Supervisor announces re-election bid using well-known political slogan

Brandon Talsma used a catchy slogan to win a seat on the Jasper County Board of Supervisors in 2018, and it looks as if that strategy will persist with his re-election campaign. Only this time Talsma is using a well-known chant already adopted by fellow Republicans and critics of President Joe Biden.

In his announcement for re-election on Jan. 24, Talsma posted a graphic of the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon!” with his signature beard replacing the letter “O” in his name. Much like his “Vote For The Beard” campaign posters, the twist on the “Let’s Go Brandon” political slogan was courtesy of Talsma’s wife, Holly.

“It probably will be our slogan if I make it past the primary. Obviously until the primary is done I’m not really ordering new signs or anything like that,” Talsma said. “Really the thought behind it was the ‘Lets Go Brandon’ thing is going on anyway. My name is Brandon. So why not play off of something?”

The political slogan originated when a reporter interviewing NASCAR driver Brandon Brown after a win at the Talladega Speedway either misheard or tried to divert attention away from the crowd chanting “(expletive) Joe Biden” and instead suggested people were shouting “Let’s go, Brandon.”

Prior to being elected into office, Talsma used the phase “Vote For The Beard” in his campaign materials. The newcomer eventually received the most votes out of the five candidates running for two open supervisors seats that year, including longtime Republican incumbent Denny Carpenter.

TALSMA HIGHLIGHTS COUNTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Campaign slogans aside, Talsma wants to continue improving Jasper County. In the past four years, he has been most proud of the county’s efforts to improve its secondary roads system and the new administration building project, which will move staff from the aging annex building.

Determining what best to do with the annex building has been a goal of the board of supervisors for some time. Progress was made when the county purchased the former NewCare building, secured a bond referendum to improve the space and sold the annex building to a developer.

“Instead of continually pumping money into a building that’s rotting and whose price tag was quickly approaching $4 million-$6 million to continue to use while having no space to grow there, (the county is now) shifting into a long-term view and figuring out a long-term solution for the problem we were facing,” he said.

By no means is Talsma satisfied with where the secondary roads system stands, but he does believe the county has made headway with gravel road maintenance and bridge repairs. The Jasper County native predicted years of neglect was going to come to a head. And it did in early spring 2019.

“It just so happened to happen my first three months in office,” he said. “We’ve gained a lot in that area as far as maintaining roads, the amount of gravel, the size of gravel that’s getting put on the roads. There’s been a lot of changeover internally in that department and different policies getting put in place.”

Talsma said the county has also maintained a reputation for fiscal transparency and responsibility. He also touted the county’s decision to lower its levies when citizens’ property valuations increased, thereby saving taxpayers money. As of press time, the county has yet to determine its levies for the next budget year.

“A lot tax entities say, ‘Well we haven’t touched the levy rate in X amount of years’ but in the mean time everybody’s valuations go up almost every single year. By leaving the levy rate the same, your property taxes aren’t going up,” he said. “The county has not done that. We’ve actually dropped our levy rate down.”

THERE ARE ALWAYS AREAS TO IMPROVE

Still, Talsma said the county has room to improve, particularly in its ability to communicate with citizens. The local government has made progress, he added, by consolidating its social media sites and hiring a part-time social media specialist, but there’s still “ground to grow” and improve.

“There is still room the county can do on transparency and communication issues to the public. I would even say education, too, because a lot of people may not understand the different roles and responsibilities between counties and local government,” he said. “There are still a lot of aspects where we struggle in clearly communicating what Jasper County is doing.”

Secondary roads, again, could use some work. There are still a lot of subpar roads in the county and several bridges that are failing inspections every year and need replaced, Talsma said. Jasper County also wants to find a “sustainable formula” to maintain the roads and not run into the same problem 20 years later.

Talsma also wants to see local businesses continue to grow. He acknowledged attracting new businesses in the area is important for the communities, but the board of supervisors chairman argued the county should not forget about existing businesses and helping them grow and prosper, too.

WHY IS TALSMA RUNNING FOR A SECOND TERM?

When it comes down to it, Talsma feels like his job with the county isn’t done yet.

“But by no means am I planning on running for three, four, five, six terms,” he said. “I’m not going to do that. I just feel like there are projects in the works that, first, I would like to see fruition before I’m done. And they’re not there yet.”

Other long-term objectives like secondary roads improvements and the creation of programs to help local businesses are not yet to Talsma’s liking. There are still “a lot of deficiencies and issues” he believes need to be addressed at, too.

“And I like serving. Honestly, I think it’s fun having somebody come to you with an issue or a problem. Every problem is kind of different. You have to approach it differently. You always have to continue to adjust as you’re trying to solve the problem because nothing ever goes according to plan,” Talsma said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com