Marion electorate given choice of two paths in council vote

MARION - Marion is one of the fastest-growing cities in Iowa, sprouting into a city with lofty ambitions and developing industry.

Those goals include growing its uptown area to one that resembles those of bigger, urban cities; building a multimillion-dollar mixed-use-facility library with retail and residential components; continuing the Central Corridor Project, which would balance the city's traffic between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, a project many city officials say will encourage the growth of private development.

Marion also faces many decisions. Does it support expensive projects and increase the city's debt to create more development? Or does paying down its debt become the first and foremost priority?

How does it accommodate its senior citizen population while attracting and continuing to grow its segment of young families?

Candidates for city council and mayor can be said to fall on one of two sides of that divide.

While three seats and the mayor's office are up for election in November, it's City Manager Lon Pluckhahn who handles the day-to-day administrative duties of the city, proposing new projects and spending initiatives. If Marion voters elect three conservative council members, it could put a halt to, or at least make it more difficult, for Pluckhahn to get spending initiatives through the council.

The Mayoral election

With Mayor 'Snooks” Bouska not seeking re-election, the race is left open to three candidates - current Ward 4 Councilman Nick AbouAssaly, an attorney; John Nieland, Marion's mayor in the early 2000s; and current Ward 2 Councilman Joe Spinks.

AbouAssaly and Spinks typically agree on issues such as the proposed library expansion plan and the Central Corridor Project.

Nieland, however, hasn't been shy about opposing these types of projects.

'I've talked to a lot of friends, and the biggest concern that they and I have ... over the last eight years (are) major projects that have been completed but …

the (public) didn't have a chance to vote on them. Citizens should have a bigger voice.”

With those projects comes growing city debt, which Nieland sees as a problem. Nieland's opponents, however, see the increased debt as a necessary to grow and develop infrastructure and business. The debt, now at $57 million, is $46 million more than when Nieland took office as mayor 12 years ago.

'Is our debt a problem? I don't think so,” AbouAssaly said a recent mayoral forum hosted by the Linn County League of Women Voters. 'People compare debt 10 years ago or 20 years ago to what it is today, but our city has doubled in size. ..

. The city has, of course, had to react to that, accommodate the growth with infrastructure, economic development projects. You can't do that without spending money.”

Spinks, too, said projects in the city - such as the proposed new YMCA, to which the city has committed $6.5 million, and the proposed mixed-use library building - cost significant amounts of money but will contribute to the city.

'As much as possible, Marion needs to continue supporting infrastructure development,” even in economic downturns, Spinks said.

City Council

Current Ward 1 Councilwoman Kim Etzel will face Dwight Hogan. In Ward 3, former council member Kay Lammers and Will Brandt will vie for the seat.

Lammers served from 1996 to 2011, and her stance on Marion's direction is clear in the statement she made in The Gazette's candidate survey: 'I am unhappy at the direction our leaders have taken over the last four years, and our debt is becoming a concern,” she said. She opposes the library board's mixed- library proposal and the Central Corridor Project, saying such projects 'cater to millennials.”

Her opponent, Brandt, a local Realtor who hasn't held elected office, takes a different stance: 'I want to see the continued growth in our commercial and industrial tax base,” he wrote in The Gazette survey. 'I feel this is key to the future of our city.”He supports the library project and Central Corridor Project, saying both will add to the city's economic development.

In Ward 1, Etzel, a virtual merchandise manager, has supported Marion's development projects during her four years in office and said she's running to 'keep things going in the right direction.” She, too, supports the plans for a mixed-use library building, believes the city's debt is in line with other cities the size of Marion and calls the Central Corridor Project a good plan for businesses.

Hogan, however, said he's running to cut down on spending in Marion: '…

We must have more fiscal restraint with our city's budget and spending practices.”

He said the proposed library project 'makes no sense,” the city's debt is leading it down a bad path and the Central Corridor project represents wasteful spending.