Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (18)

Save Article

Postville, IA - Postville's city government is examining the possibility of implementing a housing code for its residential buildings.

The move -- pushed by some city officials -- comes after complaints about the living conditions faced by workers at Agriprocessors in rental properties in town.

City attorney Anne Loomis said she was surprised when she moved to Postville earlier this year and saw people living in garages and other odd living arrangements.

She said with no housing code, though, there was nothing the city could do about it. Other city officials, including Mayor Robert Penrod, agree that it's something the city should look into.

"We've got the same problems as a larger city," Penrod said. "But there's a lot of people that disagree. That's the way small-town politics is."

Two monthly meetings were held this summer with area landlords, but the code remains a work in progress.

Some of the city's landlords said a housing code in a city the size of Postville is unncessary and that the city should not get involved with tenant issues.

"I'm concerned for the city that they're sticking their neck in something that is regulated by tenants. This is a private business renting properties," said Travis Seibert, a major rental property owner in town.

"Housing code in big cities -- they are for big landlords who cause problems," he said.

But councilman Milo Heins said landlords were the prime motivation in creating a housing code. He said he has grown tired of hearing complaints, particularly GAL Investments properties, which are owned by Gabay Menachem.

"We've got the one landlord that's piling them in and that a lot of people are against it. He's putting three to four in a bedroom," Heins said. "This has been going on for some time. We're just finally doing something about it, or trying to."

Menachem, who owns about 130 properties in town, said extraordinary circumstances have given him an unfair reputation as a negligent landlord.

After an Immigration raid at Agriprocessors in May led to the arrest of nearly 400 workers and saw hundreds of others leave town, Menachem said that many of his properties were in disrepair.

The sudden exodous also cut off his flow of income, he said.

City leaders say they are trying to craft a new housing code that satisfies both tenants and landlords. They figure by bringing landlords to the table, then voluntary compliance will come much easier.

More of today's headlines

“Israel - The Egged bus cooperative has removed political advertisements on the sides of its buses sponsored by the far-left Meretz Party against the "haredization" of...” Israel - Egged Removes Political Ads on 'Haredization' of Jerusalem' “Queens, NY - Reports of a suspicious package in JFK Airport at the JetBlue Terminal. Emergency vehicles responding to reports of multiple hand grenades found in a piece...” Queens, NY - JetBlue Terminal Evacuated Due to Fake Grenades