Emporia may become a major settling point for refugees within the next several years, and a diverse committee of local, state and private leaders is working to prepare for the next step.
Details to expand on plans for a $104,495 grant were given during a meeting of the Emporia Refugee Resettlement Alliance Friday morning at the Ayan Restaurant. The grant recently was announced by the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
The grant, awarded to Catholic Community Services, comes through SRS from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Stephen Weitkamp of Catholic Community Services spoke to the group about a Somali registration session held two weeks ago, as well as CCS plans to open and operate an office to serve the needs of the community, including Somalis and Emporians alike.
Weitkamp is director of refugee and migrant services for CCS, a branch of Catholic Community Charities in Kansas City, Kan.
Weitkamp estimated that about 400 Somali refugees work at Tyson; with families and others included, the total Somali population here is estimated between 750 to 1,000. He was in Emporia two weeks ago to help register refugees and help them find the services needed.
“It was, in a way, almost overwhelming ... and yet another opportunity for me to be humbled,” Weitkamp said of the registration. “I got a sense of the potential impact of this (Somali) community on a town the size of Emporia.”
Weitkamp said that many Somali women were among those registered, and most of them were working within time constraints in order to go to work on the second shift at Tyson.
“To me, it explodes stereotypes that I think a lot of Americans have about Muslim women in general,” Weitkamp said.
Weitkamp said he expects Emporia to become home to a “pretty substantial community” of refugees. The refugees can maintain that status for five years; they can become permanent resident aliens in one year and, with an unusual amount of effort, can become citizens in five years.
CCS plans to use much of the grant to open an office in Emporia that will help Somalis find the variety of services they may need, he said. It will have a full-time office manager who Weitkamp anticipates will be Somali, fluent in English and willing to work weekends and evenings as needed. A full-time outreach worker and a part-time outreach worker will complete the office work force. They will act as referral agents to direct Somalis to services for which they are eligible and a clearinghouse for information.
“We’re counting on Emporia Refugee Resettlement Alliance to continue, and Catholic Charities will be just another element,” Weitkamp said. “We will have a daily presence here. The Somali community will be part of establishing and setting it up.”
Those involved will actively seek out as many collaborations as possible, he said, such as child care, driver education “and whatever else the community tells us is needed.” Workers will help Somalis apply for benefits, missing documents, continuing education, affidavits of relationships to bring relatives to America, counseling assistance and other day-to-day hurdles the refugees encounter.
Office space will need to be large enough to allow trainings, meetings, and offices for staff, who will be paid about $10 per hour for outreach workers and about $12 per hour for the office manager.
“I understand that is not competitive with Tyson, but that’s all right with me,” he said, mentioning that employees for non-profit organizations accept that disparity. “That person is really not on the clock. Everybody in the community will know their phone number.”
That news cheered Fardusa Council, community liaison for Tyson, and ERRA members laughed when she responded, “Hurry up and bring ’em so I can shut off my phone.”
Weitkamp noted that it will be important to gain input from the Somali community and to hire a Somali to be office manager, and in the other positions, if possible.
“I definitely want the input from the Somali community,” he said of the hiring process. “It’s so easy for an outsider to make a mistake, and I would be that outsider.”
Council agreed, saying that Somalis have difficulties meeting new people, no matter what their ethnicity; someone from the local Somali community would put them at ease. Otherwise, they likely would want an intermediary to talk with workers in the office that would be established, and that would add to her already heavy workload.
“They would come to me and ask me to take them to that person,” she said.
Weitkamp said that in the future, he expects Emporia to be developed as a refugee center.
“I expect that there will be direct re-settlement here,” he said. “If re-settlement starts here, that will expand our role. ... I also see at some point the office here could possibly become cut loose from us and become an office on its own, applying for funding.”
If the numbers of refugees increase, it is possible the local office would apply to Washington to become a suboffice.
Weitkamp said that representatives of Tyson’s home office had approached him about refugees from Burma (now Myanmar) coming to this area.
“The nature of the program is such that over time we’re going to see” more diverse refugee populations, said Lewis Kimsey, state coordinator for refugee services.
Kimsey said that an additional SRS position has been created for Emporia to help deal with Somali refugees.
Kimsey added that it is important to get an accurate count of Somalis in Emporia, to be able to obtain federal monies on the scale they are needed. He expects more money and additional staff after that count is completed.
“The biggest thing that’s going to sell it is activity here,” he said.
Weitkamp expects to set up another registration day for Somalis on Nov. 11 or 18.
The ERRA also received the written report from the Spring Institute, which was in Emporia twice during the past year to present programs about refugees and monitor what the local community has done to work with the refugees.
“Many of the recommendations in here from the Spring Institute this organization has already accomplished,” said Renee Hively, public health manager for the Flint Hills Community Health Center. “... But really, it’s going to be up to the community to decide what’s next, where we need to go.”
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Posted by pizza (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 10:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Doesn't anybody, except greenday, see what a stupid, idiotic thing this is? Many folks have worked lifetimes to build homes, businesses, and dreams here and now are allowng the whole thing to be turned into a huge, welfare supported slum. I'll never, ever understand.....
Posted by houndi (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with greenday & pizza emporia is turning into refugee camp. First it was the V.C. and then the illegal "s where is this going to end. We can't even get on welfare if we need it.We have homeless people in emporia who can't get help.
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 12:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well posted!!!
It is the ultimate irony that they are so concerned with the image of Emporia, that they hold meetings with sports "musac" wafting gently in the background, and yet to feed from the Federal "trough" the powers-that-be will gleefully turn Athens of the Plains into a refugee camp.
Its about Federal $$$$$$$'s.
Tyson gladly builds a prayer room to facilitate veneration towards Mecca 5-times a day.
Owning the trailer court, will we see the trailers removed and a new Mosque with Minarets adjacent?
The gentile fragrance of Tyson wafts winsomly through Emporia's western air. Will the stench of cultural accommodation continue to overpower governmental sensibilities?
Posted by jasper007 (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 12:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Another reason to move from this FINE community. "Come on in.Take OUR jobs, use OUR Health Department." I guess my next step is to stop buying TYSON products!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by jasper007 (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Another reason to move from this FINE community. "Come on in.Take OUR jobs, use OUR Health Department. Drive OUR streets without licenses, no insurance, etc. I guess my next step is to stop buying TYSON products!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by name1 (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How selfish. It seems hypocritical to say these things, when I am sure most of our (previous commenters and myself) ancestors migrated also. Maybe you should stay in a refugee camp and see what your opinion would be. Instead of just complaining, do something about it.
Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 1:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I feel bad for the conditions the refugees have in their own countries. But we'd still be an English colony if our ancestors hadn't said "ENOUGH!" and fought back. I think we'd be better off training and supporting people to take back their own countries. I'd rather see our troops doing that than mucking around in Iraq. Not like we don't have local soldiers in Kosovo right now! I wish we could find a happy medium where we could meet everyone's needs but don't see how. I worry about the disease factor of the refugees more than anything. TB and whooping cough are making a big comeback in the US due to 3rd world refugees. It's a thorny problem with no clear solution.
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
name1:
"How selfish. It seems hypocritical to say these things, when I am sure most of our (previous commenters and myself) ancestors migrated also. Maybe you should stay in a refugee camp and see what your opinion would be. Instead of just complaining, do something about it."
1) Our ancestors immigrated to this country, worked hard and assimilated as an intricate segment of the adoptive community.
2) The Somalis are government supported, and tax subsidized to Tyson. Rather than seeking to assimilate and adapt to our culture they demand cultural accommodation from the surrounding community.
The Sons and Daughters of Ishmael stride aggressively down the aisles of our local Walmart. Beware the gray-haired matron who gets in their way, and gets bumped from behind.
Beware the multiple Somali men who use one drivers license, and woe to the driver which shares the lane with those who deign to operate with ignorance of local traffic laws.
Beware of the female dancer who returns to a local motel room to be beaten and raped by multiple Somali men.
Beware of the single woman in the Lawrence apartment complex who was raped in the hallway by a Somali male.
The aura of a refugee camp already begins to hang heavy over those unfortunate enough to share neighborhoods, with the government sponsored interlopers. Not everyone can afford to relocate to the upper-crust enclaves of NW Emporia.
The Emporia elite has always dwelt safely in the northern areas, and as the "blight" of the working poor has encroached northward beyond Twelth avenue, the urban elite sought insulation with the Water Treatment plant and I-35.
Do a search in regards to Sudden Jihad Syndrome, and one can "appreciate" the government turning Emporia into a major Islamic refugee center. We are truly becoming a refugee center, but it becomes desperate for those seeking refuge from cultural accommodation and compromise.
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sudden Jihad Syndrome:
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3835
Perhaps one should remember the faces of those who stripped our dead sons and drug them through the streets of Somalia.
A drug resistant strain of TB coupled with HIV is sweeping-through sub-Sahara Africa.
In regards to Somalia:
http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countri...
"Limited data indicate a significant TB-HIV coinfection problem. Although a second generation surveillance plan has just been put in place, little data exist on young people, internally displaced persons, returnees, refugees and other mobile populations."
Posted by so_sick_of_tyson (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Now it's just getting absolutely ridiculous for my (ours) tax dollars spent on improving the welfare of immigrants when they obviously do not care to conform to our policies and our culture as American citiziens. I know everyone argues about how this country was built on immigrants and that being true but those "immigrants" worked their asses off and learned ENGLISH and adapted to OUR country. All I see us doing within the last few years is having to conform to not only one but two different cultures and neither being ENGLISH or AMERICAN...My ancestors came from Europe and they worked THEIR asses off and learned ENGLISH and American cultures not vice versa.....If you have not had the pleasure of running into a Somalian then you really should do so, just for the practice because I see Emporia becoming a haven for them and it saddens and disgusts me beyond repair. These immigrants or refugees, what exactly do we call them?? Anywho, they refuse to adapt to our culture and practices and they damn sure aren't learning English and are RUDE as I have never seen rude before. I have no desire to co-habitate with these people and certainly have no desire to pay for their welfare when there are plenty of Emporians who need our tax dollars not a bunch of ignorant, rude, dirty, TB and HIV or perhaps maybe even AIDS stricken individuals who cannot drive to save their ASSES and when do we stop paying for everyone else and start helping OUR OWN!!!! I am completely fed up and although Tyson foods may be abundant at your local grocery store I am gladly purchasing any product that is NOT Tyson....
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 3:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
its interesting that emporia has taken the slumlord situation seriously in time for the refugees who will live on federal money and will need housing that meets those standards. how about the man who has been homeless in emporia for years, sleeps under bushes, isnt allowed to fill out paperwork for hud housing, lives on the cans he digs out of dumpsters and will do this for the next couple years until he is old enough to collect his social security. what im saying is shouldnt we help our own before we help everyone else. i know these people are leaving a bad situation, but, emproria?, come on, if we are low on jobs here, should someone else be given the jobs that locals could have?
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One wonders which Somalia warlord these people were allied with back in the days of the UN fiasco.
Warlords ruled the country.
It was followers of a warlord who hijacked UN supplies.
It was followers of a warlord who viscerated UN Pakistani troops, searching for weapons at a radio station.
I was followers of a warlord who brought-down a Blackhawk helicopter and stripped and drug the soldiers through the streets.
There are 700-1000 in residence in Emporia, at the moment.
Yet the quote declares that Emporia MAY BECOME a major settling point for Somalis. It means that not yet is it major.
Quote:
"Emporia may become a major settling point for refugees within the next several years, and a diverse committee of local, state and private leaders is working to prepare for the next step."
How many more do they expect? 100, 1000, 5000, 10000?
How many of these have swung a bloody machete?
How many have hijacked food suppiles for starving people?
Are they here because their warlord was overthrown, and they cannot rebuild their land for fear of retribution?
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been posting just one "thread" over, for a week, about the Image of Emporia...and how I love Emporia and the people,after moving here a few months ago.
I went to the meeting last Tuesday night, and, I have been encouraged by the response of some of the community wanting to focus on our image...and get a new slogan, and beautify the town.
To the person that told me that the "smell from Tyson" was the "smell of money"....I guess you're right.... I thought I couldn't dislike Tyson any more until today...but, I found out today that I can.
Weitkamp says he was "overwhelmed" when he got the sense of the potential impact of the Somali community in a town the size of Emporia....and he expects Emporia to become the home to a pretty substantial coummunity of refugess.....
while a diverse committee of local, state and "private" leaders are working to prepare for the REFUGEE CAMP!
Excuse me!!!....What the hell did we have a meeting for on Tuesday night? To improve the image?....to find a way to make Emporia GROW?.....There has been discussion on the Image thread of a new "slogan".....
Well, it has already been made....."EMPORIA, THE REFUGEE CENTER OF AMERICA."....
I guess that's going to encourage those Baby Boomers we have been talking about to want to come to Emporia....
Does anyone realize we are competeing with hundreds (if not thousands) of small communities in America to entice the Baby Boomers and businesses (big and small) to settle in our community?......
I came here because I saw a beautiful town..nice people, and a good real estate market....My husband and I have been doing home improvements ,and planning for our retirement years here.
If I ever had any doubts about it...it's today.
Before you accuse me of anything like racism, or not caring for 3rd world countries...Don't bother. You don't know me. But, do know this....If I wanted to live in a 3rd world country, I would have moved to one,on purpose.
Please, please, someone convince me that I have not made the biggest mistake of my life by moving here.....and, convince me that I should encourage my friends, who are looking into retirement, that Emporia has more to offer than Tyson, and a Refugee Camp.
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 4:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Will there be any religious requirements or considerations made of applicants since this is a grant for the Catholic Community Services?
The article says the the CCS is "...to open and operate an office to serve the needs of the community, including Somalis and Emporians alike." However, most of the entire article speaks of Somalis. How exactly are the other members of the community to be served?
Who are the "local leaders"? When exactly are these meetings? If public monies are involved, why was the public not informed of the meeting time and place beforehand?
People are jumping up and down, and it is understandable especially since we are not being fully informed.
I agree with the concept that our own ancestors came here from other areas of the world, but that they did indeed assimilate immediately and made no demands on the local culture. My own people did everything they could to learn English and even refused to speak anything but English once they learned it because they wanted so much to fit in. I don't see that sort of thing happening with the newest immigrants. That alone makes it troubling.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 5:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
im sure the city has some financial incentives involved, increased federal money for making emporia a refugee camp, increased money to accomidate the agencies that will see a jump in a demand for their services, sos, health department, srs, and how are the schools going to accomidate a third language in the schools? the public schools are losing their quality as it is, how is this going to affect the education of emporias kids? also, when poverty goes up so does the number of kids in foster care, when a lack of money in a home causes a kid to go without things, they are taken out of the home more swiftly than the ones that are neglected because the parents are too lazy to take care of them, is this why kcsl moved an office here?
Posted by Kansan (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 7:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Will someone please tell me why we are spending $70,000 to hire an image consultant? Shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to improve that image! Emporia as a refugee center.....now that ought to portray the image of a town that would bring in high-paying jobs and retirees! NOT!!!!
Posted by equality (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 9:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It saddens me the insensitivity of people who have chosen to write in. I see it as an "all about me" society, never thinking beyond what you need. If you are a Native American, than you do have the right to complain as this was a county that was robbed from the Native Americans, if you are from any other country, you really have no right to complain.
If those of you complaining the loudest would actually take the time to get to know another culture, you may find that you have much more in common.
It is also my feeling that most of the derogatory comments are coming from mostly people who lack education and could use a little cultural sensitivity trainning. I am sure given the area that you all live in, it is highly unlikely to happen, thank God I do not live there with this angry, closed minded group.
I support all of those who are couragous enough to make a change and move to a completly different county! Good luck to all of the immigrants, stay strong.
Posted by Kansan (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 9:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Equality
You're just like all those who preach compassion and seem to know what's best for everybody else ....as long as it's not you who has to pay the taxes to support the extra burden placed on your health care facilities, schools, and police force in your community. It reminds me of the politicians in Washington D.C. that choose to send their kids to private schools, but the public schools are fine for everybody else. Would you want to send your kids to school with those who come from a community where more than half of the population is infected with TB (an airborne illness) or have your kids biking down the street where people are driving that don't have proper driving instruction and understand English street signs?
Posted by reservist (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 10:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I spent 2 years in Iraq. I like to say I did something for this country. All the guys I served with over seas are all upset about the Somolians being allowed to come here. A few years ago American Service men were dragged through the streets of Somolia during a humanitrian effort. Few months back AC 130 gun ships fired on terrorist camps in Somolia. Makes perfect sense to bring people to this country that may have fought against us at one time. Makes me feel safer at night knowing my country is doing what it takes to make America safe against terrorist. I have been in combat with Islamic people, and I get nervous around the Somolians. I want them out. Makes me sick to think the goverment would spit on its vets like they do. Makes me feel like I wasted my time in the service. Somolians are just ghost consumers, raising our taxes. I see alot of Emporians who are on welfare. I think we need to worry about getting Americans jobs before we bring others here to work. So what if Tyson goes out of business. Its just a smelly eye sore. Other companies look at Emporia see Tyson and move on. Most of Tysons skilled labor has quit them anyway. If the Somolians dont go I know I will. Im afraid Ill catch something from the Tyson meat products anyway. I found out its cheaper to buy a steer and have the Olpe meat locker process it than to go to the store and buy the same amout. I used to see Emporia as a nice place to live and never had any intention to move away. Now I do. Emporia and Lyon county residents pay some of the highest taxes in KS. The city tries to beautify the city with clocks and trees. Would work but now I guess its more stuff for Somolian drivers to run into. Americans had to fight and still fight for our freedom. Maybe refugees should do the same. America is the home of the brave, not cowards who are to afraid to take a stand. Imagine if how you would feel if Iraqis or Afghanis started pouring into Emporia tomorrow.
Posted by rami (anonymous) on November 3, 2007 at 11:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is ridiculous! The unemployment rate in Emporia is going to hit an all time high within the next few years and do you know who will suffer? The people who were born and raised in this town, that's who!
These Somalians have no concern for the safety of others....I have seen a car accident that involved Somalians and the driver was actually LAUGHING about it! Thankfully no one was injured!
I have had a few encounters with Somalians..men and women, and they are rude! I don't know how anyone is supposed to happily welcome them to our "wonderful" community when they CLEARLY have no respect for us!!!
This whole situation is wrong on more than one level!!!
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 12:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
equality: To make a blanket statement that brands all people who disagree with your point of view as "lacking education" speaks Volumes about your own intelligence. Or lack of, specifically. You said you do not live here. Then what gives you the right to tell other people how to run their own community? Apparently, you don't have to put up with the problems they do, and you haven't had to experience what they go through, but somehow you know better, right? I counted 3 misspellings in your post, but I'm not going to accuse you of "lacking education" just because your opinion doesn't agree with mine. That would make me ignorant.
Posted by citizenT (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 7:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Emporia may become a major settling point for refugees within the next several years."
This comment has really caused me to take pause and think hard. I have felt like I have worked hard throughout my life to work on underlying prejudices that I may have and tried to overcome them. I am nearing the completion of a master's degree, so I don't consider myself uneducated.
I was one of those people that moved away because I didn't perceive Emporia as having enough to offer me when I graduated. After being gone for a period of time, and having children, I decided that Emporia was the type of community I wanted to raise my children in so I returned. I have spent the last 15 years working, paying my taxes, being involved with the youth of Emporia, and am actually a leader in my business on cultural sensitivy training.
I feel like I need some clarification on the above quote. Exactly how big is major? Who made these decisions? Is one company dictating Emporia's future for all of us?
My family recently purchased a house that we considered to be our final residence. We chose Emporia because we liked the community even with the lumps and bumps that it has. However, I don't think I want to live in an area that is a refugee resettlement center. I don't think it has anything to do with where they come from, simply that it will involve major lifestyle changes on their part that will take time before they acculturate to our society. I'm not going to put my house on the market tomorrow because I want to hear more answers to all of the questions and comments listed here, but I won't say any longer that this will be my final residence. I may have to look again to find the kind of community that wants to consider the needs of it's residents rather than cater to one of the only surviving big businesses in it's town.
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Any bets that we will soon have an editorial from Patrick Kelley or another "sage" journalist, seeking the mantle of WAW, solidly affirming Equality's liberal position?
They will reiterate the prevalent academic indoctrination, that America is a "fruit salad", not a "melting pot", and we must have tolerance and understanding of all cultures and races. It is the despised ethnocentrism and xenophobia which sparks such racism against the poor Somalis.
The deep and abiding concern does not arise from isolationism nor from cultural paranoia. The reality is that rather than seeking to elevate the socio-economic stratification of Emporia, the powers- which-be have sought to facilitate the dwindling Tyson workforce with subsidized labor.
WAW referenced Emporia as the Athens of the Plains. Do we seek to rise to ever higher levels of academic/economic excellence, or to inundate our populace with an massive influx from the lowest levels of society.
The transition from mud floors to indoor plumbing may be miraculous to the Somali Refugee, but it is detrimental to the safety and well-being of the general population.
Secret meetings behind closed doors. No potential numbers of refugees. The first wave received by the US was 12000 Somalis in 1999. There are potentially hundreds of thousands needing asylum, camping-out in Kenya and other countries such as Yemen.
Do the aristocrats from NW Emporia desire to grow Emporia's population to 40,000, 50,000, 75,000?
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.photius.com/countries/somalia...
With the flight of Siad Barre and consequent fall of his government in late January 1991, significant population shifts occurred. According to sketchy UNHCR reports, there were more than 50,000 Somali refugees in various camps in Mombasa, Kenya. These were mainly Daarood who had fled as a result of Hawiye clan-family assaults on them when the state disintegrated and the Daarood residents of Mogadishu became the objects of revenge killings. Another 150,000 were scattered in the North Eastern Province of Kenya, especially in and around the border town of Liboi and slightly farther inland. Other thousands had fled to eastern Ethiopia, where the UNHCR stated it was feeding more than 400,000 ethnic Somalis. Many others were dispersed throughout the border areas.
Will Emporia become a major population center in Kansas, as it becomes THE MAJOR refugee center?
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
reservist...
First...I want to thank you for your service to our Country. I wish your post could be put on the front page of the Gazette.
Equality...Don't try to insult the intelligence, of the community of Emporia because they are angry for being forced to accept something they have not been asked about, or given the opportunity to give their opinion about.
I am not insensitive to helping others...but, I like to be informed of who,and why, I would be helping....Then, I would like to be asked if I WANT to participate....
My suggestion to you Equality...is unless you are planning to move here, own a lot of property here, or have a good reason for being involved..BUTT OUT!
....OR....do you want to buy my house?
However, for now, I plan to stick around and defend my rights to speak up. I own a home here, I pay the outrageous taxes, I vote, and I am a good American....Just not willing to be run out of Emporia by Tyson, and some sneaky politicians and "private" leaders...so we can be made a REFUGEE CAMP.
I hope you're reading all of this Mr. Weitkamp. (or are you Mr. equality?)
The people of Emporia have a right to defend themselves..and should have a say in what happens to their Community.
We were told this week that we don't have a City Planner, because our Commissioners think they can perform the tasks for a City Planner, and save us money. So, they brought in a Consultant...and some of us went to the meeting.
We were told to keep the remarks "positive"... The purpose was to discuss the Image of Emporia and how we could encourage growth.
What?????? Our City Manager, Zimmerman was at that meeting, and Jeff Longbine, and other leaders....Did they know about all this? Or, are they as suprised as us? If they did know..and have approved Emporia being the "Refugee Camp of America", then what why did they hire a Consultant for a reported huge amount of money, and call a meeting to ask our opinion, without giving us "all the information."
Posted by emporialive (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a nightmare, we cannot even support the people who live and work in Emporia as it is but we allow our tax dollars to carter to every need the Somalis. Emporia has become the joke of Kansas it's no wonder companies don't want to build here and this is only making things worse.
The city and county are always taking about how they want to improve Emporia and if this is there idea of improving it I wish they would have left things be, as with many people here have stated they do not wish to live in a "REFUGEE CENTER" and I can't blame one person for not wanting to live here after this.
Jobs in this town are going away at an alarming rate yet we will add more issues to deal with and less income to the people who have lived here their entire life.
What is going to happen in our schools when our children get less help due to the Somali children taking time away from our kids that need help only because Somali children need more help. What will happen to the no child left behind program, maybe they should start a no Somali left behind program and take away funding from our already poorly funded shcools .
The local government needs to wake up and see what this is doing to Emporia before it is too late, if it isn't already. I for one do not want Emporia known as the REFUGEE WELFARE CENTER.
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just wait until the Iraqis start arriving. Most likely they will not practice the same form of Muslim religion, they will most likely have conflicts with the Somalis.
It's not the Government bringing them here folks, it's all Tyson, and IBP before them. Big Brother is providing incentives to provide work for the refugees, but it would not happen without Tyson being the magnet drawing them in. Tyson is bringing in whomever they can get to work cheaper, without benefits, recruiting out of state like they always have because they refuse to provide a safe work environment, refuse to pay a respectful wage, and because they have already went thru all of the workforce in the area that had enough of a brain to know that there were much better work options elsewhere.
I've had education and sensitivity training Equality, obviously you haven't had enough, perhaps too much. BTW, there's no such thing as a Native American, we all migrated to this continent according to what I was taught in school.
Posted by netloafer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think there are two sides to this issue. There are more than a few of us who want to find a place for the Somalis. At the same time there are also more than a few of us who see that there really isn't any assimilation plan at all.
I think it's fair to ask questions. For instance, who is going to fund the services that are being touted? Is it Tyson? Is it Catholic charities? Or is it Emporia and Lyon County? I doubt that Tyson or Catholic Charities will do the funding. The best I saw was that Catholic Charities is opening an office here in Emporia. But, it's primary purpose is to outline services (sic - government paid benefits) for the refugee population.
What will this do, short term, to our poverty problem? In all likelihood it will make it worse. What will this do to the already heavy tax burden Emporians now carry?
What is the long range plan? Is it to bring the Somalis from a place where they're dependent on services and low wages, as they currently stand? Nothing's been said, but from we have to this point it appears that we may be in the process of creating a permanent underclass, whose sole purpose may be to benefit a large corporation in its drive to increase profits. That's not the American way. The American way is to make way for opportunity, not permanent dependency.
I think these are fair questions, and I don't think they have anything to do with race. They have everything to do with our collective futures.
The Somalis have been the victims in their own countries. Since they've been here in the U.S. they've been shunted from pillar to post by the State Department, that appears to be dumping them,hoping to find someplace. There does not appear to be any plan, nor does there appear to be any sensitivity to the communities they're being shunted to and from. This is not the American way.
So, we have Tyson's desire for profits, Catholic Charities attempt to be noble, and our governments, at all levels, floundering around in a beaurocratic wilderness. This does not seem to be a healthy way to solve a problem.
There are very few, I think, who don't want to help solve this problem, but I think the leaders, whoever they may be in this situation, are taking a very short sighted view. In the end, it may not solve the problem at all. In fact, it may make it worse.
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Kstrebuchet....they won't have to build a lot of apartments and rentals to house the refugees, if this all happens...There will be a lot of empty places for them to move to. Have I mentioned my house?
neighbor...If you are right and it's not the Government, or local politicians that are involved...then I will apologize to them now for accusing them. I just wondered how much any of them knew on Tuesday night at the "Image" meeting for Emporia.
As for Tyson...It's not just their "air pollution" that stinks...The whole place STINKS...and I, for one, have purchased my last Tyson beef. (that should put them out of business...LOL).
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
mexico is almost empty by now, cant we just ship tyson and their followers there? lol i am not staying long enough to see how this effects the schools, jobs, housing, and the poverty level. if tyson has a meat recall from one of their imported diseases, hopefully it would end their business
Posted by momus (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 10:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wish the community as a whole would have been consulted more before this announcement took place. I agree that we need to, as U.S. citizens, take some responsibility for some of the refugee situations in certain parts of the world. During the cold war, we loaded up Somalia (among other nations)with weapons and supported local warlords that were sympathetic to our cause. The USSR did the same thing, and then Islamic extremists took advantage of the situation. I get that.
My question is: is Emporia really the ideal situation for thousands of displaced refugees? As far as communities go, we are on the smaller side. A mass population influx of people with nothing to their name could overwhelm our town's economy quickly. So, my follow up questions are: how many are comming? Are we talking about turning Emporia into a settlement center for one group, or several different refugee populations from throughout the world? Has anyone done a cost analysis to determine the effect on the communities economy, social systems and tax base? Who, exactly are the people that made this decision and continue making these major decisions regarding Emporia's future?
We've talked about image and development while trying to encourage community involvement, but it seems like some major decisions are being made about Emporia's future with little or no input from the community at large. It doesn't do us a lot of good to solicit imput about what type of community we want Emporia to be if, in the end, a few individuals or outside entities are making those decisions for us.
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
momus...you and a many others have a lot of good questions.
I am one of those people that sometimes doesn't ask how a house is built, or question the permits, or who designed it...I just look at the end result......and if I don't like what it looks like, I get upset, and want to start over......Probably not a good way to be.....But, I wasn't here when they started building this mess in Emporia.....
So, I probably don't ask the right questions.....All, I know is I don't like what I am seeing and hearing...I have no clue how we got to where we are at....but, I don't like, what I think, the end result is going to look like.
I just know I feel like the community has been "back doored" by someone....and, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing in this town.
One hand is Tyson, and the other hand is the community. Although, I suspect I know what Tyson's hand is doing to the community.
While we were all at the Image meeting on Tuesday night, being positive,and making suggestions on how to help Emporia grow....there were plans for a "secret" meeting on Friday night to make Emporia a "Refugee Center for AMERICA"...That's a big statement momus....It doesn't sound like just a few hundred more refugees are moving to Emporia.
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Years ago, there was a television ad that featured a Native American on horseback who looks around at the waste and ruin of the land. The camera zooms in to the man's face where a tear forms and runs down his cheek. I am reminded of that image this morning. It is difficult to read these posts and not come to tears because we all feel, and rightfully so, that we are losing our town. Worse yet, we were not informed. And that is the rub -- we weren't informed, it was just shoved down our throats.
Equality, you don't live here. Your taxes are not involved. You have no right to tell us how to feel. Shut up!
Renegade, don't leave us. Stay and fight. We all have to put our heads together to figure out what to do about this. Netloafer is right, there doesn't seem to be a plan for assimilation, and we DO INDEED have a right to ask questions and demand answers.
Must we have our own meeting? I wonder if the powers that be realize that if the people wanted to, they could very easily organize.
Posted by abby_normal (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tyson needs to go. They obviously don't support our community or give its jobs to the people of Emporia, lets get them out of here. Tyson is ruining our community, and they don't care. As long as they make a few extra bucks, they'll watch Emporia go up in flames. Their extra bucks are worth our women getting raped and disease spread throughout our community? We need to let them know it is not okay.
We need to stand together as a community and fight this tooth and nail. Tyson needs to be shown they cannot control OUR community. Somalis need to go back and fight for their own country (we fought hard for ours).
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.sepblogg.com/node/3089?PHPSES...
64af2c285ba0d9aace8131e7dc9d6086
An Eventful Year...
By admin at Sat, 2006-12-30 21:10
In February, the closing of a Tyson plant in Norfolk, Neb., signaled the arrival of a new Somalian population in Emporia. By March, 80 Somalian refugees had been transferred to the Emporia plant, a number that grew to 200 by June and to more than 400 by the end of the year. Many of the Somalians had spent years in Kenyan refugee camps before being granted asylum in the United States.
Late in the year, a group of Emporians founded the Emporia Refugee Resettlement Alliance to help everyone acclimate to the new situation.
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http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2006/...
_promotes_understanding/
The group, Emporia Refugee Resettlement Alliance, formed recently after a variety of representatives of agencies and governmental units attended a meeting organized by Lougene Marsh, director of the Flint Hills Community Health Center. The meeting also was attended by Lewis Kimsey, state coordinator for refugee services for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
Elizabeth Nelson, chairwoman of ERRA, said the group was organized “to deal with issues that have arisen from the arrival of Somali refugees this summer. ...”
Nelson also is coordinator for multicultural programs and services at ESU; however, the university is not a sponsor of the group.
“The Somali refugees have chosen to call Emporia ‘home,’ and it is the ERRA’s wish to help them acclimate to their new surroundings while helping Emporians adjust to the arrival of their new refugee neighbors,” Nelson said.
ERRA is made up of representatives from the health center, SRS, Flint Hills Technical College Adult Education Center, Tyson Fresh Meats, the City of Emporia, the Emporia school district, the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau, the United Way and Newman Regional Health. Two Somalians also are members of the group. Both work at Tyson and one also is a part-time student at ESU.
“We’ve got issues connected to health and safety, transportation, driver’s education, education, English language training, social services, and also development of cross-cultural awareness and understanding,” Nelson said.
The group will emphasize cross-cultural training — educating Lyon Countians to the cultural and religious traditions of the Somalis and educating Somalis to the cultural and religious traditions of Americans in general, and Lyon County, in particular.
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Create..Thank you. It's people like you ,and many others, that I have met here, that make me want to stand up for our community.
My husband and I have invested much of our future here, in a very short time, and I hope we have something left to leave our children, and grandchildren when this is over.
I have other relatives here that feel the same way.
We are fairly new to Emporia...but, there are so many people that have lived here all there life, and don't deserve what a few sleazy people are trying to do to our community.
I don't think having our own meeting is unreasonable...I have the time..and even if I didn't I would make the time.
I intend to make some calls, on the phone, and in person, this week. (I'm glad I have that extra hour now....LOL :-) )
Posted by vankamp (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gwen Larson..
Do you suppose the Gazette could ask the question on the next reader poll: Are you for Emporia becoming a major settling point for refugees? I would be interested in how the poll would turn out.
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"...helping Emporians adjust to the arrival of their new refugee neighbors,” Nelson said."
I remember all this. I also remember they had handouts to all the medical offices, schools, etc teaching local people how to deal with the Somali people. One instruction was not to look Somali men in the eye. I don't know why. Okay, so that's a cultural instruction. STILL, when were we informed that this many people were coming here? Were we consulted at all? We are usually informed after the fact in news articles.
Is there anybody in this group willing to admit that there has been a HUGE impact on the Emporia community? That many Emporians are upset?
Maybe it's time to go elsewhere for answers. If enough people ask questions...
www.jerrymoran.house.gov He represents our district.
Posted by emporian (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Should see alot more for sale signs as people get out while the getting good. The only people I see benefitting from this deal are Tyson and Walmart. I have always said it, but someone tell me What does Tyson do for this community? You bring up getting rid of Tyson and people say this town would die and that Tyson does so much for Emporia. Maybe someone can show me what they do.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 12:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
why cant we look a somali man in the eye? is this the same reason we cant look an aggressive dog in the eye? it triggers their aggression? if they are so sensitive that looking them in the eye is wrong, then what does a passing smile or a hello mean?maybe when they give little nuggets of advice on how to get along with this new population, they can also say the reason for their cultural reasoning for things
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/back130...
Bias Against Resettlement in Africa
But the larger challenge will be managing the dissolution in a modern western society of a traditional culture with its traditional ways of handling conflict and providing comfort and support. Did the world community fail to get behind a plan to resettle a communal, agricultural people in a neighboring country that is ethnically, linguistically, religiously, and culturally familiar only to disperse them among Section 8 housing units in 50 American cities?
An institutional bias against intra-regional resettlement comes from the U.S.-based resettlement agencies themselves. Functioning as federal contractors and employing at least 5,000 in the United States, most of their income is based on the number of refugees they resettle to the United States — not to other countries.
Staffers, both from the refugee contractors and DHS, responsible for weeding out fraud and verifying the identities of intending refugees in many cases do not speak any African languages and know little about the region or people they are dealing with. According to Africa-based refugee workers, some of the Somali Bantu are actually “dominant clan” Somali, that is, the very category of people that put the Somali Bantu into the category of “refugee.” According to the workers, some “dominant clan” Somalis are trying to enter into sham marriages with the Somali Bantu in order to gain admission to the U.S. refugee program. According to both the DHS and the UNHCR, polygamous marriages will not be a bar to the U.S. refugee program. Husbands need merely divorce their second and third wives prior to DHS processing. The ex-wives will still get a berth on the program with the promise of resettlement in the same town as their ex-husband.
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Posted by create (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I had the same question, slipandslide, about why we can't look Somali men in the eye. That was in a handout to a local medical office. I have lots of questions.
Thanks for all the good information, Observer.
Did everybody get their tax bills yet? Mine went up.
Posted by MrCmonkeeDo (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
MrC looks Somali men in the eye all the time...no one ever told him not to. Besides how would THEY know unless THEY were looking MrC in the eye?
Posted by lisag (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just a few things that come to my mind. How many can Tyson employ at once? What happens to the ones no longer employed there...move on or rely on govt. support? Is this just a stepping stone for them, or permanent residence here in Emporia?
How will this effect ESU? Do fresh kids first time away from mom & dad really want to live with a large refugee population? Will rural parents feel comfortable sending "little Susie" to a major refugee center?
I think many hearts are heavy in Emporia with this news. It is almost too coincidental to come the same week as Emporia tries to rally for its image, then gets blind-sided by this. "It's a sad day in Emporia....."
Posted by emporian (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Its more of a money cannot look them in the eye thing. Money are inferior. I know one woman that they bumped her out of the way in line at Walmart. When you told them they told her "you woman you mean nothing".
Posted by emporian (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
instead of money insert woman. Typing on MSN at the same type can really screw you up.
Posted by reservist (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 2:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We need to set up a meeting, crash secret meetings, do whatever legally we can do to let the supporters of a refugee camp know that we will not stand for this. Many Emporians are to scared to say anything because of their jobs may be at stake. We need to have meetings, organize do legal research something. Even if we fail trying to do something at least we can say we tried. Relatives of mine suggested that I go to meetings and speak because they are to scared to do anything. I have nothing to risk. If we start having meetings, maybe more people will start to show up. The ones who are scared may start showing up once they know how many people are getting involved. Instead of just typing on here lets do something. Contribute money to hiring a Lawyer or Lobbist. I can afford to donate at least $200. If a 100 or 1000 Emporians do the same we maybe able to stall the refugee camp or stop it. Lets do something before it comes to late. Lets start trying to think of times and places we could meet and brainstorm up good ideas we can use. Thursdays around 6 outside the public library? Start thinking of places to meet.
Posted by landinkansas (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 3:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A Somolian refugee settlement. That's where I want to live & retire. That's impressive when people are researching universities for their kids to attend? Are we going to put up a big billboard along I-35? If this is the direction the town is going there is no sense spending time & money researching how to make the town better. It's not going to happen.
Maybe the real issue is TYSON. Maybe it's time for Tyson to pack up and leave. Seems all they are doing is providing poverty level jobs and a tremendous amount of discontent with the citizens of Emporia? I think their time has ran out. I see more bad than good with Tyson being in Emporia.
I'm discusted and I don't care who know's it.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 4:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
im all for it, if there is a way to chase tyson out or keep the town from becoming a tb infested dump i think it should be done
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 4:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, according to Observer's information, Tyson's plant in Norfolk, Nebraska closed. I wonder how those people in that town are doing?
Posted by momus (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 4:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with a lot of what landinkansas is saying. This has the potential to overwhelm our population, tax base and local economy. Furthermore, a town our size is identified by certain buzz words. Essentially, we are not big enough to be known for too many categories by those from outside the area. If we get tagged as a refugee camp by the rest of the state it will hurt ESU enrollment, business recruitment, redevelopment, real estate sales (I could go on, but I think you get the point). Referring back to my earlier post on this issue, we need answers to MANY questions.
At its most basic level, this just seems rude. At least talk to the community and get buy in (or alleviate some concerns) before you move ahead and announce a proposal like this. I wouldn't walk into a strangers house and start painting and rearranging their furniture without permission. That's exactly what it sounds like is happening here. People that may not have anything to do with Emporia feel they have the right to come in and rearrange the town without having the common courtesy of asking the citizens of Emporia first. If questions are answered to the citizens satisfaction, and it can be shown how the economy and our tax base will respond in a positive manner, then fine. But, we Kansans are hard working, stubborn and have exceptionally long memories. I think those that tried to push this through without asking just ticked off the wrong people.
Posted by netloafer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 5:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here are some of the demographics on Norfolk, NE
Median household income in 2000 was 34,000
Median household income in 2005 was 36,200
Median home value in 2000 was 83,000
Median home value in 2005 was 88,500
Poverty rate is 11%
This compares to Emporia was during the 2005 reporting period was 31,000 (median income), 68,000 (median home value) and 15% (poverty rate.
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Can't look them in the eye? Wonder if it has anything to do with why you don't shake hands with a certain hand? harhar
As for "you woman you mean nothing" - I guess that answers my question I asked in an earlier thread (the Somalian poster never would reply) as to whether they followed the common Somalian practice of removing a female's clitoris while they are 5-8 years old, thus 100% depriving her of ever, ever, ever having any chance whatsoever of physical enjoyment from sex, for the rest of her life. And equality thinks WE'RE close-minded and need sensitivity training? What about the rights of that poor 5-year old Somalian girl? Yes, I'm sure I'll catch flak again for bringing this up how I should understand different cultures have practices we may not agree with, yada yada yada, but when that practice so blatantly tramples on anothers basic human rights (in this case a child who is too young to understand, no less) - I simply will not agree.
Observer, you asked the question earlier how many of these have ever swung a bloody machete. I don't have any idea whatsoever, but I do know that at Tyson a Somali made a comment when getting his knives that "in his country, we use these to kill people". Now, I'm not ready to brand them all bad, but comments like that make me wonder - was that just a sad commentary on the state of his native country, or a joke? I honestly do not know. But comments like that certainly make me raise my eyebrow.
Posted by ksfarmer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 6:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Throw in the towel..........say UNCLE........whatever.......Emporia will never overcome this stigmatism. Try all the positive image campaigns ya want, people will still call Emporia a little hard-luck, stinky, poverty, refugee town. Just a place on the turnpike halfway to everywhere. Where little farm girls get their teaching certificate......
Makes you wonder.......do outside people just assume our town is so bad, whats a few more hundred refugees...they can handle it? I think this will push us all over the edge. Quit wastin' money on consultants, we are what we are..... take it or leave it.
Posted by emporian (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe we can come up with a slogan...
Posted by so_sick_of_tyson (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 7:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree that if you don't live here you need to shut the hell up and if you are so concerned with the somali welfare then maybe you should contribute to their well being instead of my taxes going up again, Lyon Co already has a high enough tax rate and for you to be so smug and sit their and say that because we don't agree with what Tyson is doing and for us to not welcome these refugees with open arms shows by itself your ignorance so please open your pockets to them (somali's) your bleeding heart amuses me...maybe you are one of the ignorant people who choose to marry one and make them a US citizen or maybe you are just ignorant period.....I have and will continue to ban Tyson products and agree with the previous postings that if I wanted to live in complete harmony with TB, HIV and rudeness as a second nature I would gladly move to Africa don't you think....Everytime I turn arond there one is being completely rude (if i had another option to do my shopping I would completely avoid Walmart as well) and don't get me started on their driving skills, even defensive driving courses couldn't even begin to help these people....I will once again go back to this.......If by chance these individuals would have some respect for us and our country and try to live and abide by OUR culture and practices then maybe, JUST MAYBE I would have a little compassion for these individuals, but as it stands right now I don't appreciate the COMPLETE disrespect they have shown and I as a US citizen should not have to adapt to them and their practices!!! PERIOD Like I said before , our ancestors built this country for GOD sake, we can't have prayer in school no pledge of allegiance and no Christmas program, but by all means let's give the damn Somali's a fricken prayer room for wherever they go, it's completely ridiculous and I think it's time WE as Americans take a stand and get back our AMERICAN PRIDE!!!!
Posted by ksfarmer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 7:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Emporia.....Going nowhere fast, but getting darker by the year"
Come on ....everybody can think of one & we'll all vote!
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 7:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i agree with so_sick_of_tyson 100%
when tyson is done building toilets to accomadate the cultural bathroom differences, how about they install one large toilet handle so we can flush and watch the swirling action as emporia finishes going down the toilet.
Posted by Kansan (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ksfarmer...... great idea! Sounds like fun.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ksfarmer, the slogans i keep coming up with are too descriptive of sh*t, cant post them here, sorry
Posted by outdoorsman25 (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All the Somalians do is take everyone's job...stink up the town...wreck into anyting and everything....carry diseases and give Emporia a bad name
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
said Renee Hively, public health manager for the Flint Hills Community Health Center. “... But really, it’s going to be up to the community to decide what’s next, where we need to go.”
did the community get a say in this to begin with? can we really just say 'no' ? they could have came up with a better way of telling lifelong emporians that our was going to finish being destroyed for the sake of tyson and the city to have alittle federal dollars to pad their pockets with. this is the spinless town that changed our local culture by changing OUR christmas program to appease to one jerk who threatened a lawsuit. instead of importing more dependents, improve the quality of life to be like we had it,start with returning the flag salutes and prayers in school, and bring back OUR christmas program. quit quibbling about the name, its a christian holiday, give it the christian name it had, then export, tysons entire workforce. ps for those of you who think the schools are having daily flag salutes in school, go to your kids school at the beginning of each day and see for your self, it s absent
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 8:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
im done posting on this
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 9:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
slipandslide...Don't stop...We are listening to you...and, we need to hear from everyone.
I think it's good that we can use this forum to vent our frustrations. It's good to hear that so many share the same feelings about this sad situation.
You've lived in Emporia all your life, and you've helped me to learn a lot about our community. If I want to know the truth I come to this forum to find out. There are a lot of honest feelings on here this week end.
ksfarmer...Although I don't think there is anything funny about what's going on, I do appreciate your sense of humor. Thanks for making me laugh when I read your posts.
Posted by rami (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 9:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have always said that Emporia was a nice place to grow up and that I wanted to raise my kids here. I seriously have my doubts now.
My thoughts on the Tyson situation...I don't see how they do anything for Emporia. They bring all these people to Emporia to work for them when there are already people here that NEED jobs!!!
They will not do rehires because it costs them money....I think that is BS!
My husband worked for IBP in 1990 before he moved to a new town. He tried to get a job at Tyson a few years ago and that is when he was informed about rehires. They said it didn't matter that it was IBP when he worked there....needless to say, he didn't get the job. I'm sure some Somalian or illegal DID get it. No, I'm not racist, but I am sick and tired of this being the norm and the natives being forced to accept it!
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
racist? what can be racist about wanting a job even if it is stinky tyson. why is it discrimination when when there is not a certain number of non whites employed, but when there are way more non whites than whites its not discrimination.
Posted by reservist (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go out of town to shop and eat. Let the merchants start to hurt. Let the city officals know what is about to come if they turn Emporia into a refugee camp. Everone will start pulling out. Business that requires skilled labor will start shuting down. ESU's enrollment will drop. Restraunts will start closing down. Stores will shut their doors. Police officers and first responders will start taking jobs in bigger cities. Taxes will sore as the city tries to cope with the loss of revenue. Property values will drop. Crime will go up. Every one who doesnt pull out when the getting good is going to suffer. The city thinks Tyson keeps us afloat. What happens when every other place goes out of business? The city is already broke, what happens when the city has to take on the extra burden the Somolians are going to impose. We need to take some sort of legal action to stop this madness. We need to start some type of committee ourselves. We got to stop this before it goes to far. People on here have addressed a great many of valid issues. The key is to get the valid issues off of here and make the ones deciding the future of our town hear them. We got to let them know that we cannot be pushed around and bullied into their ignorant ideas. We have to act now. In away that is educated, legal, and civilized. What we say and do could hurt our motives. If the elected officals of our once great city do ready this post, I hope you know that their is a great chance that you will never be voted into another politcal office ever again. Look at the long lasting effects that this will have on the future of our town. If you are to blindsided to see how this is hurting our town, at least think of the saftey of the Somolians. This decission the city has made is turning into a powder keg, and some hot head may provide the spark that ignites it. If the city will not defuse the situation than we ourselves should try to do so, and the only I see how is stopping Emporia from becoming a refugee camp. All it takes is one cultural misunderstanding and boom. Property owners the city will need a place to build or house the refugee center, refuse to sell or lease.
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And I caught alot of flack awhile back when I posted that it was nearly impossible for local help to get hired on at Tyson anymore..... hmmm..... gosh, guess I DID know what I was talking about after all. Golly Gee Whiz.....
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just now reading back thru these posts, something caught my eye I glossed over earlier. At the meeting with the consultant, everyone was "told to keep the remarks 'positive'"...
Just what kind of a stipulation is that? They don't want to hear what people have to say, they just want everything sugarcoated? Only add to the discussion if you agree with everything? What is the entire point of a meeting that has that kind of a limit on the discussion?
Seems our city "leaders" don't want to listen to the people, only their own pocketbooks. Let's see now, how long till the next election(s).......
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
when tyson picks up a bus load in mexico headed for work in their great smelly plant, they conveniently give everyone ready made social security numbers.whens the last time anyone reported a neighbor they suspected was illegal? never they have all the benifits of full citizens without going through the trouble to become legal, same goes for samolies?
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe higher taxes,more government sponsored programs,and a casino or two will solve all our problems.....
Posted by ksfarmer (anonymous) on November 4, 2007 at 11:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Who's lining their pockets with all this besides Tyson? Follow the money trail. Somebody's got to be getting a big paycheck from all this "refugee center" talk. Non-profit organizers, Catholic community services, somebody is making it worth their while with all the fed. money available. Who's really calling the shots? Dump on Emporia, don't want all these refugees in KC or metro area, where they actually may assimulate easier. How many can we handle? Percentage wise, at what point in relationship to our population, can we say whoa! Too many! Emporia is starting to look like one of those force-fed geese.....refugees crammed down our throat. Starting to feel like we're on the Titanic, Tyson the iceberg. Sad, just really sad to watch this all play out before our eyes. It's hard to smile & think about the future of our town at the same time.
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 12:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Observer, I was reading 1 of your links on Somalian immigration, and noticed "The principal partner involved with the Somali Bantu case, Mohammed Ibrahim, is also suing the U.S. government on behalf of local victims of the 1999 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania."
Good God, what is this country coming to. OUR embassies get bombed, hundreds of Americans killed, and OUR government gets sued? Thanks to people like Equality, I'm sure he'll win millions of $$$. Insanity rules the day. If you have 1 ounce of common sense you're branded a right-wing wacko. (Don't confuse me with the Phelps psycho's).
Folks, enjoy your July 4ths. I'm not sure how many this country has left.... :(
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 7:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Be sure to wave at them with your left hand too kstre.
My wife and daughters have witnessed them bump into women, cut in line, and bad mouth the clerks at Wally world. They would not want to do that to my girls or any other woman in front of me.
Cultural awareness=disregarding your own culture so others can benefit from your spineless inability to promote your own.
Posted by landinkansas (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 7:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is truly a disturbing issue. I don't post much but can't help myself on this issue. The future of the entire community may very well hinge on this issue. EVERYONE needs to stand up and let it be known how they feel. Obviously this isn't a plus for any community. If it was, larger cities would have used their political persuasion to become a Refugee Settlement. I'd welcome FRONT PAGE exposure from the Gazette. Let's put the facts on the front page for everyone to see. Let the public know the facts and have a say in how their town moves foreword the next 20, 30, 40 years...... Is this what the citizens of Emporia want? Is this what you want for your elderly parents to deal with? Is this what you want for your children, your grandchildren? I want my kids & grandchildren to live locally. To prosper and have a good lives. Not packing up and leaving to get away.
I've heard a lot of talk about creating jobs to keep ESU graduates around after graduation. If Emporia is going to be a Refugee Settlement the real issue will be in getting student to come to ESU. I'm sure retiree's want to live in a Refugee Settlement. That's really appealing. Same with people traveling through Emporia. Word will spread quickly. People won't stop or stay in a Refugee Settlement, I wouldn't. It's to easy to go on down the road another hour.
Let's get this stopped before it gets worse.
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 7:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Kstrebuchet...
I've been catching up on reading the posts this morning, and you're right. There are a lot of posts here, but, we are only a very small representation of Emporia.
I too have mentioned this to others in the community, who knew nothing about it. I was told they thought a few more "refugees" would be coming to Emporia, but not enough to make a difference.
A lot of people read the Gazette, but they don't read the Forums, on line.
There are many questions that need answering, I agree.
I have a marketing background, and I would be able to share some of the ideas I have to get the word out to the community. If anyone is interested.
I plan to make use of my time today to see if I can get some questions answered, as well.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 8:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
anyone interested in this can meet reservist outside the public library, thursday at 6
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
a quiet group out side the courthouse in broadday light would cause the contented security guards to think they have a 'situation' outside.good idea though. there should be some way to follow the money trail and see whos getting the kickback to this. maybe find out how the federal dollars are distributed when a community is declared a resettlement area. i dont have alot of ideas
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What slipandslide said bears repeating here: "said Renee Hively, public health manager for the Flint Hills Community Health Center. “... But really, it’s going to be up to the community to decide what’s next, where we need to go.”
did the community get a say in this to begin with?" Right on slipandslide.
In the meantime, like the rest of you, I too am frustrated and heartbroken about this. Here's my contribution for a motto, but its just a temporary one because we're going to conquer this.
Full of Stink-
Out of Sync-
On the Brink-
Rinky-Dink!
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
One thing I've been doing is this -- copy and paste this URL into an e-mail and send it to others you know in the city. They can read for themselves how upset we are and you won't get hoarse like I did yesterday.
Good post, ksfarmer.
I'm getting my sign ready in case we have to march.
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 9:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No loose dogs in PUs,
No stray cats upon the prowl,
Send Somalis elsewhere,
No matter how they howl.
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's my billboard:
Hate Democracy?
Tired of majority rule?
Then come to EMPORIA,
where your vote won't mean SQUAT!!!
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Emporia is "GROWING down fast!"..
create..I sent an e-mail yesterday to jerry moran....Is this the Rep. that is coming to Emporia the end of November that you were telling us about?
Posted by mulberry (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is definately time for Tyson to leave Emporia. At this rate, Tyson WILL turn Emporia into a 3rd world country, and the only people left in this community will be the employees there. There are many families that are already talking about leaving Emporia for this very reason- including mine. This will definately push more of those families out of town-including mine.
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 10:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Renegade, yes, the U.S. Congressman for our district is Jerry Moran. He will be here at the American Legion on November 29. I'm awaiting a call on the time. Might be a good time to get a group together; however I definitely don't want to rob the VA of any of the precious time they need since it is their meeting. In the meantime,
www.jerrymoran.house.gov
Salina Office:
phone 785-309-0572
fax 785-827-6957
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks Create...Maybe we could ask for a separate meeting with him, while he's in town for the American Legion meeting? By that time we should have all our facts straight, and maybe we can find a location to use to gather interested Emporians?
Posted by tosie (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 10:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's sad to see my hometown going to crap.....I left Emporia because there was nothing left for me there, as far as a career goes, after graduating at ESU. I was sad to leave, but now I'm glad I left. Once again, let's help the refugees....forget about the people who have been living in and supporting Emporia for all these years. What a darn load of crap. Emporia will never get better or have any kind of a positive image until Tyson leaves and the refugees follow them out of town.....
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I just spoke with an intern in the Salina Office. I explained briefly what we are experiencing here then e-mailed him everything on this URL to corroborate. He says he will make Congressman Moran aware of what is going on.
Another point is Weitcamp, the director of refugee and migrant services for Catholic Community Charities in KC,Kansas. According to the article, he said this:
“I definitely want the input from the Somali community,” he said of the hiring process. “It’s so easy for an outsider to make a mistake, and I would be that outsider.”
Nowhere in the article does it state that anyone wants input from Emporians. Maybe we need to contact Weitcamp.
Everybody, you need to keep e-mailing Moran so we can convince him how serious this is.
Posted by pizza (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I've never seen so many pages of comments on a newspaper article and I agree completely. A couple of points I have never understood is why outsiders are permitted to just come in and take over our community and then, often times, charity or government agencies give them money and grants and free services to make life even easier for them. They just expect it and we sit back and let it happen. Yes, we need demonstrations, parades, news conferences and anything else we can think of to "say NO". It is a war from within and we don't even have an army.
So many of these big changes are encouraged and financed by some government entities and all is done very quietly. But the one really major thing I cannot understand is that none of our elected leaders are doing anything. Several of our elected city officials have long time family commitments in Emporia. Several have long time successful businesses, nice homes, retirement plans, children, grandchildren etc here. Their "world" is in Emporia. Why in the world do we hear nothing from them about all this Tyson pollution, the degradation of our community and the general decline of civilization in Emporia as we knew it. If the present trends contiue there will be no new homes built, no new cars sold, no market for their businesses or their homes. I cannot understand why so many intelligent people simply sit on their hands and watch it happen. Surely they will not give up that easily.
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Think- Chinamart pulls a good $15 mill a year out of the local economy.And you want more big low wage stores selling import junk?Then 1,000 refugees have local jobs at taxpayer expense.And then you get 4,000 more?Not much left for your kids,when you add it all up.
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
create...I posted to "equality" and asked if he was weitcamp....saying we were insensitive and uneducated. Remember he is the one that said he was "overwhelmed" when he got a sense of the potential impact the Somali community would have on a town the size of Emporia....He also said, He expected Emporia to become home to a pretty "substantial community of refugees."
Weitcamp is in Kansas City....where he gets to go to when he finishes his sneaky private meetings in Emporia.
I keep reading the news article where it says...a "diverse committee of local, state, and "private" leaders are working to prepare for the refugee camp". WHO are these people?
Posted by create (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The meeting time for Congressman Moran's Veteran's Forum is at 8:30, American Legion, November 29.
This forum has contained so many, many good ideas and excellent and informed comments on this issue. Keep it up. You will be glad to know that this URL has just been received in Congressman Moran's office in Washington, D.C.
Posted by Blackshirt (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As I sit here reading through these posts I am reminded what the city of Emporia was when I first moved there in the late 80's. It was a nice town with lots of nice people, businesses downtown and stores in the mall. Then I think what it was like when I left about a year ago. A mall with a handful of stores and a dilapidated downtown area. The Somali insurgence was just begining when I left but even then I could see where it was headed.
They drove their country into total anarchy and when the group that they supported lost, they called out that they would be slaughtered by their rivals if they were not relocated to America. Not that they would have treated the defeated any differently had they won.
They have no desire to become Americans, they want America to become the new Somail-land for them.
It seems obvious that the leadership of Emporia is not going to do anything, it is goign to be up to the people of Emporia to stand in the face of this leagalized and subsidized invasion.
I hate to say it, but I am glad that I and my family are not there for all of this.
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bravo!!!! to the overwhelming numbers of posters. This can be more than a mere blog page, but the ignition spark which lights a fire in the hearts of those who cherish and have deep roots in the Emporia area.
Well done create in your contacting Jerry Moran's office!!!!!!!
It is activism and justice which will persevere and illuminate the wave of denigration which would be foisted upon the Emporia community.
Just as the Patriot Guard and the American Legion Riders, proudly displayed Old Glory against the Apostle of Hate and the Phelps lemmings, you too can stand bravely against the insidious corruption being "welcomed" into the community.
Bravo!!!!!!!
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
From http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/7/mar...
pay special attention to the last line:
"This contraction in plants and workers decreased wages, especially for meatpacking and meat processing employees whose wages dropped by about one-third. Workers in other industries realized little change in real wages. Overall, average worker compensation, deflated by the consumer price index, fell 25 percent. This drop in wages, combined with the gain in output per worker, means that labor costs per unit of output dropped dramatically.
Although the associated cost reductions were likely passed along to consumers in the form of lower prices, the price impact was probably small because labor costs are only a small part of the cost of food processing."
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 12:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And from
http://www.knowledgeplex.org/news/734591...
"A number of social problems have been documented in meat packing towns, including increased crime rates and child abuse cases, higher housing and rental prices due to shortages, and added strain on social services and the healthcare system"
"in the 2001 bestseller Fast Food Nation. Eric Schlosser paints a grim picture of the effects of a new meat packing plant on Lexington, Nebraska, including a dramatic rise in the immigrant population, crime, and demand for public services like Medicaid"
"We find that as the meat packing and processing industry's share of a county's total employment and wage bill rises, total employment growth increases, while wage growth slows relative to counties without the industry. Income growth, which approximates local aggregate output growth, is not significantly affected. These findings suggest that the negative wage effect, a proxy for worker productivity, approximately cancels out the positive effect of rising employment"
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And from
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/usa0105/...
"In the 1960s and 1970s, meatpacking workers’ pay and conditions approximated those of auto, steel, and other industrial laborers who worked hard in their plants and through their unions to attain steady jobs with good wages and benefits. Meatpackers’ wages remained substantially higher than the average manufacturing sector wage—15 percent higher in 1960, 19 percent higher in 1970, 17 percent higher in 1980"
"New companies became industry powerhouses, especially Iowa Beef Processors (IBP). IBP overtook old-line producers by automating more of the process, squeezing skills out of the job. IBP reduced every stage in the process to mindless, repetitive cutting with the same hand and arm motion in what the industry calls a disassembly-line process. IBP and its copycat producers stepped up line speed and cut wages to levels far underneath union-negotiated standards. In 1983, meatpacking workers’ pay fell below the average U.S. manufacturing wage for the first time. Since then, the decline has accelerated—15 percent lower in 1985, 18 percent lower in 1990, 24 percent lower in 2002."
And, most telling of all...
"Unlike workers in many U.S. manufacturing sectors, most meat and poultry workers do not face employers’ threats to move their plants to other countries where wages and workers are suppressed. Some analysts argue, however, that this fact has not blocked a “Third World” strategy by the U.S. meat and poultry industry. They contend that instead of exporting production to developing countries for low labor costs, lax health, safety and environmental enforcement, and vulnerable, exploited workers, U.S. meat and poultry companies essentially are reproducing developing country employment conditions here."
Equality, do you still think it is WE who need more "sensitivity trainning?" (I'll spell it like you did, since in your mind I'm probably not educated enough to know the difference :). Sounds like it is Tyson who needs a little more compassion and sensitivity, and others lining their pockets in concert with Tyson.
Posted by landinkansas (anonymous) on November 5, 2007 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Contact Jerry Moran via his Web Page. I just did. Let him know how you feel on this issue. Give him the ammunition to fight this. He has a quote on his web page - "I WILL ALWAYS PUT KANSANS AHEAD OF THE PRESSURE OF