Guest Opinion
Downtown Iowa City is a thriving success story worth celebrating. As proud local business owners and operators, we have contributed to the growth the downtown has seen over the past five years through a modern-day partnership between owners, landlords, city government and the University of Iowa.
We are self-taxed to create investment in decision-making, and we are self-governed with a balanced and thoughtful mix of stakeholders who strive to make decisions that benefit the entire community. We work to build value by creating and strengthening our commercial tax district, which represents 20 percent of all commercial assessments.
We are working together to help strengthen the core of Iowa City – to create a more diverse landscape, build a foundation for long-term success, protect a lively arts and cultural community and foster greater entrepreneurship. We are invested in the community and we want that investment to flourish. Downtown Iowa City is not only the geographic heart of our city; it’s the core business district of our local community and a hub for surrounding townships. It is the front door to new students and parents at the University of Iowa and local colleges, and a recruiting tool for those same institutions.
On Nov. 3, we as a community must elect and support leaders who work for the good of the whole. The candidates we support understand the need to fund social services and increase the stock of affordable housing. They also understand the need to responsibly manage the city’s finances, grow the tax base and maintain Iowa City’s AAA bond rating.
As Mayor Matt Hayek noted in a recent guest opinion column in the Press-Citizen, a return to an anti-growth, micromanaging approach to city governance jeopardizes our city’s financial well-being and its ability to provide services for our most vulnerable populations.
We support independent and critical thinkers who will bring a needed breadth and depth of experience to the council. They are not bound together with an agenda; instead, as individuals, they will bring a balanced approach to council, working cooperatively with fellow council members to manage city business effectively and responsibly.
We support those candidates who are committed to working for the longevity, growth and financial health of Iowa City and we urge our fellow citizens to do likewise on Nov. 3.
We support the following candidates for city council:
Rick Dobyns
Tim Conroy
Scott McDonough
Michelle Payne
Your voice is critical to ensuring that Iowa City’s success story continues. Please vote on Nov. 3rd.
The following letter was signed by more than 60 business owners and operators in Iowa City, including: James Adrian, Gerry Ambrose, Chris Anderson, Steve Ballard, James Bell, Jamie Boling, John Burchert, Dave Carey, Catherine Champion, Connie Champion, Dan Cilek, Joe Clark, Leah Cohen, Jodi Connolly, Thomas Connolly, Jil Dasher, Sheila Davisson, Jason Deppe, Willa Dickens, Kevin Digmann, Bob Downer, Mike Draper, Jean Dwyer, Joe Dwyer, George Etre, Pat Ford, Michelle Galvin, Mark Ginsberg, Peter Harman, James Hayes, Aaron Jennings, Sanjay Jani, Jigna Jani, Nate Kaeding, Cory Kent, Bob Long, Tom Maxwell, Reid McDonald, Adam Means, Marc Moen, Jim Mondanaro, Maureen Mondanaro, Kevin Monson, Joe Moreland, Bill Noser, Bob Noser, Bill Nusser, Mark Pieper, Kelly Pieper, Jack Piper, Jim Rinella, Mark Roemer, Steve Rohrbach, Joan Severson, Paul Smith, Dave Stein, Dick Summerwill, Joyce Summerwill, Alan Swanson, Chuck Traw, Dick Tucker, Mark Weaver, Eadie Weaver and Randy Willman.