Iola’s new eight-member city council, which will be chosen in the April 5 city elections, will feature two representatives from each of the city’s four voting wards.
Today’s article — the last in a series — focuses on Ward 4, representing the southeast quadrant of the city.
Voters will decide from among Steve French, Richard Gilliland, Jerod Kelley, Ken Rowe, Gary Wells and Jim West. The top two vote-getters will be seated in April.
What do you consider Iola’s strengths and why?
Steve French — First and foremost the people of Iola have shown a “can do” attitude even as our nation struggles economically. We have a city that offers a full range of services at reasonable rates, and citizens who step up to serve on specialty boards. There is a vast array of amenities in our community which adds to the appeal and visual strength of our city.
Richard Gilliland — Iola’s a small town that’s big enough to have the conveniences of a big city, but not so big that we have big-city crime.
Jerod Kelley — The people (loyalty), local municipal services, location, emergency services, senior citizen care, the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, library system and a business-friendly climate.
Ken Rowe — We have many strengths but none more important than our people: those who work in the factories, teach our children and the people who keep the water, gas and electric flowing. The people who serve in our churches and those who volunteer to coach our children in baseball, basketball and soccer are all second to none. Look at the people who have stepped up to the plate and offered to serve on our new City Council. These people are committing to work for two years to help make the city even better than it is. The “get ’er done” attitude of the people of Iola is what will lead us on to bigger and better things.
Gary Wells — I consider Iola’s strengths its staff of employees and administration. Because of the dedication of what they do and their expertise in the field, the city’s infrastructure also is strong.
Jim West — Iola is the third largest city in Kansas that owns all of its own utilities and has been able for years to provide to its industrial and private users a consistently cheaper rate for its services than other cities can.
What do you consider the city’s biggest challenges?
Richard Gilliland — Getting businesses into town. We’re losing population and businesses left and right.
Jerod Kelley — Enticing businesses to increase job availability, housing, decreased enrollment in our local schools, corridors into our community, quality of life items such as youth activities and making sure our city’s infrastructure is up to par.
Ken Rowe — We must work to find ways to keep our young people here. Our young people need to have reasons to live here, work here and raise their children here. We also need to continue to make the city a place where businesses and major employers want to be. Low utilities, investing in tax incentives and a thriving work force is essential.
Gary Wells — Bringing business and industry into the city.
Jim West — With the economy the way it is now, our biggest challenge is to partner with Iola Industries to attract businesses and industry to locate in Iola and supply badly needed jobs.
Steve French — I consider one of Iola’s biggest challenges retaining citizens and workers that are skilled and certified in specialty fields, attracting new industry and small businesses while supporting existing ones and guaranteeing their existence in our community. Finding adequate funding and keeping city services solvent and affordable while having the funds to upgrade, and/or rebuild our public works infrastructure.
Are there challenges facing your ward unlike those facing the city as a whole?
Ken Rowe — I believe each ward has its own strong points and challenges. By visiting with and listening to the citizens of the Fourth Ward I will learn what all their concerns are. I look forward to representing we citizens of the Fourth Ward and helping get our fair share of the facilities and infrastructure dollars.
Gary Wells — The flood did affect our ward, but not as much as the southwest section. We did lose some homes. The flood plain does affect some places we may want to fill in in order to get new homes, but there’s not a lot we can do in some areas. The streets are in good shape.
Jim West — The south and southeast section was hit hard by the flood, 120-plus homes were lost and some of the remaining homes are in bad need of repair. We need to look for affordable financing to bring these homes up to standards.
Steve French — It is a concern that we have “sidewalks to nowhere.” Ward 4 has many walkers out of necessity as well as those that are health conscious. We have two elementary schools and the middle school in Ward 4 and on a daily basis I see many children walking to school. Some sidewalks do not have the special needs access at the corners and others end in the middle of the block. The sidewalks that are in disrepair from age or tree roots can be a tripping hazard. Getting citizens involved to do their part and not wait for the government is always a challenge. The flood caused the city to migrate north and some neighborhoods are left with homes that are in need of facelifts. I know of homes that are on the market that have had prospective buyers who instead bought elsewhere in the city due to the added cost of lenders requiring flood insurance. Before we know it, we will have an empty hospital building and hopefully we can pull together with the county to determine the best use for the structure, to keep it from sitting vacant and becoming a liability.
Richard Gilliland — None that are different from the city as a whole.
Jerod Kelley — Yes, our ward is lucky enough to have the new hospital constructed in it, infrastructure (construction), the east corridor into the city (beautification), safe routes to schools.
What would you like to see the city do or offer more of in terms of services?
Jerod Kelley — Seek avenues to improve the quality of life for our populace, be transparent, and as the city does so much now, to see them continue providing the great service to which we have become accustomed.
Ken Rowe — It is difficult to provide more and bigger and better services while at the same time keeping the tax burden and utility rates as low as possible. However, we need to continue to provide services that make Iola an attractive place to live, work and raise our families.
Gary Wells — We offer a significant amount of services. They do not need to be expanded.
Jim West — We are blessed with good parks, swimming pool, fire department and ambulance service and recreation department. The city also helps fund the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. What more could we want?
Steve French — Currently I believe the city offers a good balance of services. Besides the regular day to day operational services, past and current governing bodies have supported programs such as the “bagged leaf’ pick-up service, dump truck loan program and citywide cleanup — all at no additional cost to its citizens.
Richard Gilliland — Our services are quite adequate for a town our size.
Are there services the city offers that you would like to see removed, changed or handled by the private sector? If so, what?
Jim West — We could not get better or more affordable service than we have now.
Steve French — Not at this time. However, please note that I’m open-minded and not opposed to looking over budgets and the manner in which services are rendered to determine if they can be done differently or more efficiently than currently offered. My main objective would be to retain the services already offered, tighten the belts on the budget, and keep the services local and in the city’s hands. I would move forward cautiously and with skepticism if ever privatization is on the table. Many private sector companies are willing to bid for city services and in return the city will pay a yearly fee to assure its citizens that the company will come to town — all prior to the company rendering the service. Then the service is not guaranteed to be available at the rates currently offered by the city, and we have no guarantee that the loyalty and quality service already known to Iolans will continue with private companies. After all, private companies are in it to make money and I believe Iola should be lauded for keeping rates at a minimum to the compared expense.
Richard Gilliland — I don’t think we should lose any of our services. The people of Iola are fortunate for us to have the services we do. I’m sure they’re taken for granted.
Jerod Kelley — Only in emergencies. I see the services our city offers as one of Iola’s biggest strengths.
Ken Rowe — We are very fortunate to have a variety of quality services provided to us by the city. Having the appropriate level of services at the appropriate cost is sometimes the challenge. My hope would be not to have any essential services removed.
Gary Wells — None.
What do you think the city administrator’s duties should be?
Steve French — At a minimum I concur with the current job description for the city administrator. With the city embarking on a new form of government and the eventual retirement of its current administrator, it might be time to look over the list of duties more closely. This would also be a good time for the citizens of Iola to become involved by obtaining their own copy of the job description and entertain thoughts and ideas of the voters.
Richard Gilliland — The administrator’s duties should be about the same as they are now.
Jerod Kelley — Municipal goals: Partner with city council and mayor, gauge the temperature of the wants and needs of the residents and businesses, and develop short and long term goals. Use of resources: Ensure that each department is making the most efficient and effective use of physical, employee and financial resources. Public relations: Maintain an active visibility throughout the community, listen to people’s needs and communicate goals of the council and mayor. Intergovernmental relations: Lobby on behalf of the municipality as a whole. Human resources: Recommend qualified candidates for roles throughout the community to the mayor and city council.
Ken Rowe — The city administrator’s duties have been established by the general ordinance and approved by the city commissioners. The duties are wide-ranging and numerous. Most people would probably say “Thanks, but no thanks.” The new city council will have an opportunity to study the role and responsibilities of the city administrator and could change or modify the role by general ordinance.
Gary Wells — We should stay with the status quo. It has worked well for us.
Jim West — Supervise and direct the daily operation of the city’s affairs. I see no need to change the present job description.
What duties would you like to see the mayor assigned?
Richard Gilliland — The mayor should run the meetings, but should have no more power than a council member. I don’t like seeing one person have too much power.
Jerod Kelley — Representative of the people and keep the needs of the people in mind. Help council establish regulations that are meant to benefit the people. Preside over city council meetings. Take care of various administrative duties as necessary.
Ken Rowe — With our new form of city government the mayor’s duties, responsibilities and authority have been established by state statue. Those statutory responsibilities and authorities are vast and far reaching. By statute, it’s a full-time job. It would be my belief the new council along with the mayor will, by resolution, transfer much of that authority and responsibility to a city administrator. I don’t believe the mayor would want a “full-time job” at no compensation.
Gary Wells — The mayor should run the council meetings and make public appearances. The mayor also should represent the city in meetings with prospective businesses and industries that might consider moving to Iola.
Jim West — I would vote for the same responsibilities assigned now.
Steve French — I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything about city government and I’m new to this level of politics. Laws, ordinances and policies vary from city to city that might affect what can and can’t be assigned to the mayor. However, knowing this, I do believe the traditional role of mayor needs to be he/she chairs the council meetings and is available for ceremonial events. I want to see a mayor with a keen sense of public relations that can be proactive with Iola’s citizens, and to be an educated voice for the city when it comes to recruiting possible citizens or new business ventures.
Do you favor offering tax abatements or other incentives for new businesses or homeowners to build anew or remodel their properties? Should more incentives be offered? Less? Why?
Ken Rowe — I do believe that offering tax abatements and other incentives are sometimes appropriate. If a major business or manufacturer were looking to come to Iola, it could make a difference. But, we need to be careful not to step on the toes of our existing businesses and manufacturers. Losing a tax-paying business to gain a non-tax-paying business is not good.
Gary Wells — Absolutely, especially for businesses. I don’t know how much we can do for homeowners. But every business should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Jim West — For new businesses that offer jobs, tax abatements are definitely necessary. New housing by private contractors, utility taps and inspections could be offered at a reduced rate or at cost; homeowners maybe a waiver of inspection fees.
Steve French — Iola lost homes in the flood and jobs were lost with the closing of Haldex. All these had tax incentives for our community which are forever lost. If offering tax abatements attracts new jobs, new homes or the remodel of existing homes, then so be it. After all, the taxes are already gone and if we can endure the tenure of the abatement and eventually they come online as tax-paying entities, then I see it as a win-win situation for all involved. Are there incentives that the city can offer along with block grants to give some of our older homes a facelift? All wards have these homes and I for one, wish for Iola to succeed and stand out to potential employers rather than simply exist and slowly waste away like our census suggests is happening. It’s a very competitive world! If we don’t have the “go forward” attitude and offer up some incentives, then our next census report will be just as sobering as the latest.
Richard Gilliland — For businesses, yes. For property owners, no. We need to look at the resources we have before we can look at adding incentives.
Jerod Kelley — Yes, double yes. Tax abatements are a necessity to recruit new business and help beautify Iola’s homes. I would be in favor of offering more incentives. New business is essential to Iola (increase job opportunities, tax revenue) and beautifying Iola is self explanatory.
Do you favor using city resources to seek state or federal grants or earmarks?
Gary Wells — Absolutely, yes.
Jim West — Yes, definitely, if the grant would aid Iola’s majority.
Steve French — You and I have already paid for state and federal grants and earmarks. The government isn’t simply printing money and offering it up for grabs, it is collected from you and me through various sources, including payroll. In turn, the funds are disbursed by the government and if we don’t go after it, then someone else will. I do, however, live within a budget and never spend above my means. If I were asked to give up resources for a bigger slice of the pie, it would need to be for something that greatly improves the city as a whole, or has a positive effect on our lifestyle.
Richard Gilliland — Yes, but I don’t like the idea of getting grants just because they’re there. If we don’t need a grant, there’s no reason we have to take it.
Jerod Kelley — Of course, state and federal grants/earmarks are a necessity to improve any small city like ours, but I would caution that efficient and effective use of these grants/earmarks needs to be a priority. Just because it’s offered doesn’t make it a necessity.
Ken Rowe — Federal grants and earmarks are sometimes referred to as free money. But we all know it’s not free. I would like to see earmarks done away with. Earmarks are a way for politicians and lobbyists to spend millions of dollars on pet projects that would never be approved in Congress. With that said, I feel it would be foolish for Iola not to seek all avenues of funding as long as they are available. Martyrdom has its downside.
For years, Iola’s general operating budget has been supplemented with utility reserves to avoid property tax hikes. Do you support continuing the practice? What if doing away with the transfers could result in lower utility bills? What is your opinion of a higher property tax levy?
Jerod Kelley — Utility bills affect nearly all of our residents and property taxes only affect property owners, the simple answer would be if you stop supplementing with utility reserves and lower utility bills you would help more residents throughout Iola. But it is important to seek a happy medium between the two.
Ken Rowe — My goal is to have utility rates and property taxes as low as possible and at the same time start to rebuild the reserve funds we once enjoyed.
Gary Wells — I don’t think you can change it. Since the 1970s our mill levy has gone up only 7 or 8 mills. It might go up slightly in the next year or two, but using transfers has worked pretty well for us.
Jim West — I definitely think we should be aware that our utility reserves are lower than they have ever been and we need to make every effort to protect our reserves. It’s hard to draw a hard line because there will be times the money needed will need to come from utilities. But I do think we go to that well too often.
Steve French — With the exception of water, the city purchases utilities from wholesalers and in turn, those utilities are sold to the consumers in Iola. A marginal profit is built into the overall cost which is passed on in the monthly utility bill. Reserves need to exist for improvements and unforeseen losses. For example, it is hard to predict what storm will pass through or what kind of other event will cause power outages after hours. By having reserves, the city is able to have an employee knocking at your door in a matter of minutes and working toward a solution to the outage. It should be a comfort to know the fees for such services is built into the system rather than the potential of the consumer receiving an after-hours emergency fee. I’d be willing to put pen to paper, along with an investigation into which is cheaper — to continue building in reserves by small yearly increments or a tax hike. Either way, this is the cost of doing business. We need the reserves for various reasons and for building a better, stronger infrastructure. Not so long ago the city was required to build a new water plant, wouldn’t it have been nice for the startup fees to be in place thus saving all citizens in our community the extra fees associated with the need to come up with a down payment?
Richard Gilliland — I like it the way it is. Prices will always go up, and by relying on utility reserves, everybody’s paying for it; not just the ones who pay property taxes. It boils down to the fact that you need “X” amount of dollars to run the city. How you get there doesn’t matter.
The city and Allen County continue to operate two fully staffed ambulance departments within blocks of each other. Do you support seeing consolidated ambulance service for all of Allen County? What if the consolidated service resulted in losing Iola’s full-time fire department in lieu of a volunteer force? Do you favor the current agreement?
Jim West — To my knowledge Iola has always operated the ambulance services after the funeral homes gave them up. The county chose to create its own service. If services were again consolidated, I would want it under the supervision of the Iola Fire Department, because: A. The service we are now receiving from the Iola Fire Department and our ambulance service could not be better; and B. They offer emergency service, jaws of life (countywide), hazmat training, facility inspection for our businesses, schools, nursing homes, classroom training and much, much more. If we lost our present fire department, I don’t think we could afford to pay the new insurance premiums.
Steve French — A disclaimer: My son works for the Iola Fire Department and my wife works for The Family Physicians and has a working relationship with many trained paramedics and EMTs working for both the county and city. … Wasn’t the ambulance service consolidated prior to the county stepping out on its own? Moran and Humboldt have for years housed county-owned ambulances. Iola backed up Moran and Humboldt when they made local runs and/or went out of town on transfers. The city covered county calls west and north of its city limits and east to LaHarpe as well as a distance south of our city limits. All was done at a moderate cost to the county and the city served as the administrator of such services to the county. I don’t have a problem that the county wanted to take back its ambulance service. … I also believe the five-year gentlemen’s agreement to not discuss the topic further needs to be put aside and some airing out needs to occur. Why would I favor giving up our ambulance for consolidation and losing our full-time firefighters when this would result in our simply having ambulance personnel sitting around waiting for the next ambulance call. As it is now, while Iola’s full-time ambulance crews attend to their daily duties, they are also available for fire calls at no additional cost to the city. It should also be known that the Iola ambulance/fire crews perform fire code inspections, fire hydrant testing and maintenance such as painting and flushing. These are tasks that would still need tending to should a volunteer service be favored. Therefore, aren’t we currently getting more bang for our buck? … The Insurance Service Office (ISO) gives a rating based on the service fire departments offer. If we become a volunteer department, the ISO rating stipulates we need three volunteers for every full-time firefighter. Iola has a crew of 16 counting the chief. This would mean we need to staff our department with 48 volunteers, and staffing 48 does not guarantee our ISO rating would stay the same. Why is our rating important? Lower ISO ratings mean a better fire insurance rates for residential and commercial structures. One might argue that consolidating ambulance services will result in an overall savings for the county and city while a volunteer fire department means even greater savings for Iola. Last year alone, Iola firefighters responded to approximately 350 calls. I’m not too sure where we could find 48 volunteers who would be allowed to leave their jobs to take on the task of volunteer firefighting when the major employers in our community are industrial and rely on employees being at their job site meeting quotas.
Richard Gilliland — This is one of my hot topics. If you do away with the Iola Fire Department, insurance rates will go up, and good luck getting our industries to stay here. Fire protection is a service — an insurance policy for the city. People don’t think they’ll ever have a fire, so they don’t think they’ll need a fire department. But if they have a fire, and they lose a loved one because the fire department didn’t get there on time, they’ll sue. We can’t afford to not have a full-time department. I don’t know why the two entities can’t get along and work together and keep what we have. Money shouldn’t be an issue. Patient care should be the issue.
Jerod Kelley — I favor anything that keeps our local EMS and full-time fire department in Iola. Emergency services are of vast importance. Our EMS service is self-supporting and our fire department is essential to our current and future needs. If we went to a volunteer force I think the residual effect to our local industries would be negative.
Ken Rowe — My hope is for the city and the county to work together to solve this problem. It is surely more expensive to operate two fully staffed ambulance services than it would be with one. Iola taxpayers are paying for both. I’m certain there are many details of this situation that we candidates are not yet aware of, but there are nine of us who will know a lot more in the next few weeks.
Gary Wells — Keep it the way it is. If you removed Iola’s full-time fire department for a voluntary force, our insurance rates will go up pretty significantly. Although it’s regrettable it ended up this way, I’m in favor of the current agreement.
Please list any comments you would like to offer that have not yet been addressed in this paper.
Steve French — None.
Richard Gilliland — None.
Jerod Kelley — Remember to vote April 5. This is an important time for Iola. Thanks, Jerod Kelley.
Ken Rowe — I’m excited at the opportunity to serve on this new city council and look forward to serving the citizens of the Fourth Ward. I want to have the city council meetings video-recorded and played back on the Iola city television channel. By providing this, our citizens will have the opportunity to sit in their own living rooms and watch and hear every word said by council members, mayor, city attorney and others. More transparency in city government is good. People would be able to see for themselves how and why certain decisions are made. This service can be provided for little or no cost to the city.
Gary Wells — None.
Jim West — Thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion, Jim West.
