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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday,
November 1, 2007 |
Anamosa Ballot Includes Measure to Eliminate Wards
by Michelle Phillips |
On November 6, Anamosa residents will have the opportunity to change the city council from cordoned off wards, to all at-large seats.
A petition was filed to put Public Measure B on the ballot because of the small number of voters and candidate pool in Ward 2, where the Anamosa State Penitentiary is located.
“When you have a narrow geographical area and a small pool of voters, it can be difficult to elect council members,” said Anamosa City Administrator Patrick Callahan. “It also increases the pool of candidates.”
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During the 2006 election, Ward 2 had no candidates who filed nomination papers, and Danny Young won the seat in Ward 2 based on two write–in votes.
“The joke is, he didn’t even vote for himself,” Callahan laughed.
Prisoners at ASP are included in the population count but aren’t able to vote or run for office, which is the cause of the imbalance. Law requires that the city count everyone included in the U.S. Census and that includes inmates.
Callahan said Bertha Finn was instrumental in getting the bill on the ballot and when Callahan told her there wouldn’t be enough signatures on the petition, she went out and got more. The law requires that 10% of the number of votes received in the last election be on the petition. Since nearly 760 people voted in the 2006 Election, 76 names were required on the petition.
“I don’t think we need four wards in a town the size of Anamosa,” Finn stated. “I felt that sometimes it’s good to have more candidates running. I like to see competition.”
She went on to say that she felt having all at-large council members would better represent Anamosa.
If the measure were not to pass, Callahan would have the task of equally dividing the growing city into four wards. The boundaries would be redrawn and Ward 2 would likely be similar to its current boundaries.
“If we didn’t have the penitentiary, this wouldn’t have even come up,” said Callahan.
Callahan said when the city created the wards, constituents would probably have walked to their council representatives house if they had a questions or concern.
“It was prior to email, probably prior to phones and I would guess prior to cars,” he said.
In Jones County, the only other city that still divides itself into wards is Monticello. All of the other cities have gone to all at-large seats.
Callahan said there were pros and cons to eliminating the wards.
Pros:
• No longer have problem of high concentration of ineligible voters in a single ward, such as ASP.
• Would provide a larger pool of candidates.
• Would uphold the one man, one vote principal. Currently the residents in Ward 2 are over represented compared to other wards.
• There is no easy way to divide the town equally between four wards.
• Most Iowa cities have only at-large seats.
• Accessibility people now have access to council members regardless of their location within the city.
• Everyone gets to vote for all candidates.
Cons:
• Present system has worked in Anamosa for many years.
• There has never been an instance when there was no representation in Ward 2.
• Council members are currently distributed throughout the city.
• Ward system provides a “balance of power” on the council.
If the public were to vote yes on this measure, it would become effective with the November 2009 election.
Currently all cities in Jones County, with the exception of Monticello, have only at-large seats. Across Iowa, the majority of towns have only at-large seats. |
School’s Architect Collects Questions at Community Forumn
By Michelle Phillips |
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It was standing room only in the conference room of the Anamosa Library and Learning Center on October 29. Residents had come out to take part in a community forum held by the Anamosa Community School District and facilitated by the school’s architect, DLR Architects.
Tom Penney, a representative from DLR, spoke to the guests and told them the firm is laying the groundwork for a long-term plan in the district. He said they have met with groups throughout the community and within the district to get a feel for the public’s concerns.
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“We are starting to learn what some of the issues are at the facilities,” he said and sited space, technology and maintenance costs as some of the concerns.
In addition, Penney said the district must also weigh the need versus the cost of a new school and maintenance of existing schools. Site location is an addition concern that Penney said has come to the surface.
Penney then reviewed some statistics from questions asked of the groups. First, of the high school students who were polled, 70% said the current facilities were inadequate where meeting long-term goals were concerned.
In the community group, 70% said the school is important for economic development and 39% were in favor it holding community presentations during planning.
A long-range planning committee was formed when the school district began looking at future planning. At the forum, Penney asked the committee to answer a series of questions pertaining to all three schools and long-range goals.
Some of the questions posed addressed the following concerns:
What types of facilities are needed at the new high school?
What should be located at the new facility (i.e. athletic fields, fine arts center, advanced technology, etc.), and if the site should allow for expansion?
What would be the benefit of a central campus?
What is the importance of overall cost?
What would happen to the West Middle School building?
Will Strawberry Hill have enough space to accommodate expanded preschool programs?
Will the current high school be large enough for the middle school?
Penney also asked those in attendance to ask questions they might have about the school’s long-range plan, either aloud or by placing them on index cards that were collected at the end of the meeting.
Some of the questions the community posed are as follows:
Will there be space to expand FFA and industrial arts?
Would there be a cost saving of utilities by having a central campus?
Will the school be consistent with community growth patterns?
What would be the impact on students if there were a central campus and middle school and high school students were in close proximity to one another?
What are the safety concerns?
Will the ground be adequate for geo-thermal heating and cooling?
Will there be enough space for future growth?
Penney told the group that they are looking at a planning strategy that would allow for substantial growth.
He said DLR would tally up the questions, generate a report an present it to the school board at the November 19 meeting. After the report is made, more committee and community meetings may be scheduled.
In an interview after the meeting, Penney said it is not unusual for an issue with the site location to arise.
“Whenever schools have a need to acquire a site, it’s always an issue,” he stated. “Sites are very important to the school and the community.”
“Often all sites will work, it’s a matter of which is better,” he added.
Penney said he thought that the site would also be a big issue for bonding. He said timing of the bond issue would be up to the school board, but he expects to be done with the long-range plan by January or February.
In talking with those in the district, Penney said there were three things everyone seemed concerned with: Cost; need; and site.
He reminded that the planning is in the very early preliminary stage. |
Braley Announces Investigation of 133rd Benefits
By Michelle Phillips |
In a conference call with Iowa reporters, last week U.S. House Representative Bruce Braley announced that the Committee on Oversight and Reform has agreed to investigate the reasons the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry was released from active duty just days before the National Guard unit would be eligible for full GI Bill benefits. Braley said the investigation would ask the following questions:
• Why were the benefits denied?
• Have the Army and Department of Defense (DOD) taken swift action in the matter?
• If there are others who have been similarly denied benefits?
“I’m very disgusted that the Army allowed this to happen in the first place,” Braley said.
He is hopeful that the situation will be resolved before January when most colleges and universities begin spring classes.
He said he is hopeful because the Committee on Oversight and Reform plans to get the investigation on the calendar during the current session. The session is slated to end just before Thanksgiving, which may not be long enough for a full hearing.
Currently, the Army and DOD are addressing the benefit issue on a case-by-case basis.
“What we want to do is get to the bottom of why this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Braley explained.
Braley said he is unsure whether or not the military will reconsider the 730-day requirement for full GI Bill benefits for National Guard members.
“I have signed on to legislation HR 3882, which would eliminate the 730-day requirement for full GI Bill benefits,” he added.
Many of the members of the 133rd were not eligible for full GI Bill benefits when they returned in July because they fell one to five days short of serving the 730-day requirement. Upon returning home, Iowa House Representative Ray Zirkelbach, who served in the outfit, and Lt. Col. Ben Corell, the unit’s commanding officer, contacted Braley to tell him of the problem. Braley began looking into the matter immediately. |
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