CLARK RIEKE

By Clark Rieke

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I am very curious and I love to learn. I have had a lucky and interesting life, living in Fairmont, Minn., Minneapolis, Tunisia, North Africa, Olympia, Wash., and, since 2003 in Cedar Rapids. Now my time and focus is available to be an informed, transparent, accountable City Council member.

I have worked most of my life in some aspect of housing. Being a Realtor both supported and fostered my independence and love of learning. I wrote a master's thesis on the housing market.

I served on the council's infill development committee, and then, after the flood, a couple of us were successful in getting the forgiveness period on the flood victims' home repair loans reduced from 10 years to five years, which is the forgiveness period on most subsidies for new homes. I am a board member of a growing Mound View Neighborhood Association.

I have a portfolio of letters to The Gazette online that demonstrate my independence and creativity. I want to expand the options on city issues, particularly these six:

l By state law, both residential and business properties are supposed to be assessed, on average, at 95 percent of their selling prices. Many business properties sell for much more than they are assessed for. This is because it is very difficult to appraise commercial properties accurately. The city loses revenue due to under-assessment. This revenue can be collected by having a recapture policy for any commercial property that sells for more than 115 percent or 125 percent of its assessed value.

l This commercial property tax recapture policy is a more efficient incentive to stimulate infill development than the program of subsidies called tax increment financing (TIF).

l Davenport and Ames give their housing inspectors the authority to decide how frequently a house should be reinspected to make sure that it does not become neglected.

The most efficient policy for the health of core neighborhoods is for the council to mandate that rental units in neighborhoods zoned single-family be maintained at normal condition. Improved inspections will increase the desirability, rate of homesteading, and property values.

l I want the council to have the revenue from the proposed sales tax extension, but my preference is that this revenue be used for building a flood levee ASAP. I want the council to be accountable for repairing roads with regular city revenue along with the gas tax revenue, which should be indexed, to keep pace. Twenty five percent of our flood protection needs to come from upstream stormwater detention systems.

l I believe that the new PCI building should and could have been a taller building with a taller parking ramp, like the buildings and ramps at both hospitals, with skyways over Second Avenue SE instead of closing it.

I hope to bring an independent and constructive perspective to the city's issues.

Clark Rieke is a District 1 candidate for Cedar Rapids City Council. Comments: crieke@mchsi.com