Ethics Complaint Filed Against Iowa House Agriculture Committee Chair Citing Conflict Of Interest

iowacci.org

A formal ethics complaint, signed by 125 members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI), was filed Feb. 24 at the State Capitol against Representative Dolores Mertz (D) of Ottosen following CCI's press conference. CCI members called on House leadership to remove Mertz as the House Agriculture Committee Chair due to her family and financial ties to the factory farm industry, creating a conflict of interest in her role as House Agriculture Chair. CCI called for a chairperson who “puts people first.”

“The House Agriculture Committee is in a critical position regarding legislation that deals directly with factory farms,” said CCI member Larry Ginter of Rhodes, Iowa. “As chair of the House Ag Committee, Rep. Mertz is in a very powerful position to determine the fate of factory farm bills that come before her committee. She has strong family and financial ties to the industry, and that's why we are calling for her removal as House Ag Chair due to this conflict of interest.”

Rep. Mertz has family ties to the factory farm industry, as her sons Peter and David own a 4,000-head hog factory in southern Kossuth County. They have owned a operated the site for at least ten years and have been cited for five violations in the last five years. She also has financial ties to the industry — Mertz allows her sons to spread factory farm manure on her farmland and rents those acres to them. Mertz counts her farmland as a main source of income.

Mertz has a well-documented and well-known history of supporting legislation favoring factory farms at the expense of clean air, clean water and a decent quality of life. She voted for House File 519, which opened the door wide in 1995 for factory farm expansion in Iowa. Most recently, she voted for and championed House File 2688, a bill designed to funnel $23 million in taxpayer dollars to factory farms for the “study” of air quality issues, while many studies have already been done.

Factory farms pollute our air and water and ruin our quality of life. Iowa has had over 700 illegal manure spills in the past 16 years and DNR's list of impaired waterways has grown to 441 — an increase of 162 in just two years. CCI members call for a House Ag Chair who puts people before profits, politics and polluters and who does not have family or financial ties to the factory farm industry.

 Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
is a group of everyday people who talk, act and get things done on
issues that matter most. With thousands of members from all walks of
life – urban and rural, black and white, immigrants and lifelong Iowans
– CCI has been tackling tough issues and getting things done for more
than 30 years.

For more information, contact:  Kristin Schaaf, ICCI

Join CCI at their March 3rd rally and lobby day at the Capitol.  Click here for info.