Latinos’ impact evident in the community

By CINDY TOOPES Courier staff writer

November 13, 2007 10:36 pm

— OTTUMWA — The city, the meatpacker and the Latino community are forever joined in a significant impact on Ottumwa’s growth and development.
But it’s Latinos who are the key to success for all three. During the past 10 years, hundreds of Latinos chose to work in Ottumwa, where they saw a chance for a better life.
Because Latinos joined the work force, Cargill Meat Solutions, formerly known as Excel, expanded its meatpacking plant to a two-shift operation in Ottumwa, a city hungry for a larger tax base.
Mayor Dale Uehling was in office in 1997 when a fire at Excel created a crossroads for the company.
“Excel wanted to expand the number of hogs being processed, which meant more need for changes in the wastewater treatment plant,” he said. “And they told us there was another problem — lack of enough workers.”
At the time of the fire, the plant was a single-shift operation of about 1,250 workers. If the company stayed, they wanted two shifts.
The local laborshed (the number of available workers in a 40-mile radius) didn’t offer enough, according to the mayor.
“When you have a plant that has an assembly line, people have to be there every day,” Uehling said.
Randy Zorn, Cargill general manager, said the company could only get a partial shift and began recruiting workers from the U.S. Southwest.
“Things started slowly but people see opportunities in different areas,” said Zorn, who took over plant operations in 2000.
After 2002, Cargill was done recruiting. Word-of-mouth was doing the job for them.
“A wide variety” of people, not just Latinos have moved to Ottumwa to work for Cargill. Many are from California and Washington, Zorn said.
He understands why people would move to Ottumwa. He said his family already knew about the city.
“Ottumwa is a nice place, not too big and not too small, with a lot to offer,” he said.
Today’s Cargill workforce of 2,300 is about 30 to 35 percent Latino. Zorn said production continues to grow and the entire work force is committed.
“I don’t want to isolate the Latinos — everyone works together and does a good job,” he said. “Our market share has grown. That’s due to the caliber of our employees.”
About two years ago, Cargill opened a bacon line, Zorn added.
That’s an indicator of positive economic impact, if you ask the mayor.
“It’s an opportunity for Ottumwa when a person is making good wages plus overtime. That begins to be significant in terms of salary and housing,” Uehling said.
He also noted Latino families have started their own businesses.
Manuel Madueno, 45, of Ottumwa, heads one of those families. He owns and operates Sinaloa Tires, 1425 E. Main St.
He moved his family to Ottumwa in December 2000 to “get them away from California and the big cities” because he “doesn’t like it there.”
Madueno chose Ottumwa because his brother was working for Excel. “Not too many Latinos” were here then, he said.
“I checked the newspapers for the Ottumwa area and the town didn’t have a lot of problems,” he said. “I also noticed there were properties for sale at a good price.”
Madueno now owns some rental properties in Ottumwa. He said the low price for property in California is $300,000.
After working for Excel for a while, Madueno decided to work on vehicles again.
“I’ve always liked it. I like to work with my hands,” he said.
In California he had worked on trucks for 14 years and has three diplomas from a school in Mexico.
When Madueno moved to Ottumwa he knew no English. He learned many words while working for two years with Americans who fixed up houses. He said a local real estate agent recommended he work on his English with someone.
“So Jim Walsh, one of the painters, started helping me, talking with me,” he said. “It went slowly because Jim doesn’t speak Spanish.”
Along with the 2000-03 surge in Latino numbers came rumors of Latinos not paying taxes, of getting free housing, of Cargill not withholding appropriate taxes from the Latinos’ wages and of signs posted in Texas. The signs allegedly advertised Ottumwa as a place to find jobs.
The mayor disputes these rumors.
“Cargill and any other employer are legally bound to take out withholdings,” Uehling said. “That’s the thing — the Latinos are vested.”
He said the Latinos pay the appropriate withholdings and when they rent a house or apartment, the landlord is paying property taxes. They buy houses and cars and pay sales taxes.
“If there are employers who don’t withhold, then people need to report them,” the mayor said. “We want to know about such employers and so does the Internal Revenue Service.”
When Cargill brought in the first Latinos, some came to Ottumwa without money. Cargill helped them temporarily with funds and housing, Uehling said.
“Cargill isn’t doing that now,” he added.
The mayor admitted the “surge of Latinos” in Ottumwa did cause some problems.
For example, the school district incurred the expense of bilingual teachers. Interpreters have been needed in many areas, including the Department of Human Services, Wapello County District Court system, local law enforcement and the Wapello County Jail.
“If a family has four children but only one is working, most likely they’re dependent on income from the government,” he said.
The mayor emphasized most Latinos “believe in church, family and work.” They have a work ethic “the rest of us can be proud of.”
“Are there bad apples? Yes. They bring in drugs and gang activity,” he said. “But, before the Latinos came, Ottumwa was the meth capital of Iowa. We need to keep this in perspective.”
Most of the Latino population isn’t from Mexico, according to Uehling. They’re from America’s Southwest region. He’s also heard the story about billboards in Texas advertising Ottumwa as the place to find jobs.
“I never saw a picture [of such a billboard] and I have relatives in that area,” he said. “I think possibly the cleaning company at Cargill may have advertised at one time.”
Zorn doesn’t recall anything about a sign being posted in Texas. “I never paid for a sign,” he added.
Uehling said the company went to areas where there were layoffs or plant closings.
“These workers are residents of the United States; they are citizens,” he said.
Uehling pointed out Cargill’s presence on South Iowa Avenue has attracted other businesses, such as Millard Refrigeration and Parks Livestock, to the Omeco Industrial Park on South Iowa Avenue.
“We need to continue to embrace the positives. The Latinos have added to the community,” Uehling said. “I enjoy their food. They’ve added another dimension to Ottumwa.”
Tim Tracy, executive director of Ottumwa Area Chamber of Commerce, is pleased to see more people and more businesses in the city.
“The more people we have buying here, the more of a market there is in Ottumwa,” Tracy said. “With the Latino businesses, what you have is a bigger market.”
Ottumwa is the hub of southeast Iowa for business, entertainment, food and fun, according to the chamber director.
“What we try to do to make a dollar is to keep people coming to the community. They buy clothes, food, cars and other goods and services,” Tracy said.
He thinks it’s “the overriding view of business people, of the chamber,” that Ottumwa has a strong business climate and “for it to continue to be strong” the economy must grow.
Tracy wants Ottumwa to be able to provide goods and services to visitors who come to shows at the Bridge View Center, shop at stores and use the gas stations.
“That’s money spent here in this community. The whole nature of being a regional hub like Ottumwa — which traditionally the city has been and will continue to be — is to be open to and create opportunities for people to come here and find what they want so they will spend their money here,” he said.
Himar Hernandez is originally from a big city in Spain and came to Ottumwa in 1993 as a foreign exchange student. He’s now the community development specialist with Iowa State University Extension Service’s Wapello County office.
“At that time, there were no Latinos, no English as a second language classes,” he said. “I knew no English but I learned fast. I had to. There were no Latino businesses then, either.”
After staying a year, Hernandez returned to Spain where he finished high school. He returned to Ottumwa to attend Indian Hills Community College and finished his degree through Buena Vista University.
“There’s little sense of community in a big city. My wife and I like the quietness here,” he said. “[Ottumwa] has a different style of life, no pollution, no traffic.”
Hernandez said there’s a cultural impact when people from other countries move here.
“When people come in from elsewhere, they bring culture, art and food and that’s enriching,” he said. “It’s not a threat — it’s more diversity.”
Another positive aspect is the huge soccer league and the teams can play in the Bridge View Center during the winter, so there’s another use for the center.
“Latinos are family-oriented and we see lots of kids here. That helps the school district with numbers,” Hernandez said.
He admitted there are challenges concerning diversity, on both sides of the issue.
“Newcomers need to get citizenship and to learn the language,” Hernandez said. “[The Latinos] in Iowa aren’t from big towns. They’re rural folks from the smaller villages.”
Iowa is comfortable for them. The people can get jobs elsewhere, but Ottumwa resembles where they came from, he added.
The “bad thing” is many of the Latinos aren’t educated much due to working on farms.
“Many have problem with English and many aren’t literate in their own language,” Hernandez said.
Another challenge is that many of the Latinos staying here are middle-aged or elders.
“Most of the young go to California,” he said. “Our hope is that the state of Iowa will get involved in the diversity of agriculture, such as goats, which is growing in the state,” he said.
Latinos feel challenged by the little representation they have in the city and state governments. Hernandez considers them “a sector not being heard.”
“People confuse immigration and community. The Latinos are here. They’re part of the economy,” he said.
Earlier this year, Ottumwa Police Chief Jim Clark proposed the city join the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (287g) program, which would allow police to deport illegal aliens who are charged with serious crimes.
Latinos packed council chambers when the program was before the City Council. Many of them spoke to the council and expressed fears of wrongful imprisonment and deportation.
Hernandez said the problem for the Latinos wasn’t the program itself.
“We were never asked what we thought about the program. That hurt the relationship. There are models of community betterment that include everyone in the discussion,” he said.
Most Latinos aren’t from Mexico and aren’t firstcomers to Iowa. Hernandez said they’re here looking for something different than where they were, a place where the cost of life is high and so is the crime rate.
“They’re looking for a quality of life. Those of us already here aren’t conscious of the quality ourselves because we’ve been living in the U.S. too long,” he said.
Ottumwa is very rich in Latino culture. Many Latinos are from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Of those groups, the Mexicans are the most outgoing.
“The shy ones are from Guatemala where there is civil unrest and the El Salvadorans who’ve had 12 years of wars in their country,” Hernanez said.
Bosnians are already here and Africans are coming in as refugees seeking asylum from disasters. The Moroccans are from central Africa, he said.
“We are looking for ways we can work together. We need leaders who will use community development models,” he said.
In February, the city council approved the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) (ICE) program. But ICE’s funding shortfalls knocked Ottumwa off the list. If the city ever has the program, it won’t be before September 2008.
Meanwhile, some Latinos have moved away and more are going.
“People are moving because of the ICE program,” Madueno said. “Right now it’s about five families per week.”
This saddens him because he “doesn’t want to lose them.” He wonders what his children and other adult family members will do.
“I do want to stay, but a lot of people are leaving,” Madueno said.
Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.