District 1 council member Kris Gulick wants another 4-year term; touts financial background as important for financial swampland of flood recovery

City Council member Kris Gulick is seeking re-election to the council seat from District 1, which comprises part of northeast Cedar Rapids and a sliver of the city's southeast quadrant.

Gulick, 50, a certified public accountant and business consultant, says he wants to keep his council seat because he thinks his professional expertise can help the city make its way through the “financial complexities” ahead as the city rebuilds from the June 2008 flood.

At the same time, Gulick, of 2103 Linmar Dr. NE, says that the city continues its transition to what is still its new council/manager form of government, and he says he wants to stay on as a council member to help see that transition through.

The council/manager government, he says, has been good for the city. Professional management, which is part of the government, ensures that the city has access to “best practices” used in governments across the country, he says.

The City Council, Gulick says, has faced a “delicate balancing act” in helping lead the city's flood recovery, and he says the council has correctly waited on matters like home buyouts. The council could have jumped in and borrowed money for buyouts, he says, only to learn later that the money could not be recovered from the federal government.

“It would have been easy to take that initial step,” he says. “It would have been quick. But it was the wrong decision.”

Gulick has a bachelor's degree in recreation administration with a minor in business administration from the University of Northern Iowa; a master's degree in recreation education from the University of Iowa; and a bachelor's degree in accounting and business administration from Coe College.

He points to his background in recreation to say that investment in city parks and recreational amenities are “economic development tools” that can help attract businesses and employees to the city.

He says his financial background has made him a lead voice on council budgetary matters, where he says he has helped walk a fine line between excessive taxation and taxation necessary to provide services that citizens want. He says the city's retention of the top Aaa bond rating is proof of the city's fiscal responsibility even in the face of the 2008 flood and the city's continuing flood recovery.

In his more than three-and-half years in office, Gulick has held quarterly meetings with his district constituents, and the last two winters he has held a total of 15 to 20 coffee chats in constituents' homes.

Gulick says he hopes his constituents like what he says is his commitment to getting as much information as possible before he makes decisions. He's trying to get to fact and reality and beyond emotion and perception, he says.

Gulick says economic development is one of his top priorities, and he points to what he says is the City Council's strong support of and cooperation with local economic-development entities Priority One, the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and the Entrepreneurial Development Center.

He and his wife, Deb, have two children.