Candidate forum is Monday for North Liberty special election

NORTH LIBERTY - Residents in the growing city of North Liberty head to the polls on Tuesday, April 25, to choose a mayor and city council member to help lead residents into the future, which includes a soon-to-open high school and the possibility of a new police station and interchange off Interstate 380.

Seven candidates - Jessica Beck, Jennifer Goings, Nic Gulick, Gerry Kuhl, Sarah Madsen, Mike Mbanza and Faraz Shah - are seeking the city council seat that expires at the end of 2019 and three - Terry Donahue, Chris Hoffman and Matthew Pollock - are seeking to become mayor through the end of this year.

In advance of the special election, the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce hosts a candidate forum from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the North Liberty Community Library, 520 W. Cherry St., so voters have a chance to meet and hear from the candidates.

A number of candidates have pointed to both public safety resources and traffic infrastructure, which have been challenging in a city where the population has grown from just more than 5,300 in 2000 to more than 18,000 in 2015, according to a special Census conducted by the city that year.

City officials sparked conversation in front of council members last month about potentially building a new police station. While there is no design or anticipated cost for the project, police currently are forced to have meetings in the hallway and store evidence in the furnace room due to the size of the facility.

Additionally, despite recent efforts to widen some of the main arteries around town with the hopes of alleviating congestion, North Liberty has just one way on and off I-380. This is a challenge for a suburban community, in between major cities like Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, officials have said.

When the new council member and mayor are elected, it will bring to an end a monthslong process to fill the vacancies.

Former Mayor Amy Nielsen resigned at the end of December after being elected to the Iowa House of Representatives. Since that time, council members have had multiple meetings to decide how to fill the seat - resulting in the appointment of Donahue, then the mayor pro tem, to the position on Feb. 28. He was selected over council member Hoffman, who now is running for mayor.

To accept the appointment as mayor, Donahue had to resign his council seat.

Pollock, who also is in the running for mayor, responded to Donahue's appointment by filing a petition the next day to trigger a special election.

The City Council then voted to place the vacant council seat on the mayoral special election ballot rather than to appoint someone to fill the position.

Polls are open on April 25 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the North Liberty Recreation Center, 520 W. Cherry St.

Residents can also vote early from 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays in the Johnson County Auditor's Office, 913 S. Dubuque St, Iowa City.

Those elected are expected to take office as soon as the Auditor's Office can officially canvass the votes, likely by May 2.

l Comments: (319) 339-3172; maddy.arnold@thegazette.com

Meet the Candidates

What

: Candidate Forum

When

: 6 to 8 p.m. Monday

Where

: North Liberty Community Library, 520 W. Cherry St.

Host

: Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce