Shey running again; will challenge McGrane for district council seat

City Council member Pat Shey is seeking re-election to the City Council, but this time he will try to take the District 3 council seat from Jerry McGrane.

Shey, 50, said Friday he has nothing against McGrane but that people in the district had asked him to run. Shey now holds one of the at-large seats on the nine-member City Council.

McGrane, 69, said he was ready to take on Shey.

Kathy Potts, 50, a former Iowa Statehouse candidate, also has announced she is seeking the District 3 seat.

In announcing his candidacy, Shey said the City Council now has made many of the “tough decisions” on flood recovery and has laid the foundation to prepare for federal and state money that will be arriving to buy out 1,300 flood-damaged properties and to rebuild neighborhoods and city facilities.

“And I want to be part of it,” he said.

Shey and his wife, Nancy, have three children ages 11 through 17.