North Liberty mayor hopeful aims to inspire people to get involved

NORTH LIBERTY - Amy Nielsen wants to energize the North Liberty community and get people involved in local government.

The 37-year-old Iowa native recently announced her plan to run for mayor after earlier applying for a recently filled City Council seat.

'I want to facilitate discussions between community members and our leaders to be sure that the concerns of North Liberty are always being considered,” she said.

Born in Keokuk, Nielsen has lived all over the country. The Iowa City West High graduate met her husband Jason, 39, a West Branch native, at the University of Iowa. When Jason's job required relocating, the family moved from Iowa City to South Carolina, then Utah, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Georgia.

Amy and her husband always wanted to raise their children in Iowa, so after the birth of their third child in 2007, they left Atlanta for North Liberty. Her experiences in other cities inspired her to share her perspectives and become active in volunteer projects and local committees.

'There are a lot of opportunities that North Liberty can take on that we're maybe not looking at,” she said. 'I can pull from those experiences of living in other places, seeing what other cities can do, knowing how things can work in other places.”

As a stay-at-home mom, Nielsen got her start in community activism when she joined the Garner Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization in 2011, a position she still holds. She also sits on the board of directors for the North Liberty Community Pantry, is co-chairwoman of two Blue Zones committees and is secretary for the Johnson County Democrats Education Platform Committee. She also has managed two local election campaigns.

Working closely with the PTO, Nielsen developed the Garner Elementary Walking School Bus in 2012 - the first Walking School Bus established in Johnson County and one of the largest ones in the state with more than 100 children participating and several parent volunteers.

'I want to help shape (our) children's hometown into a place that they will always be proud to come from, and eventually come back to,” she said.

When Gerry Kuhl was appointed mayor of North Liberty, Nielsen applied to fill his vacated City Council seat. Although David Moore was appointed to the position, the experience gave Nielsen a new drive to be involved in local government.

'The phrase ‘vote with your dollars' gets thrown around a lot, but we need to be voting with our votes as well. Who is in our elected offices matters,” she said. 'North Liberty has grown so much, and the people living here are much more diverse than ever before. It's important for our city government to reflect that.”