Departing Coralville council member voice for progress

CORALVILLE — Coralville City Council member Mitch Gross recalled the months leading up to and immediately following his first election in 2007.

Gross, a former political aide and strategist, was teaching political science at Iowa City West High and having a conversation with a friend about the upcoming election. Gross mentioned Coralville had not had a competitive city election in several years.

They talked about the need to bring a fresh perspective to the council. Gross kept mulling over the conversation, and announced his candidacy that spring.

“I don’t think anyone was clamoring for change, per se. I think there was a hunger for a new voice and, maybe, a newer generation of leadership,” Gross said.

He was 30 at the time and raising a young family.

Gross would go on to lead the voting in the 2007 Coralville City Council election with 1,085 votes, while 12-year incumbent Jean Newlin Schnake was defeated by a dozen votes.

“I was proud to say I was talking about issues that seemed very mainstream today that were not in 2007,” Gross said, such as focusing on ways to further affordable housing options in Coralville and partnering with community organizations to increase resources and access to social services.

He recalled bringing the up idea of the city using a closed nursing home as a “prime location for a social services hub for the community.”

“That upset some people,” Gross said. “We had some folks leaflet the neighborhood saying I wanted to bring a food shelter or food pantry to the neighborhood, or this or that, as if that was would be an awful thing.”

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Flash forward to last year, and the city partnered with the Coralville Community Food Pantry to help build a new, expanded building. The city of Coralville contributed $250,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars toward the building campaign.

Gross, who later became principal of Iowa City West, will wrap up 16 years on the Coralville City Council later this month, after choosing not to seek a fifth term. The 48-year-old will have spent one-third of his life serving Coralville residents on the council.

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During his tenure, Coralville redeveloped a former industrial park into a bustling entertainment, retail and dining district anchored by Von Maur’s 80,000 square-foot department store, a hotel, brewery and the University of Iowa Health Care’s Iowa River Landing facility.

The district has since added an arena hosting high school and collegiate athletic tournaments, as well as numerous businesses such as Trader Joe’s.

“It was the home of, you know, a strip club, a porn shop and a truck stop, and those were the first things, businesses people saw, when they entered into our city,” Gross said. “And, now, I think when people look at that area and are in that area, they’re filled with a lot of awe and excitement of how that development has happened.”

He and city officials took heavy criticism for the amount of debt they took on for the high-risk, high-reward strategy for funding the economic projects and their use of tax increment financing — an economic development tool some in the community felt was being misused.

Many raised concerns of the city’s plans to use $9.5 million in tax increment financing funds to build the new Von Maur department store. The deal drew criticism from other cities, local developers, state lawmakers and others.

Looking back, Gross said “he’s proud of where that development has ended,” and feels the criticism was overblown.

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Longtime Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth, who’s been with the city 35 years, said he’ll miss Gross’ insight on the struggles Coralville families face as an educator who works directly with students.

That, Hayworth said, proved particularly invaluable as the city grappled with how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented effects on families, public health, the economy and city services, in addition to responding to social unrest spurred by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and ensuing calls for racial justice.

As a principal, Gross could relay personal stories from students and parents, and point out opportunities to reshape services in more equitable ways, Hayworth said.

“He had an outstanding understanding of what was going on and what was happening to families and kids that were being impacted” by the pandemic, he said.

As a result, the city implemented several different programs to help families and students through the pandemic, including providing resources through the Coralville Recreation Center to help students learn virtually.

The city also used a significant chunk of the federal COVID-relief money it received to help United Action for Youth provide additional mental health support in schools.

“I did not know Mitch before he ran, but it didn’t take long once I met him to have a great deal of confidence that he would be a good council member,” former Coralville Mayor John Lundell said. “It was evident quickly that we was sharp, articulate and thoughtful. I recall him always being sensitive to the needs of the underserved.”

Asked of Gross’ long tenure on the council, Lundell responded: “We owe him.”

Meghann Foster, who last year became the first female mayor in Coralville's 150 year history, said she will miss having Gross on the council as a sounding board.

“I think of him as a surrogate brother,” said Foster, who was elected to the council in 2017.

“For a long time, he was the lone progressive voice on council,” she said. “I think a lot about how we’re working on issue like affordable housing now and increasing resources and access to social services. And we’re able to do those things now because he was talking about them years before there was a majority on the council willing to support those efforts. He laid the foundation.”

Mother Nature, though, would quickly deal a heavy blow, and teach an early and valuable life lesson about governing in time of crisis.

“I had all these things I wanted to do. And, no pun intended, they all got washed away with the flood,” Gross said.

Months after taking office, the Iowa River crested at a record 31.53 feet in June 2008, causing more than $270 million in damage to the area.

“Right then and there I learned a lot about you can be as proactive as you can be, but also have to be very good at being reactive, especially when in crisis mode,” Gross said. “And the flood was really, really eye opening for me. I have never seen a group of people work harder in any capacity than I saw the city staff work during the 2008 flood.”

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Recovering from the flood and building a flood control system in the metro area took a collaborative approach, Gross said.

Over the decade after the flood, Coralville, Iowa City and the University of Iowa worked on various flood control projects to protect the cities and campus from future disasters while also embracing the Iowa River as a key feature.

The communities have since completed their flood control projects.

Stepping down was a difficult decision, but one Gross said made sense given his current role as principal of Iowa City West High School and the evolving demands of the job as the pandemic wanes. Gross was named principal in 2020.

“It became apparent to me it would be really difficult to become the kind of council person I wanted to be, given the duties of my job,” he said. “I do feel I’ve made a difference. I’m glad I was able to advocate for things I believed in, and it’s been a tremendous privilege and honor to serve in this capacity.”

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com