City Council member Kris Gulick hopes to keep his seat

City Council member Kris Gulick is seeking re-election to the council seat from District 1, which comprises part of northeast Cedar Rapids and a sliver of the city's southeast quadrant.

Gulick, 50, a certified public accountant and business consultant, wants to keep his council seat because he says he thinks his professional expertise can help the city through the “financial complexities” ahead as the city rebuilds from the June 2008 flood.

At the same time, Gulick, of 2103 Linmar Dr. NE, says that the city's council/manager form of government is still new, and he says he wants to stay on as a council member to help secure the government's foundation.

The council/manager government, he adds, has been good for the city. The professional management that is part of the government ensures that the city has access to “best practices” used in governments across the country, he says.

The current City Council, Gulick says, has faced a “delicate balancing act” of moving too fast and moving too slowly as it has helped lead the city's flood recovery. But he says the council has correctly waited on matters like home buyouts rather than quickly jumping in and borrowing money that might not later have been recovered from the federal government.

“It would have been easy to take that initial step,” he says. “It would have been quick. … But it was the wrong decision.”

Gulick has bachelor's degree in recreation administration with a minor in business administration from the University of Northern Iowa; a master's degree in recreation education from the University of Iowa; and a bachelor's degree in accounting and business administration from Coe College.

He points to his background in recreation to say that the city's parks and recreational amenities are “economic development tools” that can help attract businesses and employees to the city.

He says his financial background has made him a lead voice on council budget matters where he says he has helped walked a fine line between excessive taxation and taxation necessary to provide services that citizens want. He says the city's retention of the top Aaa bond rating is proof of the city's fiscal responsibility even in the face of the 2008 flood and the city's continuing flood recovery.

In his more than three-and-half years in office, Gulick has held quarterly meetings with his district constituents, and the last two winters he has held a total of 15 to 20 coffee chats in constituents' homes.

“The number one leadership skill is listening,” he says. “And that's what I'm doing in the vast majority of those cases.” The get-togethers also are a time to inform constituents about City Hall issues, he says.

Gulick says he is committed to getting as much information on an issue as possible before making a decision about it. He's trying to get to fact and reality and beyond emotion and perception, he says.

“That's one of the things I would expect out of elected leadership, and I'm trying to fulfill that as one of the things I do,” he says. “I ran (for the council in 2005) on that premise.”

Gulick says he continues to consider economic development a top priority.

He and his wife, Deb, have two children.