|
Hoover site shut down: Tourist attraction closed 3 days after U.S. Senate fails to reach agreement
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · January 25, 2018
Both the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Hoover Library-Museum shut down for three days over the weekend after U.S. senators failed to reach an agreement to continue funding the federal government.
A new continuing resolution, passed late Monday, allowed the Hoover campus to reopen on Tuesday. The new continuing resolution keeps the agencies funded through Thursday, Feb. 8.
The two local agencies sent 28 staff — 25 full-time and three part-time — home and placed signs on the doors of both the park’s Visitor Center and the Library’s entrance just before the usual 9 a.m. openings on Saturday.
One significant difference in the 2018 shutdown compared to the 16-day shutdown in October 2013: No barricades blocking access to the park’s exterior.
Lesley Parent of Iowa City visited West Branch Saturday morning to take her dogs, Buddy and Bear, to The Groom Station, but first took them for a walk in Hoover Park.
“It’s probably too profane to print,” she said when asked her thoughts on the shutdown affecting the Hoover campus. “What is wrong with those people?”
Parent noted that the “beautiful sunrise” and sounds of birds singing drew her to the park.
“I hate to think of Washington on a day like today,” she said, placing the blame for the shutdown on the “current administration.”
Library Director Thomas Schwartz, reached prior to Monday’s vote, said that if the measure passes, both agencies should reopen Tuesday morning.
“A lot of folks think this is just a paid vacation,” he said. “I don’t know any staff that wouldn’t rather be at their desk getting paid than sitting at home. These shutdowns are no fun.”
One of his staff is a single mother, and he said she faced “incredible stress” not knowing how long she must wait for her next paycheck.
The last shutdown happened in October 2013 and affected 33 staff on the Hoover campus since it happened during a busier time of year. Hoover Presidential Foundation Executive Director Jerry Fleagle noted that January and February are the least busy months for tourists coming to the West Branch sites.
“But it’s a laughable joke” that the Senate could not pass a budget, let alone a continuing resolution, the head of the private fundraising arm of the Hoover Complex said. “It’s just a Band-Aid. It makes it tough to operate, especially the federal agencies like these here in West Branch.”
He noted that the continuing resolution’s Feb. 8 deadline means the agencies may not commit to contracts or even book tour groups past that date.
“Traffic is pretty small right now, but the residuals have a bigger effect,” Fleagle said.
City Administrator Redmond Jones II called it “bad news” to shut down the local attractions.
“I sure would hope and expect that the federal government would handle their business like the city has to handle its business,” he said. “It’s disappointing that it should boil over into this type of standoff.”
During the closure, the city provided police patrols “to make sure nothing happens.”
In 2013, the two federally designated “essential” employees for both agencies were the chief facilities officers, and not the agencies’ top administration officials. Schwartz noted that his agency recently hired a new facility manager, so Schwartz served as the “accepted” employee.
Hoover Park Superintendent Pete Swisher said this year, he also took on the role of the “essential” employee and the Office of Personnel Management said he could call in staff as needed if something came up. Those staff then would record their time worked for compensation later, he said.
While the park’s exterior remained open, all of the buildings closed, like Hoover’s birthplace cottage and the blacksmith shop. Swisher said this “open-air” change made the park “look like it does every day after 5 p.m.” He added that the City of West Branch would plow Parkside Drive as part of a longstanding intergovernmental agreement.
However, should it snow during the shutdown, the sidewalks and trials would not get cleared.
“We’re a pretty safe park,” Swisher said prior to the reopening. “We don’t have a lot of visitor injuries. Unless we get snow and ice, I’m not really concerned about it.”
With Friday’s announcement of the shutdown, each federal employee had up to four hours to record new voicemail messages and change out-of-office email responses to reflect the temporary closure, as well as secure their work areas, Schwartz said. Swisher said the nature of his agency meant his staff did not need all four hours.
The key sticking point in Senate negotiations involved immigration reform. Senate Democrats wanted to see certain services and rights extended to non-citizen immigrants eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Senate Republicans argued the issue should not be tied to a spending bill.
“I am pleased that Senate Democrats ended their completely unnecessary shutdown and voted to reopen the federal government and ensure that our men and women in uniform receive the certainty and compensation they deserve,” Iowa junior Senator Joni Ernst (R) said in a statement. “The reauthorization of (Children’s Health Insurance Program) is also critical to the approximately 80,000 Iowa children who depend on the program for access to important health care services, especially in rural and underserved areas.
Iowa’s senior Senator Charles Grassley (R) agreed that Democrats provided “no good reason” to hold up the continuing resolution on spending for DACA.
“It’s a shame it took three days and millions in wasted taxpayer dollars for common sense to prevail, but I’m glad it did,” Grassley wrote in a statement. “America’s men and women in uniform give so much in service to their country. They should never have to worry about their next paycheck. If it wasn’t political, it’s unclear why Democratic leaders voted against funding the government on Friday but voted for it on Monday. Thankfully, millions of families with kids who rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program now know it will be extended for six years.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York led Democratic negotiations, and posted Jan. 18 on Twitter that Congress has “been skating by on continuing resolution after continuing resolution for almost six months.”
“We can’t keep kicking the can down the road,” he added.
After the vote to end the partial shutdown, Schumer tweeted that “The #TrumpShutdown will soon end, but the work goes on.”
He listed three points as “#ProtectDreamers; Write a budget; Address health care, veterans, disaster relief, pensions & the opioid epidemic.”
U.S. Rep Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City, said the shutdown shows “dysfunction in Washington” and “the inability to compromise,” but did not blame just one party.
“While I remain deeply skeptical that (Monday’s) agreement will actually lead to the change that is needed, it at least provides a framework to begin dealing with issues Iowans tell me they want addressed,” he wrote in a statement.
He said that, unlike furloughed employees, Congress “did not feel any of the pain” from the shutdown, and he will donate that portion of his salary to local veterans charities. Loebsack said his office hours would extend to 6 p.m. each day this week to help constituents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
