TV analyst headlines chamber meeting

For 200 years, the privacy of Americans was a freedom untouched by government, but a pair of Jimmy Carter-era laws and then the Patriot Act of 2001 have started to whittle away at it, Judge Andrew Napolitano told attendees of the 110th Annual Meeting of the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday at the Best Western Regency Inn.

The senior judicial analyst for FOX News called the act "the worst piece of legislation in the history of the United States" because it allows Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to write their own search warrants.

It also opened the door for a 2003 law that widened the opportunities for the FBI to invade Americans' privacy, he said.

While the Supreme Court can still defend the Constitution from such laws written against it, Napolitano called for elected officials - who he said passed the 315-page Patriot Act by voice vote with 15 minutes of time to review it - to stop the subversions of all people's natural freedoms.

"If we let liberty live in our hearts, then no one for a long or permanent period can ever take it away," he concluded.

The nationally-known speaker, broadcast weekday mornings on KFJB Radio, crowned the milestone meeting and offered autographs to gifted copies of his latest book "A Nation of Sheep."

"We've not only seen success in the past year, but we've had sustained success for more than a century," said Chamber President Ken Anderson of the organization's 110 years.

He also read a letter from U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donahue congratulating Marshalltown on being only one of four chambers nationwide to receive four stars on its latest accreditation, "an outstanding achievement by you and your volunteer leaders," Donahue wrote.

The past year was summarized by chairman of the board Bill Thiede through a pair of Target 5 - Buy In! highlights before two awards were handed out.

A collaboration between Ryerson Tull Coil Processing and Lennox Manufacturing has shifted the "lion's share" of steel purchased by Lennox from Chicago to Ryerson, thanks to a new railroad spur, Thiede said.

The development has sparked the creation of 70 to 80 new jobs, he said.

Also, McFarland Clinic has negotiated a contract change so that Marshalltown's Premier Office Equipment will now lease and service all of the clinic's copy machines.

"I think I've grown more in the past year than I have in last 20," said Thiede, who initiated the Target 5 initiative. "... When you inherit an organization like I did from all the people before me, you just jump in the saddle, cinch down and go for the ride."

The Outstanding Volunteer Award went to Ultimate Web Design's Kristen Monroe and the Fisher division of Emerson Process Management was presented the chamber's first Chairman's Community Impact Award.

"I am continually amazed at how importantly their corporate leadership takes their commitment to the community," Thiede said. "... We are without a doubt a far better community with them being here."

As for the coming year, new board chairman Ric Anderson ushered in a focus on becoming a strong voice in the community.

"This should be the golden years of Marshalltown," he said.