Stacey Walker understands ordinary people

When Stacey Walker was running for office, he worked with me on a grass-roots campaign to raise the minimum wage. When he was elected, he voted to protect the wage increase. The person who needed to be convinced was Jim Houser. During that meeting, Walker pleaded with Houser to understand that thousands of working people, like myself, needed a raise.

Since being elected in 2016, Walker never has voted to give himself a pay raise. Instead, he has twice voted to freeze his salary. His opponent - Jim Houser - criticized him for doing this, calling his vote 'political.”

I found it strange that a man who has voted to give himself a raise to a salary of more than $100,000, who collects a pension and is married to a physician who contracts with the county, would criticize Walker for doing the right thing. The median income for a Cedar Rapidian is $54,000, which means anyone with a combined income of more than $200,000, like Houser, should be satisfied with his six-figure public servant income.

Houser continually has shown us he is not satisfied. He has asked for reimbursements for mileage for traveling to meetings within the city limits during the flood of 2008, and he complained that he was being treated like a 'second-class citizen” because of his low salary.

Walker understands the needs of ordinary people like me, a server at a local restaurant, paying his way through college. That's why I'm voting for him.

Craig Tierney

Cedar Rapids