March 28, 2024

Housing needs discussed at Coffee with the Mayor

PRAIRIE CITY — A small group gathered for the first Coffee with the Mayor event of 2017 on Saturday at the Prairie City Library.

Prairie City Mayor Chad Alleger along with Rep.-elect Wes Breckenridge, D-Newton, Sen. Chaz Allen, D-Newton and Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop, D-Baxter, touched on several topics relevant in the state, county and city along with light-hearted talk over coffee and doughnuts.

“What does the city of Prairie City need?” Allen asked.

Right off of the bat one attendee identified the need of an assisted living facility for those wanting to stay in the community but need a little extra help.

“There is not a care facility in Prairie City, Monroe, Colfax, the closest one is in Mitchellville,” Sue Ponder said. “I would say the majority of the people who have moved out of Prairie City in the last five years have moved to assisted living.”

Allen suggested looking into a partnership with a care facility in Newton to build a starter assisted living facility in Prairie City and as the need arises the residents could move to the Newton facility for more extensive care.

Along with assisted living, senior housing and housing in general was also brought up as a need for the community. Alleger said the city does have a land lock issue but talks with land owners have been encouraging in recent meetings.

Another issue brought up was voter identification requirements. Ponder asked the officials why it is a problem for people to show their ID when going to vote.

“You go to get the ID and the voter ID is free but if they get a regular ID they have to pay for that one,” Bishop said.

Bishop also explained that while in Jasper County a visit to get an ID can take as little as 20 minutes, in more urban areas people have to take a day of vacation to get in line early in the morning in hopes of getting an ID that day.

They have also seen cases where older citizens no longer drive and their ID has expired or may have never applied for a driver’s license and the process of having to get a new or updated ID would hinder them from getting out to vote, he said.

“The system we have in place seems to work pretty well and I am anxious to see if it is truly going to suppress and make it harder for some elderly people to vote, is it going to be a cost factor on the state, where is it going to land,” Breckenridge said.

All of the elected officials encouraged citizens to engage with them whether it be at gatherings like the coffee or through email or a call to their office.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com