Candidate Bill Hoeft

I have resided in Coralville since 2003 with my wife, Mia, an OB/Gyn physician, and my three children: Morgan, Rachel, and Will.

I'd like to thank the Coralville community for the honor of serving as your city council member these past four years. The City Council faced some extraordinary obstacles. In 2008, Coralville was dramatically impacted by one of the state's worst natural disasters. Coupled with one of the worst recessions in our nation's history and it makes me doubly proud of how the council, city employees, and the citizens of this community came together as a team. We doggedly pursued state and federal moneys for flood mitigation, now nearly completed.

In the last four years, we also have expanded the trail system, built a state-of-the-art youth sports complex, built the Coralville Center for Performing Arts, and advanced development in an area that used to be an industrial park, a pollutant and an eyesore. With the use of TIF, we cleaned up the blighted area, winning the prestigious Phoenix Award for cleaning brown fields and repurposing a blighted area now known as Iowa River Landing.

All of our police officers are EMT certified, ensuring prompt response times for medical emergencies. They are excellent enforcers of the law and pride themselves in their community policing efforts. Our volunteer fire department is one of the state's best.

We have challenges to face. We have debt to pay down on flood mitigation and related projects. We face higher benefit costs for our employees. We face a budget shortfall due to recent legislation to roll back commercial property tax. Rest assured that we have proactively prepared for all of our future challenges. With your vote on Tuesday, I'll continue a collaborative effort to do what is in the best interest for Coralville and its residents.

Comments: bhoeft@ci.coralville.ia.us