Overland seeks District 2 Cedar Rapids council seat

CEDAR RAPIDS - Scott Overland, vice president of investments at Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, is running for the District 2 seat on the City Council, an east-side seat now held by two-term council member Monica Vernon.

Vernon this week made it official: She said she is not seeking re-election to the council because. as she announced in January, she is running for Congress as a Democratic candidate in Iowa's 1st Congressional District. The Congressional primary is June 7, 2016.

Overland, 51, is chairman of the City Planning Commission, and on Tuesday he said he wanted to announce his council candidacy early so he has plenty of time to 'systematically” get out into the district to introduce himself to voters.

Overland said the city has 'come a long way” since the flood of 2008 and the economic recession of that year, and he said he is seeking a spot on the council to help keep 'the momentum” going.

Overland said the city must promote entrepreneurs and support local business expansion, invest in infrastructure and ensure the city has safe neighborhoods and schools. He said the city also must make government more efficient and adopt the best practices from across the nation to protect and enhance the environment.

Overland has been on the City Planning Commission since 2006 when he was appointed by then-Mayor Kay Halloran, who Overland said defeated him in 1988 in his only previous election try, a run as a 25-year-old for the Iowa Legislature.

Overland said the City Planning Commission has served as 'a proving ground” for others who have won election to the City Council, including Vernon.

'I think the reason behind that is that it really is good training for figuring out how development works in Cedar Rapids,” he said.

He said the city has a quality group of talented city planners who are helping the city set higher development standards and expectations.

'For those on the planning commission, it's kind of like going to college really,” he said. 'You learn an awful lot about something that if you're not on the commission you'd never have had a chance to figure out.”

Overland, of 320 Crescent St. SE, was born in Cedar Rapids, grew up in Clinton, and is a 1985 graduate of Luther College. He moved to Cedar Rapids after college. He and his wife, Jan, have two adult children.

Council member Vernon said she can do her City Council work for the remainder of her term this year, but she can't campaign for Congress and the City Council at the same time. But said she will remain a voter in the council district, and she said she knows what she is looking for in a candidate.

'For me, when you work so hard and you know you're going to leave a position, you want to make sure whoever replaces you is a hard worker and … will be progressive and yet have a lot of common sense,” Vernon said.

Three other of the nine council seats are up for a vote in November. At-large council member Susie Weinacht has announced her re-election bid. Seats held by at-large council member Ann Poe and District 4 council member Scott Olson also are on the ballot.

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