Challengers square off in hotly contested DMACC election

For the first time in 20 years, Joe Pugel will face a challenger for his seat on the DMACC board of trustees. Pugel, who represents DMACC’s District 5, which encompasses the Newton area, has served on the board since 1997 and has been the board president since 2003.

Joe Riding, of Altoona, is challenging Pugel for his seat this year. Another challenger, Jennifer Pryke, a Newton resident who is a special education teacher at Lynnville-Sully has withdrawn from the race and thrown her support behind Pugel although she’ll still appear on the ballot. Riding, a former state representative from the 30th district said he decided to enter the race after being asked by friends.

An instrumental part of brokering the deal that saw Maytag donate its former facilities to the community college, Pugel said his record speaks for itself. A Newton resident since 1975, Pugel retired from the Vernon Corporation in 2010.

“I have a real passion for education,” Pugel said. “Helping them get things off the ground, it really sparked my interest.”

Pugel thinks he’s facing an opponent for the first time in years because he’s been targeted by the Iowa State of Education Association due to anger over the collective bargaining agreement that was passed by the Iowa Legislature.

“There’s some misinformation going around that the DMACC board was supporting some changes in collective bargaining, they never had any say one way or another in that,” Pryke said. “That was a legislative decision, I know for a fact (DMACC Board involvement) isn’t true.”

While school board elections like DMACC’s are typically nonpartisan, Pugel said he’s seen information on social media that he’s under attack because he’s a Republican, something Pryke believes is unfair. Insisting that he’s the best candidate for the job, Pryke urged voters to back Pugel, regardless of his party affiliation.

“As far as supporting Joe, I know Joe is a Republican, and I’m not, I’m still supporting him,” Pryke said. “That should say something.”

After looking at Pugel’s record, and becoming aware of the time commitments involved in being on the board, Pryke said she decided to withdraw, and she hopes voters will join her in supporting Pugel.

“I am supporting Joe Pugel because I feel like he’s done a lot of good things for Newton, and I’ve seen those things,” Pryke said.

Pugel admitted he thought about hanging it up once he realized he’d be facing a competitor for the first time this fall, but he said he feels like there’s still work left to do at DMACC. Praising the chemistry he enjoy with fellow board members, Pugel said he can point to an established track record of success at Iowa’s largest community college.

“We’re the largest community college, we have the lowest tuition in Iowa and the highest bond rating and the lowest tax levy, so our track record is pretty good right now,” Pugel said.

Riding said while he’s still going through the financials at DMACC, he hasn’t seen much, if anything he’d change if elected. It isn’t his style to go “guns blazing” Riding said, but he had nothing but praise for the DMACC board. Still, he’s looking to make an impact, and for Riding, there’s no better place than the local level.

“It’s your local city council and school board, they spend approximately 51 percent of your property tax dollars, they have the most daily impact on your life,” Riding said.

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com