Editor’s Note; The four candidates for Jasper County Supervisor, Republicans Bill Ward and Denny Carpenter and Democrats John Parsons and Joe Brock, each answered a series of questions for the Newton Daily News. Their responses are printed below.
1) Tell us a little about yourself. Why are you running for county supervisor?
2) What plans do you have for improving opportunities for economic development in Jasper County.
3) Is the county budget in good shape? If not, how would you seek to improve it?
4) Would you be in favor of selling the remaining County cropland?
5) Does the county own too much property? Should some buildings be sold and county entities consolidated?
1) My motivation for seeking a seat on the Jasper County Board of Supervisors is to serve the people of Jasper County, and to provide them with the best possible services at the lowest possible cost to them. To always be looking for ways to make county government more efficient, without eliminating services or employees. To seek new businesses in Jasper County and expand economic growth. To be fiscally responsible to the people in Jasper County. My decisions as a board member will not be based on getting re-elected, but based on serving the people of Jasper County and not politics.
I served on the Board of Supervisors 2003 through 2006. During that period the board worked with department heads and reduced spending without reducing services or employees, and the County's cash reserves were also built up.
I was employed 36 years in the County Engineer's office, so I'm familiar with what the needs are in terms of roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
I have helped the County Auditor's office for 42 years with moving voting machines and equipment to the voting precincts, and at no charge to the county.
I supported all economic development that came before the Board of Supervisors.
I served six years in the Iowa National Guard. I'm also a member of the Habitat for Humanity board. I attend Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Church.
2) Based on my past experience, Craig Hamilton and the JEDCO Board work hard to attract new business into Jasper County. They are always looking for something to bring to Jasper County. I would suggest that all government agencies in Jasper County lobby their elected representatives to make Iowa a more friendly state for business to locate. Iowa needs to change the way they tax commercial property, and tax businesses. Business is going to go where they can make the most money.
3) With the state mandated raise in property evaluations of six percent, the amount of money the county will receive will be a big help in balancing the budget, but that can change overnight, due to all the uncertainty in the economy, and the condition of Iowa’s own budget. If the budget were in bad shape, I would get all the elected officials and the department heads together, and explain the situation, and what percent needed to be cut, from their budget, and have them go over their budgets again, and reduce as much spending as possible, and then see what the condition of the budget was, and if more cuts were needed or not, to balance the budget.
4) I would not be in favor of selling the remaining crop land. In 2010, the county got $59,125.44 in rent this year. That is probably more than you would get if you sold the farm ground and invested the money, and the county has also paid property taxes this year in the amount of $7,010. If you sold the property, the money from the sale would soon be spent. If some company wanted to buy some of the farm ground to put a manufacturing facility on the ground, and would employ several hundred people, that would be a different situation. I would be in favor of selling enough for the manufacturing facility, then there would be property taxes generated from the facility.
5) I don’t feel that the county owns too much property, and to my knowledge, everything they own is used. There are several sheds that house motor graders, and these properties are pretty small, one of the larger ones has been used to stockpile crushed rock at different times of the year. I don’t feel that there are any that should be sold. I do not know of any county entities that own buildings that could be consolidated. First you would have to find out if there was enough room in one building to consolidate two into one building. Without knowing what you would consolidate, it is hard to make a decision one way or the other.