Tim Pugh seeks District 1 council seat to help control city spending

Tim Pugh, a 32-year-old partner in a small landscaping and snow removal business, says he is running for the east-side District 1 council seat to change what he says are the city's poor budget management practices and to help keep jobs and bring more jobs to the city.

In criticizing the city's budget practices, Pugh, who grew up in Cedar Rapids and graduated from Jefferson High School in 1995, says the city has managed to significantly increase its budget in the last four years for non-flood-related spending even as it has neglected city streets and other infrastructure.

“It seems like our necessary services are dropping,” Pugh says. “… People are not pleased with the direction the current administration is taking Cedar Rapids,” he adds.

Pugh, of 518 17th St. NE, gained some attention earlier this year as the lead voice for the Cedar Rapids Tea Party when it campaigned to defeat a local-option sales tax. Voters approved the 1-percent tax in March. Pugh says he has set aside his Tea Party activities to campaign for city office.

He says he does have concerns about District 1 incumbent Kris Gulick, who is seeking reelection. Pugh says Gulick has been a central voice on budget matters among current council members. He adds that he disagrees with Gulick and other council members in their push to find new ways to raise tax revenue, most of which now comes from property taxes.

Pugh also thinks the city has moved too slowly on flood recovery and that it needs to get busy replacing more housing that has been lost in the 2008 flood.

“You can't have a community without replacing what you're losing,” he says.

Pugh is single. He attended Kirkwood Community College, where he obtained a certification as an emergency medical technician. He was a volunteer EMT in Anamosa for a time, he says.