now that people being locked in is on the news do you think we could use this to tell the media about midwest? say that children are locked in just like the men are?
DES MOINES (AP) - Officials from a tiny Iowa town acknowledged Tuesday that they knew doors were padlocked and windows boarded shut at a house for mentally disabled men who worked at a nearby meatpacking plant.
But Atalissa City Council members told lawmakers that they didn't think the 21 men from Texas were being mistreated.
"I noticed the padlock," Councilman Dennis Hepker said. "I think it was very livable there. These guys were always well-dressed and clean and polite. There was no evidence of mistreatment."
Hepker said he became concerned three or four years ago about the padlocked front door and called the regional Department of Human Services office in Davenport and the Muscatine County Sheriff's Office. Nothing came of the calls, and he didn't pursue it further.
Councilwoman Angie Dickey said residents of the 300-person town never thought the men were in trouble.
"They never did complain about anything," Dickey said. "They were happy-go-lucky guys."
The Atalissa officials appeared before the Legislature's Government Oversight Committee, which is investigating the treatment of the men. They had worked at a nearby meatpacking plant since the 1970s through an arrangement coordinated by Henry's Turkey Service.
Henry's Turkey Service had been based in Dublin, Texas, but it's unclear where the business is now located. Officials say the company diverted much of the men's paychecks and Social Security payments to living expenses, leaving them about $65 a month.
The men lived in a 106-year-old house that locals called "the bunkhouse." Some of its doors were padlocked, windows were boarded up and the heating system was broken, leaving only space heaters.
The state fire marshal ordered the house closed Feb. 7. The residents have been placed in temporary protective housing.
Lawmakers have questioned how the men could live there so long without drawing the attention of neighbors in their small town.
Hepker said in past years local officials had been invited to tour the group home, though access had been tightened in recent years.
"Maybe that's one lesson we learn," said Hepker. "Maybe we should have looked a little closer."
The city officials said there's little they could have done differently.
"We're obviously a small town," said Dickey. "We do not have anything like a building code inspector or a housing inspector."
The council members said over the years the men, known to most in the town as "the boys," had become an integral part of the community. They attended church regularly, socialized in the town and even entered floats in local parades.
"If they were mistreated or if something was going on, there would be a lot of people who would be upset," said Dickey. "When they were downtown they were happy guys."
Hepker said, "I've never noticed any abuse. I noticed the front door was chained and padlocked."
Some lawmakers didn't buy that argument.
"These happy guys are not happy now," said Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines. "That's just too naive."
Department of Human Services officials told legislators they moved quickly once someone called a state hot line and raised concerns about the bunkhouse.
HHS spokesman Vern Armstrong said the agency was notified of the situation by law enforcement officials on the night of Feb. 5 and intervened the next morning.
"Our staff, in my opinion, responded very quickly to this," Armstrong said.
Less clear were reports that Human Services Department officials had been contacted over the years about the home, but had not acted.
"We're looking at our own internal process," agency director Gene Gessow told the panel.
In addition to hearings planned by the oversight committee, Gov. Chet Culver on Tuesday signed an executive order creating a task force that will recommend how state law can be tightened to prevent similar events.
http://http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10566966