Miller-Meeks Discusses Police With Sigourney Mayor

SIGOURNEY – Iowa congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks stopped by Sigourney on the morning of May 1, to talk with Sigourney Mayor Jimmy Morlan and members of the community. Mayor Morlan informed the congresswoman about the town’s problems with hiring a police chief and providing daycare. Miller-Meeks stated that it is often not profitable to run daycare services, blaming this on government regulations.

Mayor Morlan brought up mental health, stating that he feels we need more psych hospitals and jails. Morlan criticized the city of Chicago’s decision to end cash bail, claiming that violent criminals are being let out onto the street. Morlan also noted a lack of beds in mental health facilities across the state.

Congresswoman Miller-Meeks stated this issue goes back to the seventies, when many inpatient mental hospitals were closed. These hospitals were closed under the assumption that patients would be given community care. “But, the care within the community never particularly materialized,” said Miller-Meeks.

“What you’ve seen is a lot of people with mental health issues ended up in jail that didn’t need to be in jail, they just needed to be in a supervised setting or institutionalized setting,” she continued. “There was an increase in homelessness, so you have people with mental health issues that are homeless and not getting the care they need.” Miller-Meeks then criticized the fact that outpatient mental health patients are legally allowed to decide whether or not to take their medications. 

Miller-Meeks discussed police morale, criticizing criticism of police. “I think the rhetoric over the past two years of defund the police and criticizing the police has taken a toll on both those who are already in the profession...That rhetoric does affect people who want to go in and make law enforcement a career,” said Miller-Meeks. “It’s become even more difficult in this environment to get people into law enforcement.” 

The congresswoman was pressed on this, with an attendee noting that the backlash against law enforcement in recent years was born from a series of violent felonies carried out by police. Miller-Meeks was asked if she thinks people should not criticize law enforcement. “No, I think that there’s appropriate criticism and appropriate enforcement of the law when police go beyond what their requirements and their duties are,” said the congresswoman. “Those police are now in jail.”

It was pointed out that many police officers who committed violent crimes had not received prison sentences, with the Louisville cops who shot Breonna Taylor being given as an example. “I think that has to go through the process and, you know, let that community take care of investigating and determining what needs to happen,” replied Miller-Meeks. “I am saying that the criticism was over the top...Recruitment and retention is exceedingly difficult right now, and it’s difficult because of conversations that were covered by the media. Rhetoric that was out about defunding the police, attacking the police...This rhetoric has in fact led to more violence against the police and they feel it is responsible for the inability to recruit and retain... I have no issue with protesting. I have no issue with holding police accountable. No issue with police being investigated then charged when it’s appropriate that they’re charged. But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Morlan jumped in, saying “This irritates me a lot, actually. The blame is placed in the wrong place. And media loves the attention. I boil it down to the basics. Every single incident that’s made big news where a black person has been shot by the police or mistreated by the police, if they had cooperated with the police officer at the beginning, they would still be alive and everything would be fine. But they resist and they run. They try to use their vehicle to run over the officer. They pull out their own weapon. Some of them pretend to pull out a weapon and end up getting shot. But if they would have just cooperated with the police, the whole incident would have never happened.”

“There needs to be accountability on multiple fronts,” said Miller-Meeks. “The issue now remains that communities want to be safe.” Miller-Meeks stated she was committed to giving grants to cities so they can hire new police officers.

Mayor Morlan noted that part of the problem with Sigourney’s quest for a police chief is that the Keokuk County Sheriff's Department can afford to pay more. Currently, many deputies are paid 80-85 thousand per year, while the town is only offering up to 70,000 for the police chief position.

Miller-Meeks discussed the debt limit, stating that she and the rest of the Republican party were “very concerned” about the amount of spending during the past two years. Miller-Meeks then praised the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, stating that it had allowed economic growth. Miller-Meeks pivoted to discussing the national debt, stating that there was record spending under the Biden administration. The effect the 2017 tax cuts had on the national debt was not mentioned. Miller-Meeks stated a desire to grow the economy, through investing in the energy sector, and to cut what she described as irresponsible spending. Miller-Meeks was not specific on where funding should be cut.

Miller-Meeks blamed President Biden for inflation and rising interest rates and stated that he must meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss the debt limit. Miller-Meeks stated she had been working hard on the farm bill, calling it an economic driver for communities like Sigourney.

Mayor Morlan asked about healthcare for the elderly, stating that one of the places in Sigourney for elderly healthcare was struggling. “In a community like this, there’s a lot of elderly. A lot of farmers who, when they finish farming, move into town,” Morlan said. Morlan stated that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal money allowed the town to provide frozen meals for elderly residents, and that because that money had been cut, Sigourney now had people in need. Miller-Meeks stated that COVID money was only temporary, and that the city shouldn’t expect to maintain services that were increased during the pandemic.

Lucas Meir of County Bank asked about bank failures, in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. He noted that there needs to be banking regulations, but pointed out that small banks like County Bank function differently from large banks. Miller-Meeks blamed regulators for not intervening sooner regarding Silicon Valley Bank and noted that small banks are often more trustworthy.

Miller-Meeks discussed oil prices, stating that although oil companies have wells that they do not use, they refuse to invest in those wells because they feel they will not see a return on their investment, because they believe the Biden administration wants to move the country away from its reliance on oil. “It is extremely expensive to drill...and you know you have an administration that is not friendly to your industry,” Miller-Meeks said.