Businessman running for Coralville City Council

A longtime businessman wants to apply his experience to the Coralville City Council.

Mark Winkler, director of the Business Solutions Center at the University of Iowa Tippie School of Business, announced Monday that he is running in the Nov. 5 City Council election.

With decades in the business world, including 20 years at what is now Bandag Bridgestone in Muscatine, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp., Winkler said his experience with managing budgets, strategic planning and corporate boards would serve him well on the City Council.

'A lot of my background and experience is relevant with Coralville at a crossroads,' he said.

He's especially concerned about government transparency, the city's debt and city involvement in projects he believes would be best left to the private sector. He said the city's 2011 deal with Von Maur, in which the city gave millions of dollars in tax incentives to get a department store in its Iowa River Landing District, was the 'straw that broke the camel's back' for him.

'The city has done a lot of wonderful things, but I think it's come at a high price,' he said.

Winkler, 56, lives at 2883 Pine Circle. He is married and has three adult children.

He joins a growing field running for the three City Council seats open this election. Incumbents Tom Gill and Bill Hoeft are seeking re-election. In addition to Winkler, the other declared challengers are  Dave Petsel, Laurie Goodrich, John Weber and Chris Turner.

Incumbent council member John Lundell is running for mayor. Matt Adam also has declared his candidacy for mayor.

The filing period is open through Sept. 19.