T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Second Ward incumbent Gabe Isom, Second Ward challenger Mark Mitchell, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall, At-Large incumbent Gary Thompson and At-large challenger Leopoldo “Sunny” Reyes participated in a city council candidate forum at the Marshalltown Public Library on Tuesday night.

A total of four Marshalltown city council candidates — two incumbents and two challengers — participated in a forum hosted by the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Chamber President/CEO John Hall at the Marshalltown Public Library on Tuesday night, weighing in a number of topics including their visions for growth, street improvements, the budget and code enforcement, among others.

In the Second Ward, which encompasses the northwest part of the city, incumbent Gabe Isom, who has held his seat since winning a special election in 2018, is facing off against challenger Mark Mitchell, and in an At-Large race, incumbent Gary Thompson is seeking a second term while running against Brother’s Garage Owner Leopoldo “Sunny” Reyes.

Hall gave each candidate a chance to introduce himself, alluding to the fact that Isom’s wife Christine is expecting the couple’s child any day now, and Gabe highlighted the familial roots he has planted in the community since taking a job with Emerson-Fisher 11 years ago and progress on downtown revitalization and economic growth since he joined the council.

“It’s been an honor to be a part of everything that’s happening in Marshalltown,” he said. “I’m proud to call Marshalltown home. I hope the community realizes that and I hope that the last six years have demonstrated that.”

Mitchell, a lifelong Marshalltown resident, cited his history working at JBS (formerly Swift and Co.) and Lennox and the fact that his children have stayed in the area.

“My roots run deep here in Marshalltown. My pride is in Marshalltown. I grew up here and I raised my family, and there’s no other place I’d rather be. And there’s no way anything would ever pull me from this town,” he said.

Thompson, a fellow Marshalltown native, joked that most in the audience were probably familiar with his voting record and described himself as “a bit twisted” due to his Iowa Hawkeye fandom despite graduating from Iowa State. He also commented on his lengthy beard and noted that it was due to an upcoming engagement playing Santa Claus.

Reyes recounted his personal journey moving to Marshalltown from southern California and eventually graduating from MHS before moving to Wyoming for college and returning, working for a few different businesses in town and then starting Brothers Garage. He hoped he could serve as a bridge between the Hispanic community and the rest of Marshalltown and bring his experience in business to the seat.

From there, Hall asked his first question on how each candidate felt the city could achieve growth. Mitchell felt “roads and codes” should be the focus, and Thompson said there was “nothing wrong” with being a town of 27,000 while striving for small improvements to clean up the community and then watching incremental growth happening organically.

“I think we just need to concentrate on taking care of what the town has now, the infrastructure, and slowly moving forward in a very methodical and commonsense approach,” Thompson said.

Reyes called for increased transparency in planning and bringing citizens together to seek common goals for the future. Isom pointed to investments in the community since the tornado and derecho as evidence that growth is already happening, and he believed the momentum would continue to build.

The candidates were then asked to weigh in workforce shortages and struggles both in Marshalltown and nationwide, which prompted Thompson to admit he couldn’t keep his children here after they finished their education but hoped that he could convince other kids to live and work in the community as adults. Reyes said he wasn’t sure what the right strategy was but, after mentioning his own work ethic, thought bringing in an outside perspective might be beneficial.

Isom touted creative placemaking efforts to bring in younger workers who will want to stay here for the long term, and Mitchell opined that “it starts at home” with parents giving their children more structure and keeping them off of social media. One of the most controversial topics from recent council proceedings, the failed franchise fee vote and how to address road repairs within the current budget, then came up, and Reyes called what was presented “a pretty good plan” and felt the city could pay for the improvements themselves.

Isom, who served on the franchise fee committee and vocally advocated for it, noted the investment within the current budget as substantial but acknowledged that it would take more to get Marshalltown’s roads to where residents would like them to be.

“Obviously, that started not as a franchise fee but as a way to try to come up with a creative solution with the gap that is ultimately needed to address that. We’re talking $8 million over 10 years in today’s dollars. If we look towards the future, that number will only get bigger,” Isom said. “Money is going toward streets… We are doing what we can. We need help.”

Mitchell suggested using Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) revenues for roads and public safety and added that he felt the city should focus on its needs over its wants.

“It’s gonna take time and it’s gonna take effort. We’re gonna have to take our belt and put another notch in it and cinch it up tighter and just work with it,” he said.

Thompson agreed that the current condition of the roads didn’t happen overnight and said the council could divert money already borrowed for projects that weren’t completed and redirect it toward street repairs. When Hall pressed him for specifics, Thompson cited the proposed water plaza and “quiet zones” around the railroad tracks as two projects where the money could be rerouted.

The next question covered Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for development projects, which has been utilized at places like Karl of Marshalltown and the Hopkins-Willard building downtown, and whether each candidate felt the tool should continue to be utilized in the future. Isom and Reyes were in favor of continuing to use it, praising the Karl development in particular, while Mitchell and Thompson had more skeptical assessments.

Mitchell felt it should only go to projects that truly need the money, and, referencing his own past as the former owner of the UPS Store, Thompson indicated he would not be comfortable with a competing business like FedEx receiving tax incentives to move next door. In his view, TIF started as a great idea to help with infrastructure improvements, but it has become a “spot abatement” tool over the years.

Reyes countered that as the owner of a body shop, Karl is a competitor, but he welcomes the competition and lets his work speak for itself.

“It’s nice to have people like Karl Chevrolet (here). Like Gabe said, that side of town hasn’t looked that good in a long time, and it looks really good. And I hope that other businesses do follow, and it opens up that side of town so we have a nicer spot,” Reyes said. “So yeah, I think TIF is a good idea so far as far as I’m concerned.”

The aforementioned water plaza, which has been controversial for its $2.4 million price tag despite receiving a grant to cover part of the cost from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, came up next, with both Isom and Reyes expressing support for the project and Mitchell and Thompson arguing that it was too expensive at the present time. Mitchell said a basic splash pad would suffice, and Thompson felt that he hadn’t received answers on long-term maintenance and how it will be funded.

Conversely, Reyes described the site of the proposed plaza at Mega-10 Park as a favorite of his kids and hoped that it would catalyze further growth, and Isom returned to his theme of placemaking as a reason for supporting the project.

“We were one of the 10 communities to receive this funding on the original allocation from Destination Iowa. I think it speaks volumes to the direction we’re going as a community. I of course support that,” Isom said. “The Linn Creek Corridor is a hub of our community, and continuing to expand and invest there is key.”

In response to a question about expanding housing opportunities in Marshalltown and the Chamber’s $10,000 incentive, Thompson said the focus should be on starter homes and getting people out of rental properties, and Reyes generally agreed with him while adding that cleaning up the community and improving downtown would make more people want to live here. Mitchell hoped small lots could be used for starter homes and cited the difficulty of raising a family with the cost of living high and going up.

Isom referenced some new developments within the last few years as evidence that the city’s housing stock is growing.

“I think we need a wide array, not just rentals or starter homes, but houses for families to grow into,” he said. “We have a wide demographic of people and we need to support all of them.”

Hall formulated a question from several that had been submitted about the budget in general and the potential loss of the library levy due to a change in state law. Reyes said he would use his skills in business to move money around and plan long term so that financial hardships like these would not come up in the future, and Isom felt the budget was being maximized with what he felt was a relatively small shortfall or deficit as it related to the bigger picture. Mitchell admitted he would need to do more research as he is not currently on the council, and Thompson stressed that while he agreed with Isom about the deficit, he believed fixing it would be an important step toward regaining the community’s trust.

“We should figure out how to balance that so you can believe in us on bigger projects and have your support when we move into some bigger funding issues. So that’s where Gabe and I fundamentally disagree on that,” he said.

The next series of questions were specifically tailored to each candidate and addressed potential criticisms of them individually. For Isom, it was the perception that he is “out of touch” with his constituents and not responsive to those who have reached out to him.

“I do not claim to be available 24/7. I have a family I’m raising, a job that I’m working, and I do my very best to be as active as I can from a city council perspective representing my constituents,” he said. “My phone is always available. It’s listed. My address is listed. My email’s listed. For those that have reached out to me in any of those fashions, I always do my best to provide a timely response… I’m not fearful to have a conversation, so the door and the invite is wide open.”

Mitchell faced a question about an “ugly neighborly dispute” with an adjoining property owner over a nuisance complaint and how he could compromise and work together if he were to be elected. He felt it should be the responsibility of the city’s code enforcement officer to address these situations.

“That’s what we’ve all gotta get back to is helping our neighbors do stuff. If our neighbor needs some help to do stuff and you volunteer to help them and you refuse to help, then that’s another issue, but first of all, I just think we need to let the code enforcement officer (do his job), and if he needs additional help to do his job, then we need to find a way to help him out,” he said.

Thompson was asked about his tendency to be the lone dissenting vote on the council and whether calling him a “naysayer” was an accurate term. He said he’d been waiting for the question and simply considered whether each vote was the best way to spend the limited resources the city has on that day.

He also indicated that ideas he presented to former City Administrator Jessica Kinser — when pressed for specifics, he said they related to downtown redevelopment — were not placed on the council agenda and hoped he would have a better relationship with current administrator Joe Gaa.

“Hopefully, with a new city administrator, I will have a partner that I can bring my ideas to the council that I see as a way to move things forward in the city,” Thompson said.

For Reyes, the question related to his responses — or lack thereof — to the T-R’s recent candidate profiles and whether or not he had truly done his homework before seeking out the at-large seat. He admitted he was new to running and didn’t have the experience of incumbents like Isom and Thompson, but he hoped to grow into the position over time and continue to learn on the job.

“If I were elected, I’m sure I could come up here (before the) next election and I could talk just like those guys, but right now I’m the new guy and I’m just trying to learn the tricks of the trade here,” he said. “I’m hoping that my experience in business and my determination shows through and people actually want to vote for me.”

With the most difficult portion of the forum out of the way — Hall joked that he hoped each candidate felt “equally challenged and threatened” by the questions — the candidates had a chance to describe the ways they volunteer in the community. The final question before closing statements related to code enforcement, with the candidates in general agreement that it needed to be beefed up and a second officer potentially hired to help current code enforcement officer Joe Trowbridge. Reyes, a self-described “car guy,” related a story about a woman who would hold him accountable when he had multiple vehicles out in his yard as a teenager.

In their closing statements, the four hopefuls generally restated why they felt they deserved to be elected — with Thompson opining that he would like to get rid of the term “naysayer” and restore civility in discourse and debate at the council level, prompting a response from Hall that he had been accused of being part of a “cabal” shortly after taking starting his job with the Chamber in 2021.

Hall then reminded those in attendance to vote, whether early at the Marshall County Election Center at 107 S. 1st Ave. or on election day, next Tuesday, Nov. 7, at their designated polling places.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.