Botchway youngest elected to Iowa City council in 38 years

Iowa City, a college town with a median age of 25, elected its youngest city council member in almost four decades on Tuesday.

Kingsley Botchway II, who works as deputy auditor of elections, turned 28 at the end of September and was elected to an at-large seat on Nov. 5.

"A lot of people seemed to like the fact that a young person was running, and people I met felt good about me," Botchway said. "They said I seemed more mature than my age."

He is the youngest city council member elected since voters chose David Perrett at age 26 in 1975. Botchway will also be the first person on the council younger than 40 since 2009 when his term begins on Jan. 2.

Some say having a younger voice on the council will help bridge the gap with the large college student population and young adults in general. Those groups are directly impacted by some of the driving issues in the community, such as affordable housing, tenant-landlord relations and rules that affect entertainment.

People age 20 to 24 accounts for 26 percent of Iowa City's population, and 25-34-year-olds make up another 15 percent. Those are the two largest age segments of Iowa City's population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Over the years, Iowa City elections have featured a handful of young candidates that have come up short. Most recently, Raj Patel, then 20, dropped out of college during a formidable run that left him about 200 votes short in 2011.

While Botchway said his age was never an issue during the campaign, Karen Kubby said critics challenged her credibility because of her age and lack of life experience when she ran and won at age 28 and five months in 1989.

Kubby, who supported Botchway, said it is critical for the city to have a young voice that reflects a large demographic that hasn't been represented in years.

"Having an elected official that looks like you is very important in getting people to pay attention," Kubby said.  "If we want to maintain a population in that age range, that direct representation is vital."