Cindy Riley, candidate for Coralville City Council

Cindy Riley, Laurie Goodrich, Hai Huynh and Mike Knudson are running for three seats on the Coralville council. ► Get to know the other candidates

Name: Cindy Riley

Office sought: Coralville City Council

Age: 60 (born Jan. 31, 1961)

Occupation: Owner/manager, Winans Chocolates & Coffees

Campaign website: facebook.com/VoteforCindyRiley

Email: cindyrileyforcoralville@gmail.com

Have you held office before? No

Personal bio: I grew up on a farm in Johnson County and I strongly believe Coralville is a community worth investing in. I attended Northwest JR High West High School and I currently have a small business in Coralville, Winans Chocolates & Coffees. Owning a small business has given me first hand experience in how to establish and grow business in Coralville. After graduating from West HS (’79) I earned a BS in Agricultural Economics and Computer Science with an interest in helping businesses grow thru technology. This interest led me to professional positions in several companies throughout the Midwest and I gained excellent experience in business management. This business management experience will lend itself very well to the business of running a community like Coralville. I returned to Iowa State University to complete my MS in Agriculture Education and Sciences and Human Computer Interactions. I have 3 wonderful daughters and 4 amazing grandchildren.

Why are you running for city council?

I have 3 main goals: 1) Promote financially stable and environmentally friendly development in Coralville by attracting businesses (small and large) that will employ area residents so they can make a fair wage and raise healthy, happy families. (2) Support the residents of Coralville by promoting affordable housing, affordable child care and other support they may need to help them secure a good job and a good life. (3) Make Coralville a community that celebrates a healthy lifestyle and provides great recreational activities

To reach goals, Coralville City resources & local businesses need to work together. It is important to work with local businesses to ensure they are not unduly burdened with rules and regulations-communities need rules & guidelines but these can sometimes get in the way of business growth. They need to be reviewed regularly for simplicity and need. That said, we need to be clear that businesses should try to hire locally when possible and to pay a decent wage. Businesses must also be environmentally conscious in order to keep Coralville healthy for future generations. Coralville has always provided great resources thru the park systems, the public library, youth sports programs, performing arts center, etc. — this good work needs to continue and ensure we are offering partnerships with local business to create a bond in the community. Coralville has great outdoor resources! We need to keep up this good work and continually work to improve participation and use of our resources

How do you rate the city’s current performance? What areas are going well, and what could be improved?

Coralville is doing great! I grew up in the Coralville area and love to see how it has grown and developed into a welcoming, thriving community over the last 40 years. The number of local businesses has grown and Coralville has become a distinct community with great services. Coralville provides great resources thru the park systems, the public library, youth sports programs, performing arts center, etc. — this good work needs to continue and ensure we are offering partnerships with local business to create a bond in the community. Coralville has great outdoor resources! We need to keep up this good work and continually work to improve participation and use of our resources.

Going forward, I would like to see Coralville promote financially stable and environmentally friendly development in Coralville by attracting businesses that will employ area residents so they can make a fair wage and raise healthy and happy families — this includes supporting our current businesses that help make this growth happen. I would like to see Coralville support the residents by promoting affordable housing and affordable child care in partnership with local businesses. I would like to make Coralville a community that celebrates a healthy lifestyle and great recreational activities that are aimed at both youth and adults.

What are the three largest issues facing the community and what will you do to address them?

I have three main goals:

1. Promote financially stable and environmentally friendly development in Coralville by attracting businesses (small and large) that will employ area residents so they can make a fair wage and raise healthy, happy families.

2. Support the residents of Coralville by promoting affordable housing, affordable child care and other support they may need to help them secure a good job and a good life.

3. Make Coralville a community that celebrates a healthy lifestyle and provides great recreational activities

To reach goals, Coralville City resources and local businesses need to work together. It is important to work with local businesses to ensure they are not unduly burdened with rules and regulations-communities need rules and guidelines but these can sometimes get in the way of business growth. They need to be reviewed regularly for simplicity and need. That said, we need to be clear that businesses should try to hire locally when possible and to pay a decent wage. Businesses must also be environmentally conscious in order to keep Coralville healthy for future generations. Coralville has always provided great resources thru the park systems, the public library, youth sports programs, performing arts center, etc. — this good work needs to continue and ensure we are offering partnerships with local business to create a bond in the community. Coralville has great outdoor resources! We need to keep up this good work and continually work to improve participation and use of our resources

If you were forced to cut the city’s budget, how would you approach these reductions? What areas would you look to for savings and why?

My 30 years of experience in business uniquely qualifies me for this type of budget analysis. Budget cuts are always a difficult discussion to have. The process starts with doing a line by line review of all current expenditures. You have to ask the hard questions; are there contracts that need renegotiated? Are there holdings that need to be divested? Are there services that can be combined for better purchasing power? Do we need to slow or eliminate any of the projects we currently have on the table? All of these are hard questions but they can be answered with detailed analysis of the data.

As budget dollars are cut we would need to keep a focus on the future. This means, keep the services that support business growth, job creation, and retention of the Coralville employee pool. Sadly, this may mean cutting back on things like beautification projects and new brick and mortal building. We would have to look at using existing resources more efficiently and pause on worthwhile projects that can be delayed for short-term cost savings.

What new policies might you propose for the city to enact? Why do you think they are necessary?

Childcare support and transition to work programs. In order to create a work force that can support business growth in Coralville we have to support all or our residents. This presents two immediate issues:

1. Women must have child care support if they want to work. What more can we do to help with this? We should look at supporting parent groups that help each other out, specifically with children are 0-4 years and other group settings that can be cost-effective for low-wage earners.

2. What steps can we take to make the transition to work easier. This includes helping community members with getting photo IDs and other paperwork that is necessary to give to employers when applying for a job. Also, general help with creating a resume and detailing past work history that will clarify your value to a potential employer.

I would also like to see technology play a part in community support. We need to look at bicycle share apps, Zip car locations and other transportation share options.

Are there quality of life improvements that could be made in the community? What are they and how would you fund them?

A community must encourage quality of life Improvements if they want to build a sense of community and inclusion. We can include events related to fitness, education, technology, cultural interaction, etc. Coralville has some great events thru their recreational services and the Coralville library! The 'Connection' magazine does a great job of bringing this information into the homes of all Coralville residents. I recognize that it is hard to engage people in community events! Because of that, and given limited funding for these type of activities, we should continually look at each individual event and decide if it was successful or if we need a change.

Let's get creative! For example, for a fitness event, perhaps a corn toss league, an archery event, nature scavenger hunts, yoga in the park or bird watching? Perhaps we engage with the diversity in our community and reach out for ideas about cultural events that may not be native to Coralville but could become the next great tradition for our community.

Lastly, we need to lean heavily on technology to help organize quality of life improvement events. There are some great apps available that interact with users to encourage them to connect with their community in a healthy way.