--- begin forwarded text Farm Bureau director told: Quit By JERRY PERKINS Register Farm Editor 05/25/2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa Farm Bureau director Don Narigon said he has been asked to resign from its board for pursuing questions initially raised in a "60 Minutes" television show that was critical of the farm organization. Steve Morain, general counsel of Iowa Farm Bureau, said in a statement Wednesday that delegates from the 12 southwest Iowa counties Narigon represents had asked for his resignation because of "internal matters detrimental to Farm Bureau caused by Mr. Narigon." Farm Bureau officials declined to comment further. Narigon, 65, said he was told at a May 2 meeting of Farm Bureau"s 12-member board of directors that he had 48 hours to resign. He declined and hired an attorney. "This is fallout from the "60 Minutes" show," Narigon said. "I"ve been trying to get some answers, and I think I"m getting too close to something." The CBS broadcast on April 9 raised some troubling questions about how the Farm Bureau is run, Narigon said, and led him to ask about the organization"s finances. The segment accused the organization of building a for-profit business worth billions of dollars while tens of thousands of farmers are in financial trouble. "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace interviewed Ed Wiederstein, an Audubon farmer who is president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and chairman of FBL Financial Group, a Farm Bureau-linked life insurance company. Wallace asked Wiederstein about lucrative stock options granted to him, to FBL officers and to Farm Bureau directors, including Narigon, when the insurer became a publicly traded company in 1996. The show also cited American Farm Bureau"s opposition to environmental protection laws, the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Rights Amendment, gun control and a higher minimum wage. Whether Narigon will be removed as a Farm Bureau director will be decided by 100 voting delegates of the Iowa Farm Bureau, who will meet June 15-16 in West Des Moines. A two-thirds majority will be needed to remove Narigon from the board. -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rex L. Bavousett Photographer University of Iowa Our old name: University Relations - Publications Our new name: University Communications & Outreach - Publications 100 OPL, Iowa City, IA 52242 http://www.uiowa.edu/~urpubs/ mailto:[log in to unmask] voice: 319 384-0053 fax: 319 384-0055 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]