Three LTEs hit the nail on the head
Rastetter needs to leave Board of Regents
Appeared in the Sunday, July 17 Des Moines Register
Former Des Moines Superintendent Nancy Sebring’s career is over after personal emails to her lover were released to the public. But what will happen to Iowa Board of Regents President Pro-tem Bruce Rastetter’s career after his emails go viral?
From the looks of things, Rastetter abused his position on the regents by pushing for a financial partnership between Iowa State University and his agribusiness corporation, AgriSol Energy. The project involved an attempted land-grab in Tanzania that would have displaced thousands of refugee farmers. Investors like Rastetter stood to make millions.
Rastetter needs to go. Gov. Terry Branstad needs to rethink his policy of appointing top corporate donors to government posts they have no business being in. And the Des Moines Register should put more resources into investigating political corruption scandals than they do harmless sex stories.— David Goodner, Des Moines
Rastetter needs to leave the Board of Regents
Appeared in the Tuesday, July 19 Des Moines Register
Gov. Terry Branstad has made education a big priority for the state of Iowa, so why has leadership failed to present our youth with one of the most basic lessons, integrity?
The Register published an Associated Press story (June 13) about emails that contain details of how Bruce Rastetter, a gubernatorial appointee to the Iowa Board of Regents, actively participated in discussions about how Iowa State University could partner with AgriSol, a company that positioned itself to make millions in profit by displacing tens of thousands of people from a self-sustaining community in Tanzania.It would appear Rastetter, co-founder and investor in AgriSol, not only didn’t disclose his relationship with the company, but removed himself from negotiations for the project only after news of the potential deal went public and recused himself from the partnership with ISU only as the deal dissolved.
After reading how the line was blurred between loyalty to the Board of Regents and loyalty to personal profit, it is time to bring that line into focus. Simply by creating the appearance of putting personal profit before the education of our public university students, Bruce Rastetter didn’t blur the line, he crossed it.
Iowans should not wonder where the loyalties of their public servants lie. Our state needs to place the future of our children’s education in the hands of a better steward. It’s time for Terry Branstad to accept the resignation of Regent Bruce Rastetter.— Ross Grooters, Pleasant Hill
Take a stand against Branstad’s appointments
Appeared in the Saturday, July 16 Cedar Rapids Gazette
Here in Iowa, we’re good neighbors and factory farms just aren’t.
Too often, they build without consideration for neighbors’ quality of life, property values or environment.
That’s why Iowa CCI members across the state are taking corporate ag giants such as Cargill, Iowa Select and Prestage Farms to task.
We need to take a stand. Gov. Terry Branstad has appointed factory farm insiders like Brent Rastetter [Bruce Rastetter's brother], who makes a living building factory farm barns and manure pits, to the Environmental Protection Commission, putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.
Outgoing Department of Natural Resources Director Roger Lande was replaced by Branstad with former House Majority Leader Chuck Gipp — he spent most of his career trying to dismantle the DNR and now he’s going to run the place? It’s time to stand up and fight back.— Barb Kalbach, Dexter
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Join hundreds of other Iowans calling on Gov. Branstad to fire Bruce Rastetter - the man unable to separate his role as an Iowa public Regent from his personal financial interest.
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