About 100 local residents got better acquainted Tuesday with an ensemble of candidates looking to become members of Iola’s first-ever city council.
A candidate open house, sponsored by Allen County Farm Bureau, provided Iolans with their first and last opportunity to meet the council and mayoral candidates en masse.
All three mayoral candidates and 16 of the 17 council hopefuls attended.
As moderator Jim Talkington explained, Monday’s event differed from typical candidate forums because of the large number of hopefuls seeking office.
Rather than follow a traditional question-and-answer format from the entire crowd, the candidates introduced themselves, then listed an item or two they considered pertinent to Iola’s future.
Audience members were invited to visit with the candidates regarding more specific issues during an informal gathering following the introductions.
All of the candidates spoke in varying degrees about bringing or retaining businesses in Iola, continuing to pursue affordable housing to draw in more people and maintaining the city’s services efficiently.
There were noteworthy moments.
Mayoral candidate Bill Shirley, the only hopeful currently serving on the Iola City Commission — the governing body that will be replaced by the incoming eight-member city council — told the audience that the city had been working in league with the federal government with the hopes of drawing a Veterans Administration clinic to the north part of town.
If approved, Shirley said the clinic will sit north of what is now the Cedarbrook Second Addition, sporting 30 recently built rental homes and a planned senior housing complex.
Shirley said the city’s hope is for approval for the facility to build an 85-bed facility. If approved, the complex would bring in more than 100 jobs to the community.
Ward 4 candidate Ken Rowe said if elected, he would immediately pursue a plan to have all council meetings videotaped for repeated broadcasts on Iola’s cable access television channel to ensure more citizens know about city issues.
Beverly Franklin, a Ward 2 candidate, meanwhile, repeated comments she voiced to the Register last week about doing away with the city’s practice of supplementing its general fund with utility reserves. Franklin didn’t say how she thought the city could make up the difference in lost funds.
WHEN IOLA voters head to the polls next Tuesday, they will pick from Shirley, Linda Sigg and John Smith as the city’s next mayor.
Candidates for Ward 1 appearing were Kendall Callahan, Steffen Centlivre, Nancy Ford and Scott Stewart. From Ward 2 were Franklin, Melinda Luttrell, Dana Moodie and Joel Wicoff. From Ward 3 were Donald Becker, Jim Kilby and Eugene Myrick. From Ward 4 were Richard Gilliland, Jerod Kelley, Rowe, Gary Wells and Jim West.
The only candidate not appearing was Steve French, who had been called to California due to a family emergency. He was represented in proxy by his daughter, Michaela, a sophomore at Iola High School, who read a prepared speech penned by her father.
Also introduced to the crowd were Virginia Warren, who is seeking a seat on the USD 257 Board of Education, and Spencer Ambler, one of three incumbents on the Allen County Community College Board of Trustees seeking re-election. Talkington was another.
Talkington spoke glowingly of the candidates after they introduced themselves.
“Tonight showed us,” he said, “that the future of Iola is very bright.”
