District 4: Jean Leaf

I was at a neighborhood cookout when a group of flood-impacted residents approached me to run for City Council. I wasn't really interested in local politics until after the flood, and I am still trying to figure things out and some feel that is what makes me unique.

I have never held a public office and am not on any committees or boards. My mission is to help the people of Cedar Rapids move forward in our recovery from the 2008 flood with the help of a dedicated team of flood advocates and activists.

I give the city a poor rating in its effectiveness in leading flood recovery. We are rebuilding on an island and putting hundreds of millions of dollars within four blocks of the river on the east side of town while asking the people to pay for flood protection.

The city's “preferred plan,” when viewed from a flood-impacted person's perspective, looks not only worthless but potentially dangerous. Northernmost neighborhoods to flood (Time Check) did not initially flood because of breach in berm height. The neighborhood flooded because the water backed up through both the storm and sanitary sewers first.

Ultimately, yes, the flood of 2008 did rise above the berm height in some areas and would have poured over regardless, but since the initial flooding came from backup, it is easy to conclude that the west-side neighborhood would flood regardless of the height of a flood wall.

We should have built flood protection first and then asked the residents for help with the other projects. I feel that the city has many times put the cart before the horse, starting some projects based on Federal Emergency Management Agency funding before the funding was approved. Too much money was put into the downtown area without any regard for the people's neighborhoods and homes.

Fix and clean sewers. People have been pointing out to me that this is included in their water bills. Why aren't city services doing the job they are being paid to do? We need to fix all these problems before we build flood levees and before we do any major work on roads.

We need to prioritize spending. Roads may not need as much work if they funded our priorities better. Instead of making roads beautiful, maybe we can make them functional. The roads have been ignored for the last 40 years.

Jean Leaf, a resident of Cedar Rapids since 1965, has worked most of her life, currently in retail, while raising six children. She has also done volunteer work at a medical clinic. Comments: jeanmleaf@aol.com