Asking hard questions, and giving hard answers, makes an effective city council member, Ron Ballard says.
For example, a few years back Iola’s leaders were considering adding a solar plant on the edge of town, before voting it down.
Ballard was one of those who voted in opposition, “not because it was a terrible idea,” he said, “but because there were plenty of indicators that the power costs for that would drop in the future and it was not the correct time for the city to pursue that option.”