, five candidates stepped up to the plate last week, and one was able to hit it out of the park.

The Marshalltown Community School District Board of Education unanimously voted Monday to appoint Dr. Marvin L. Wade as new superintendent effective July 1st, replacing Dr. Harrison Cass who will step down the end of June.

Wade, a former Iowa resident, has been a superintendent for eight years in Keenesburg, Colorado, with a total of 13 years in the Weld Re-3J Community School District. As well, he served as principal for the Clay County School District in Kansas from 1992-1995 and as a special education advisor from 1990-1992. Wade earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Colorado State University in 1979, an Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado in 1983, and his Doctorate in Educational Administration from Kansas State University in 1995.

Board President Adrienne Macmillan said even though all five candidates were extremely qualified, communicative skill was one of the differentials between Dr. Wade and the others.

“We felt he was a very effective communicator, and not just with a singular group, but with multiple groups,” she said. “One of the criteria for the Board of Education was to find [someone] that could lead the District through a strategic planning process, and when it came to that part of our interviewing, Dr. Wade, by far, pretty much hit a home run as to how he was going to approach that, along with the experiences he had to support it.”

“I am very happy about it,” Wade stated by telephone from his home in Colorado, thrilled to be the chosen one out of 18 applicants. “I’m sure that the other candidates were good and I wish them the best of luck in whatever they’re doing, but at the same time, I really wanted this position, and I want to be a part of the Marshalltown Community School District. My wife Kathy and I are looking forward to being part of the Marshalltown community.”

Wade added he was very impressed that the Board has very high expectations, and “not only are they going to expect a lot from me, but from the community and themselves to step up so we can accomplish some great things for the betterment of the students. I’m really excited about it.”

The process to find the new super was done in collaborated fashion over three months which included hiring the search firm McPherson & Jacobson to collect applications and put them through vigorous interviews in order to narrow the field to five finalists. In the home stretch, several focus groups (represented by community members, parents, teaching staff, students, businesses, central office staff, and building administrators) interviewed the five candidates in five days before the Board rendered its final choice Saturday afternoon.

But some in the community questioned why the District engaged a search firm to assist in finding a new superintendent instead of initiating the selection locally.

“As Board members, we all do other things; we have full time jobs out there that we attend to, we raise kids, and so forth,” remarked Macmillan. “The expertise and professionalism that McPherson & Jacobson brought into this process was phenomenal. They really made themselves an extension of our educational community and worked with us in a very detailed level to help work through our selection criteria. It really made our job very easy in the fact that we got 18 total candidates at this time of the year and with the vast majority having solid superintendent experience, it is a credit to their firm.”

In all, the Board was pleased how the community and focus groups rallied around choosing the new leader, exhibiting a team effort, as well as spirit. Macmillan concluded, “It truly demonstrates that whole adage about how it takes a village to raise a child, and this was it.”

Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008

Members of The Iowa Utilities Board voted 2-1 in favor of Alliant Energy’s plan to build a 630-megawatt coal plant in Marshalltown.

May 8, 2008

By Tammy R. Lawson

MC Sun Staff Writer

For three hours, you could have heard a pin drop anywhere in the room.

Fate lay in the hands of the Iowa Utilities Board, which after much deliberation on everything from greenhouse gasses to economic growth, was sealed in a 2-1 favored victory for Interstate Power and Light Company (a subsidiary of Alliant Energy) to proceed with construction of its 630-megawatt coal/biomass plant in Marshalltown.

But unlike corn stalks the facility would burn, the April 30th decision wasn’t as cut and dried.

Board Chairman John Norris attached stipulations to the approved permit:

*Five percent of the plant’s electric generation must be derived from biomass within two years and 10 percent stemming from biomass within five years;

*Alliant must generate 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2013 (the projected start of service) and another 25 percent from renewable sources by 2028;

*If regulations are passed by Congress for the capture of carbon dioxide emissions, Alliant would be totally responsible for those emission costs without executing rate increases.

“I do think it would be a wise decision to wait a couple of years and see what strides have been made in carbon capturing,” Norris said. “But in looking at the big picture, I don’t know if all that much will change during that time.”

Board member Darrell Hanson, who voted against granting the certificate, had reservations. “I think the company may have aimed unrealistically high in assuming the cost alternatives for carbon constraints. We could approve this, but what happens if we’re wrong? You have to look at the risks and the consequences. It’s a matter of, which risk are we willing to take?”

“I think these conditions are reasonable,” said Board member Krista Tanner. “I also think as far as renewable energy goes, this application satisfies that.”

Norris added that the stipulations would reduce the burden of higher rates. “Consumers do have a lot of financial risk here, and this will add generation for the company’s customer base to support reliability, while providing continued incentive for wind/renewable energy-not only at this plant, but throughout the entire fleet in Iowa.”

IPL President Tom Aller said it was understandable for the regulatory body to add what ever conditions they wanted to the decision. “They represent our customers and the people of our state, so that’s what their job is. We take no issue whatsoever with the board wanting to condition the first part of this case.”

Mayor Gene Beach, also in attendance, was satisfied. “I believe that this is just the first step on many good announcements to come as a result of IPL selecting Marshalltown as its site for the most efficient plant in the Midwest.”

The following day, Beach received a phone call from Newton Mayor Chaz Allen, who’s city is constructing a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine facility, congratulating Marshalltown on its accomplishment.

“We discussed how the proposed plant will benefit all of us with jobs during construction, as well as the generation fees that will be coming in once generation starts,” Beach said. “We also discussed how the new TPI blade plant in Newton will fit nicely with Alliant’s wind generation plans…this means a great deal for the city, the area, and the state.”

But while the celebrating commenced for some, disappointment ensued for others, bringing the old saying “it ain’t over ’til it’s over” into play.

Speculation is high that Plains Justice attorneys Carrie La Seur and Jana Linderman, who represented five environmental organizations opposing the plant during January’s IUB hearing, may appeal the decision and block the necessary air quality permit from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources which is due by September, and contingent upon the final written decision expected in a few weeks.

“We believe that we prevailed on most factual issues and are very disappointed that the IUB didn’t rule in our favor,” La Seur said. “We are pleased with the Board’s recognition of its obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, we remain concerned with the negative environmental impacts of this plant, and it is far from clear that this ruling will do anything to meaningfully reduce [those] emissions all the members identified as a problem.”

Linderman added, “While we had asked that the Board deny the certificate, their approval is subject to a number of major conditions, and we will have to review the final written order carefully before making a firm decision how to respond.”

Denison native Jim Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, also testified in January and was equally disappointed with the vote. “The decision makes no sense for the people of Iowa and the creatures of the planet. It especially short changes our children and grandchildren for the short term benefit of a small number of special interests who benefit by the burning of a cheap, dirty fuel.”

He continued, “Coal serves the interest of only a handful of oligarchs, but our officials are letting these special interests ride roughshod over the public, our planet, and creation. This is a case of cutting the baby in half-a dastardly deed. Somebody had better object real soon.”

Until the DNR decision is handed down on air quality, plant supporters like local Alliant representative Kenn Vinson are basking in the after-vote, for now. “An extremely big hurdle has been cleared.”

Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008

April 10, 2008

By Tammy R. Lawson

MC Sun Staff Writer

Ladies and Gentlemen: Starchure engines!

With Marshalltown Speedway marking 44 years of Midwest racing, last Friday’s annual Frostbuster Event almost didn’t happen due to a wintery rain and snow blow-out that threatened to cancel the entire thing.

But instead, mud flew from tires, stands were sardine-packed, and history was made for the hometown dirt track.

A record 160 race teams came from four states to compete in 30 separate International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) races, which was a surprise to Susan Avery. “We have people here from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri,” she said in between selling tickets to the dozens of people who waited in line. “I think the turnout is excellent for the first night of the year.”

And yes, according to staffer Kathy Link, “We have female drivers who race here, too…we have one here tonight.”

Incidentally, outside sponsors donated to the purse, and before all was said and done, the Modified Class would take home the largest payoff in speedway history-$2008 for the heat race.

Denny Grabenbauer kept with tradition, announcing that winner as Brian Mullen, who made his first appearance at the speedway, and by the sound of it, he was glad he made the trek from Wisconsin to participate. “The track was great! I’ve never won so much money in one race in my life!”

For the Stock Car division, Dustin Smith greeted the checkered flag first, while Luke Wanninger would be the Sport Mod Class winner.

Devin Smith joined his brother Dustin in victory lane by winning the Hobby Stock event, and Randy Bryan was also the front runner in the Dwarf Car feature, scoring his first win at the speedway in over two years.

In addition to several races lined up throughout the new season, the speedway is hosting several family events, including Faster Pastor Night on June 13th and the Cardboard Classic on August 15th.

After last Friday’s success, promoter Toby Kruse is gearing up with anticipation of tomorrow night’s Season Opener. “We [will] continue to grow this event into one of the premier events in the country.”

Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008

April 10, 2008
By Tammy R. Lawson
MC Sun Staff Writer

With April 7th through April 12th being declared Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa, the timing for Marshall County couldn’t have been any better.

Meteorologist-In-Charge Brenda Brock, from the National Weather Service in Des Moines, recognized Marshall County as a StormReady® county by presenting Deanna Bachman, left, and Kimberly Elder, middle, on behalf of Marshall County Emergency Management, with a plaque and special StormReady® signs as recognition for a job very well done.

This makes Marshall only the fourth county out of 99 in the state to do so thus far, according to Warning Coordinator Specialist Jeff Johnson.

“One thing Marshall County has done-that I don’t think any other county nationwide has-was to [recently] provide every citizen with a weather radio,” Johnson said. “That stands out as a highlight in my career, observing a county who had gone the extra mile to try and make their citizens safe.”

According to the National Weather Service, a county or university must go through a rigorous process to receive StormReady® status by:

*Establishing a 24-hour warning point/emergency operations center;
*Having more than one way to receive severe weather forecasts and warnings in order to alert the public;
*Creating a system that monitors local weather conditions;
*Promoting the importance of public readiness through community seminars;
*Developing a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters, as well as holding emergency exercises.

“Actually, I’d like to thank everyone in the county because if they all didn’t cooperate, we couldn’t have done this county-wide, and this was a two-year process,” Elder said, addressing the audience. “We worked with 13 different cities and departments, including fire, and whatever we had to do to meet the criteria, everyone signed on and helped.”

In a whirlwind, the ceremony ended and weather spotter training began with approximately 100 people on hand at MCC’s DeJardin Hall, including members of Marshall County’s Board of Supervisors, listening as Johnson taught a two-hour class on recognizing an inclement weather threat, its effects, and the importance of weather spotters, especially when it comes to tornadic activity.

According to Bachman, between 60-80 weather spotters are trained each year in order to assist citizens in and outside the county with being prepared for emergency situations, and spotters have become a necessity to the system.

“We have to thank all of our spotters out in the area, because they are the eyes and ears for us,” Bachman remarked. “When they see something out in the county that maybe isn’t picked up by radar, they can call and get that information to the weather service in order to get warnings and information out.”

Ronald and Colette Benge of Marshalltown attended the class and couldn’t have agreed more, especially after last week’s episode of tornado sirens that were heard throughout the county. “I’ve been through a tornado, and when I looked out, it didn’t look as if one should even be around,” Ronald said, “but it didn’t change the fact that it was there!”

Welcome to Iowa.

Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008

March 13, 2008
By Tammy R. Lawson
MC Sun Staff Writer

On January 23rd, PRC, L.L.C. announced that its Fort Lauderdale, Florida based company had filed for Chapter 11 restructuring in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, stating that business operations would continue as usual with no layoff plans to speak of-being reiterated on February 4th.

Four weeks later, the 26 year old company said it plans to eliminate approximately 850 jobs by closing three of five Iowa call centers and scaling back in others-Marshalltown’s location being one of the terminated sites by May-which will result in a loss of 275 jobs statewide.

What could have possibly happened in such a short amount of time to change their strategies?

Keep this in mind: Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the act of hiring a third-party company to handle business activities for corporations, and that’s what PRC Call Centers specialize in. The word ‘outsourcing’ has become a modern day term for large companies that move operations offshore in hopes of low overhead and high reward, sadly becoming the US norm.

According to bankruptcy dockets, PRC, formerly known in Marshall County as Access Direct, entered reported assets of $354 million and $261 million in liabilities along with three other affiliates. This company provides outsourced business solutions-or for a better known term, telemarketing services-which include sales, marketing, and customer service calls for clients such as British Airways, DirecTV, Wells Fargo, AARP, and Sprint.

By early 2005, strategic investor John G. Hall was brought aboard as CEO, and Richard Outram was placed as CFO in order to assist with internal reorganizing which to a point, paid off. Later that year, PRC posted a $22.6 million profit, an increase from $17.1 million the year before. But by the spring of 2007, online finance discussion groups touted “If you (PRC) are going to outsource to cut costs, please don’t blatantly lie about it…the American people are not stupid.”, suggesting that PRC may have gotten in over its BPO head, or wasn’t being forthright about overall intent.

By April 19th, the rumor mill was in full swing that PRC, in a closed door meeting, was planning to outsource its information technology (IT) operations to a small company in Pune, India, due to the unavailability of IT professionals in South Florida. By August 22nd, that insinuation paralleled true.

“A slower-than-expected ramp-up in call center activity for a major new client caused most of the company’s disappointing operating performance,” stated Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Andy Liu. According to Liu, PRC had incurred most of the infrastructure and training costs associated with the contract, but wasn’t able to staff enough call center operators to generate the revenue sufficient to offset the costs. (On the bright side, they have hopes of 90-100% recovery in the event of a payment default.)

In turn, poor execution of this new contract contributed to the resignations of CEO Hall and CFO Outram shortly after.

According to Alicia Miyares, Vice President of Marketing/Communications, policy prohibits disclosing the name of the client contract at this time, but whatever the excuse was for being India bound, replacing executive officers, and virtually cutting their overall workforce in half, reasons and severance packages must’ve been doozies.

Or, could the Do Not Call Registry have been a factor that helped in the demise of Marshalltown’s call center?

The list, which will be five years old in June, covers 150 million phone numbers, and according to online figures compiled by the job placement company Manpower Inc., call center jobs are expected to decline 3-5% through 2011, which is generous by some in the industry.

Incidentally, with the onslaught of people having their own outsourced-to-India customer service horror story, various companies got wise due to a loss of business, thus bringing their contact centers back to the US.

Furthermore, the Federal Trade Commission recently reported a high rate of compliance with the Do Not Call provisions, stating violators face civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation. The FTC has levied $8.8 million in civil penalties since 2003, which includes the largest single fine-$5.3 million-paid by DirecTV.

Oh, and remember: DirecTV was one of PRC’s clients.

In a press release, new CEO Jerry McElhatton said, “We will remain focused on delivering top quality customer management solutions for our clients and on supporting the PRC employees who provide these services to their customers every day.”

Good luck with that and coming up with a new company name, but what happens to the Iowans, not counting the others, who are now destined for the unemployment line? Call centers in Marshalltown, Cedar Falls, and Des Moines have been sacrificed, while the ones in Ames and Cedar Rapids were spared. For now.

“I think the biggest thing that we can say is that we’re so sorry that we’ll be shutting down operations,” Miyares said. A telemarketing script was expected, but instead, her demeanor was enough to refrain from ‘killing the messenger’. “It’s terrible news to deliver, and unfortunately this is my job.”

“We gave all of our folks a 60 day notice, and really, our biggest focus right now is communicating with the employees that have resigned, and working with other area employers to see if we can help find these folks their next jobs.”

Miyares continued, “We’re going to be investing in classes, and our people will be taught how to build a good resume, and we’ll give them tips for good interviewing skills. Our folks can sign up to take those classes at the actual center.”

Employees have been given the option of transferring to one of the call centers that will remain in operation, and during a recent visit to the local PRC building, no one was overjoyed to comment without fear of being overheard or being caught. The manager was not keen on being mentioned in this article whatsoever.

But one woman spoke. ‘D’ said, “Nobody knows where they’re going to go yet or what they’re going to do. We’ve been told we can transfer to other centers within the company, but really, no one’s going to do that. Who is really going to do that? Who is going to uproot themselves to another eight-dollar-an-hour center in Cedar Rapids or Ames, and how do we know they won’t close, too?”

Miyares said, “The Marshall Town Center location has been there for a long time. Whether it’s hiring them, training them well, or with unfortunate situations like this, we want to make sure they know they’ve been great employees, and we want to really do our best to help them transition to their next job.”

So where does blame lie? Outsourcing? Do Not Call list? Bad management…or maybe, smart?

‘D’ summed it up nicely with one sentence. “Management tried to keep it as quiet as possible around us but we saw this coming.”

Well, of course. That’s the nature of the bureaucratic beast.

Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008

There were no microphones or any one person voicing distain over this proposal or that ordinance. In other words, Marshalltown’s City Council meeting on February 7th wasn’t your average, public get-together.

Also known as the City Council Retreat, the day long, seminar-style event at the Regency Inn was a gathering of personnel to review the city’s accomplishments, ongoing priorities/concerns, and future initiatives for the betterment of Marshall County.

University of Iowa Program Director Jeff Schott acted as guest speaker with the intent of assisting the Council in updating goals for the upcoming period.

Discussions began with Schott listing a foundation of what was considered positive influxes over the past 12 to 24 months-a total of 35 to be precise.

Several of those included the new library construction, listening to Hispanic community concerns, Center Street’s viaduct/sidewalk reconstruction, completion of the local bus system study, the downtown revitalization plan, improved Council/staff/community relations, various roadway renovations, Fisher and Emerson enhancements, and Alliant’s proposed coal plant.

“As I look, I feel that this is a very impressive list,” Schott commended. “You should all be very proud. Some cities don’t accomplish this much in 10 years.”

The mood then became focused when the list of concerns accumulated with items such as the local poverty level, police recruitment, immigration issues, major employers leaving the area, parking problems, use of the local transit systems, and one item in particular, which has the potential of being an issue as soon as the snow dissipates and the temperature rises.

Amanda Zubrod moved to Marshalltown last year and said she enjoys the area thus far. When asked if there was one thing she would like to see improved within the city, she thought for a moment and said, “I don’t remember the roads being in this shape when I first moved here.”

It’s no secret that an Iowa winter can be detrimental to the county’s roadways, and the Council listed insufficient dollars for street repair and maintenance as a concern, but one that will be dealt with accordingly because they, too drive on the same roads. As Schott expressed it, “Issues don’t happen overnight, and they certainly don’t get fixed overnight either.”

The initiative/goal summation included the sanitary sewer overflow, revitalizing the city transit system, finalizing animal control issues, adopting a city inspection of subdivision improvements, and continuing the lead abatement program.

After focusing on the positive, the not so positive, and the chocolate chip cookies on the refreshment table, Council members, along with Mayor Gene Beach, agreed that the excursion was a positive and informative outlook in the right direction for the community.

City Administrator Dick Hierstein, who was also present, is already looking ahead. “We’ll be developing a plan of action to address those issues, and respond to the ongoing ones we know about.”

“What makes our system of government work is the willingness of those who join with the public, and strive to make the accomplishment,” Schott said, concluding the day on an upbeat stance for the Council and the city’s future. “If you think you’ve done a lot in the last two years, just think of what can be accomplished in the next two.”

Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008