Isom

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part one of a five-part question-and-answer series on Marshalltown city council candidates.

Part one features incumbent second ward councilor Gabe Isom. He won the seat defeating four candidates in a special election in February 2018. The special election was called when then second ward councilor Joel Greer resigned to assume mayoral duties Jan. 1, 2018. Greer was elected in November 2017. Isom moved to Marshalltown in 2013 and is co-founder of the “I Give a Damn about Marshalltown” an advocacy group whose mission was to attract young professionals to Marshalltown, among other issues. He is a Kansas City native employed at Emerson Process Management.

Other council candidates are Tyler Johnson, Bruce McConnell, Gary Thompson and Dex Walker. Al Hoop is running unopposed.

The election is Nov. 5.

Q: The police and fire station will likely come in under the $17.5 million budget. How do you propose spending extra money?

A: My question would be why do we have to spend money that is remaining? If the project is complete, I believe we need to assess putting it toward future investments whether that is training equipment, departmental vehicles, or continual upkeep and ongoing maintenance. We have a state-of-the-art facility and I think it’s best to ensure it stays as such over the

next ten, twenty, fifty years. The only alternate that I would also believe to be beneficial is putting the funds toward early payback on the principle of the investment.

Q.What do you see as the most immediate concerns for Marshalltown? What are the long-term issues needed to be addressed now for the future?

A: I believe the most immediate concerns still remain focused on tornado recovery. The community has come a long way over the last 15 months, but there are still buildings to come down, roads to be repaired, and community members needing help. As a city, we need to ensure we continue to help where possible and continue to look toward forward progress, utilizing the existing items such as the Downtown Master Plan and the Highway 14 Corridor

study to drive focus and momentum. As I look at the future of Marshalltown, I still look at how we create an atmosphere to live here and stay here, both attracting new people into the community as well as keeping those that already live in town. As a city we need to ensure we have the infrastructure to support both whether that’s new areas of development such as the Merle Hibbs project, maintaining some of our already existing attractions such as trail resurfacing and park enhancements, or continuing to resurface and fix the streets we drive everyday such as Center Street. Marshalltown is truly a great place to live and the more we can prioritize those projects that add value and enhance an already wonderful community, the more we will continue to grow and prosper.

Q: Since the city budget is millions of dollars, what is your background in financial concerns or how will you gain understanding of this?

A: I’ve had the opportunity over the last two years to serve on the council where I have been fortunate enough to grow my knowledge specific to the cities finances. I continue to look forward to enhancing my understanding whether it be conversing with city staff to understand Marshalltown’s fiscal history, being a part of the budget process this last year, or engaging with the cities finance department on specific projects and future

impact. In addition to my exposure over the last two years, I’ve been fortunate to both in my educational background, most recently obtaining my MBA, and professional career at Emerson to be involved with budget planning and finance training.

Q: How will you exercise fiduciary responsibility and oversight?

A: As a council member I believe a key role is ensuring that we adhere to the budget and remain within the constraints put forth such as the council placed debt capacity limit. I think that responsibility includes evaluating necessary opportunities to grow as a community based on merit, prioritization, and impact to our financial standing. As we talk about oversight, I think a key piece of this is having a firm grasp on previous history, trends, and future spend to ensure we remain aware of impact to the community. Keeping the budget as a continual conversation is key in ensuring we hold ourselves accountable whether that be TIF district funds, LOST funding allocation, our debt service levy, or adherence to the CIP plan. Having priorities front of mind, fiduciary responsibility being a major one, is required as we evaluate growth and sustained success.

Q: What has been your civic involvement prior to this election?

A: Prior to this election and over the seven years I have been in Marshalltown I’ve tried to engage and continue to look at opportunities where I can volunteer. Such engagement has included, but is not limited to volunteering with the 13th Street District specific to the Harvest Market event held each September, helping clean and landscape the district in the spring or painting the Salvation Army facade. I’ve just recently become a member of the Marshalltown Rotary Club representing Emerson, was part of the founding committee for I Give A Damn About Marshalltown, am involved with recruitment for Emerson into Marshalltown, a proud resident of the Hughes Grove Association, and active participant and manager for a number of Parks & Rec activities. I have been a city council representative over the last two years and look forward to what has been a great opportunity to serve

Marshalltown.

Q: What policies would you like to see to improve the quality of life in Marshalltown?

A: When I think of improving the quality of life of Marshalltown I think safety, commutable, accountable and neighborhood development. I continue to look for feedback from the community on how we do each of these and how we as residents hold ourselves to the same standards as we hold the city to. As a community member, I think it is important to drive the change we look to have our city adopt. When we talk about property value enhancement, a walkable community, driving growth in new residents, and growing investment in our local retail, we all have ownership.

Q: Have you attended city council meetings or other city-related hearings?

A: I’ve been a member of the council since March of 2018 and attended additional meetings leading up to the special election prior to that. Where possible and when opportunities arise, I look to attend meetings such as Trails Inc preliminary design open house, Planning and Zoning meetings where applicable to council decisions and topics, or the Downtown Master Plan open house.