Largest field in more than a decade wants on Cedar Rapids City Council

CEDAR RAPIDS - More people are running for elected office in Cedar Rapids this year - topped by a sprawling mayoral race with eight candidates - than at any time since all nine seats were on the ballot when the city changed its form of government in 2005.

The mayoral race alone is the largest since 11 candidates sought to replace longtime Mayor Don Canney, who resigned midterm after 22 years in office in 1992.

Overall, 19 candidates are seeking five seats on the City Council in the Nov. 7 election.

'It is really odd that you have that many candidates, especially for mayor,” said Jeff Schott, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Iowa. 'People might have been biding their time. I don't see a particular issue driving people to run for office. Sometimes you might have a bloc of candidates, but that's not the case in Cedar Rapids.”

While such a large field can be a sign of unrest, in this case it appears to be a sign things are working well, said Doug Neumann, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.

'Almost all candidates are talking about pro-growth policies and continuing or accelerating the current momentum,” Neumann said. 'Most mayoral and council candidates this year are primarily motivated by a commitment to public service and a desire to be part of leadership in a thriving community.”

Cindy Golding, former chairwoman of the Linn County GOP, had a more critical take. Candidates see millions of dollars invested in the downtown at the expense of neighborhoods, and the balance of investment not being handled properly, she said. It's not a partisan issue, she said.

'A few people are running because they want to get on the gravy train and others are running because they see the gravy train and are saying, ‘Stop. We need to do something about this,'” she said.

Among the council seats up for election this fall, only the District 5 race has an incumbent, Justin Shields. The at-large, Districts 1 and 3 and the mayor's seat are wide open contests.

The lack of incumbents can drive interest, which appears to be the case with the mayoral seat being vacated by Ron Corbett, who is running as a Republican for governor after two terms in office. Corbett was widely seen as a popular mayor, and prospective candidates waited for him to move on rather than challenge him, said Scott Overland, District 2 council member not up for re-election this year.

Corbett would joke, ''I must have made this job look easy,'” Overland said of why so many people are running for the position. 'Of course, it is not an easy job.”

Overland attributes the large field to progress in the city, Corbett's ability to get things done and his job redefining the role of mayor, which had been held by only one other person after the switch from a strong mayor and commission form of government to a part-time council and full-time city manager.

Jeff Pomeranz, the city manager, said some wondered if people would still be attracted to run for office after the form of government changed, diminishing the authority of the elected positions. But this election seems to answer that.

He added that the large and diverse field is good for voters because it brings a 'fuller discussion of the issues facing our community.”

Among the 19 candidates, five are black, representing 26 percent of the field. That's far more than the 6 percent of the city's overall population.

Dale Todd, 60, who held the parks commissioner seat in the old form of government from 1998 to 2002, is the only black person ever elected to the city's government, and is running again in the at-large race.

Todd credits Stacey Walker, who last year became the first black person elected as a Linn County supervisor, for spurring interest in the black community - but he also cites recent local and national tragic events and a sense of complacency while President Barack Obama held office.

'People now realize that it takes more than having a black president to effect change, and that people of color need to be engaged in the process and leadership positions,” Todd said.

Nine candidates in the overall field are 45 or younger, and six are 36 or younger. By comparison, Overland and Susie Weinacht, who holds an at-large seat, are the youngest council members currently at age 54.

Lemi Tilhuan, 27, who is the youngest person on the ballot and is running for mayor, saw a lack of youth representation and wanted to get younger people involved in city government, he said. The big field improves his chances, he said.

'I am not as established as some of the other candidates,” he said. 'The more people in the race this will spread out the voting demographic. My chances of performing well in the campaign are better with more opponents.”

While racial and age diversity exists, only three woman are running.

Ashley Vanorny, 32, an information technology professional, said a lack of responses from council members when important issues came up, and the lack of female representation on the current council - only two of nine seats are held by women - inspired her to run in District 5.

'I decided to rise to the occasion for my community and offer them an option of someone in myself who would be accountable and accessible,” she said.

While interest in national politics is bursting, there are mixed views on how much effect that has on local races.

'After the election, the results of the presidential race and in Des Moines with Republicans having so much control, people were looking for ways to get back involved,” said Bret Nilles, chairman of the Linn County Democrats. 'I took weekly calls from people saying, ‘I want to run for something.' This was an opportunity to do something to take control of what is affecting them personally.”

Still, across Linn County and the state, the volume of candidates elsewhere suggests Cedar Rapids is an outlier.

While some communities have a 'multitude of candidates,” others, particularly smaller ones, may be looking at write-in candidates, said Alan Kemp, director of the Iowa League of Cities.

'We don't actually track this kind of information, but I would probably be surprised if there was a city with this kind of interest,” Kemp said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com