District 1 Linn supervisor race: two of three held office before

CEDAR RAPIDS - Each of the three candidates in the District 1 Linn supervisor race has had his name on an election ballot before.

Democrat Jim Houser, a sheet-metal worker and Realtor, was a member of the Linn Board of Supervisors for 19 years through 2010. That year he lost an election in supervisor District 5 to John Harris, then mayor of Palo, by 166 votes out of 16,778 votes cast.

District boundaries changed, and Houser now lives in District 1, where he defeated three challengers in the Democratic primary in June.

Republican Dennis Petersen, a Realtor, was defeated in the District 1 race in 2010 by incumbent Lu Barron, 57 percent to 43 percent. Barron is retiring.

Independent Tom Podzimek, a carpenter and construction company owner, won elections in 2005 and 2007 as an at-large candidate on the Cedar Rapids City Council, and then chose not to seek re-election in 2011.

Asked about key issues, Houser and Petersen said that dealing with the changing landscape for services provided to people with developmental disabilities is a top issue - what Houser calls 'the unraveling” of services for this population.

In particular, the concern is for Linn County's Options sheltered workshop and adult day care programs, which are being threatened by funding cuts and by a push to better integrate clients into the community.

Petersen said the county should join forces with local businesses to help keep programs alive. However, Houser said local companies long have supported the Options program by providing work opportunities for the clients. There is a limit to what more they can do, he said.

Podzimek said Linn County should seek to sue the federal government for meddling in a local social services program and requiring changes to it. Houser said such a lawsuit wouldn't make sense. The state of Iowa wants changes in Options, too, he said.

On other fronts, Petersen also said he will focus on county spending that can be trimmed or eliminated as well as road repair.

'New faces bring a new set of eyes,” he said.

Houser said protecting May's Island, home to the county's courthouse and jail, from future flooding is a top priority as is working with state lawmakers and the governor to make sure changes in the state's property-tax structure don't harm local governments.

Podzimek's said his three top priorities are sustainability, quality of life and economic development. Sustainability, he said, means making decisions for the long-term in everything from providing roads to mental-health and disability services.

The county needs to continue to support its 'great” park system and its trails, and it can promote economic development by playing a role in flood control, he said.

Linn supervisor District 1 is entirely in Cedar Rapids and comprises a large portion of the city's west side and parts of the east side.

Podzimek said Linn County, which has little debt, should use its bonding capacity to provide funds now to 'jump start” the construction of flood protection in Cedar Rapids. Federal and state funds, as they arrive, can pay off the debt along with local funds.

Getting started will create jobs now and will get work done less expensively than at prices 10 or more years from now, he said.

Houser said Linn County must consider protecting May's Island from flooding, but he said the county shouldn't provide any other help with Cedar Rapids flood protection. He said Cedar Rapids property owners provide more than half the property-tax revenue for county government, but they already get more than half the county services, Houser said.

Petersen said the county likely will need to consider contributing some county dollars to Cedar Rapids flood protection.

One big divide in the race is this: Podzimek believes that Linn County should not have five, full-time supervisors. Instead, he said Linn County should do what the city of Cedar Rapids did in 2005 when voters backed a move from five, full-time council members to nine part-time ones with a full-time professional city manager. Supervisors should be paid like part-time Cedar Rapids council members, who are paid $17,379 a year, not the $98,885 a year that each of the five supervisors now is paid, Podzimek said.

'This is a good time to look at the structure of county government because most people believe that the compensation for supervisors is out of touch with the electorate,” Podzimek said.

Houser and Petersen said Podzimek is incorrect.

'We need full-time supervisors because they are the executive and legislative body for Linn County government,” Houser said. He said supervisors oversee 12 managers, more than 800 employees and control the budgets of all other elected county officials. Full-time supervisors also work with state and federal lawmakers, he said.

Petersen said Linn County voters agreed to change from three supervisors to five back beginning in 2009.

'Since we are the second largest county in Iowa, I think five (full-time supervisors) are needed,” he said. 'With five, we have more decision-makers, more people to cover the county needs better.”

Petersen has a caveat, though. The supervisors should not have raised their pay in 2013.

Houser said supervisors sit on the boards, among others, of the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. To that, Podzimek said he was chairman of the Solid Waste Agency board as a part-time council meeting and never missed a meeting.

Houser won supervisor elections in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 before being defeated by a thin margin in 2010. He also was defeated in a 2012 primary run for Linn County Auditor. Incumbent Auditor Joel Miller outpolled Houser 3,063 to 1,485 in the primary.

Candidate Bios:

Dennis Petersen

' Age: 57

' Political party: Republican

' Hometown: Cedar Rapids

' Occupation: Real estate

' Previous political experience: None

' Highest Education: N/A

Tom Podzimek

' Age: 57

' Political party: No party

' Hometown: Cedar Rapids

' Occupation: Construction company owner

' Previous political experience: City Council

' Highest Education: Four years Iowa State

Jim Houser

' Age: 60

' Political party: Democrat

' Hometown: Cedar Rapids

' Occupation: Journeyman, Realtor

' Previous political experience: Supervisor, 1993-2010

' Highest Education: Kirkwood training