When the ball drops at midnight (well, technically 11 p.m. in the Midwest), 2023 will officially be a thing of the past. To mark the turn of the calendar, the T-R reached out to a host of local leaders for their reflections on the year that was and their goals for the year to come. Those who responded are directly quoted in their own words below. Happy new year!

Nan Benson, Marshall County Auditor/Recorder — For me, getting Marshall County offices housed in the Courthouse back into the Courthouse in May 2023 and Courts in August 2023 was a highlight and culmination of countless hours from the July 19, 2018 Tornado. As we were moving back it just was such a great feeling to get us all back together again in our real “home.” We appreciate First Interstate Bank and the staff who house several County offices. We also need to thank Kathy and Dave Thompson for the use of space for the Attorney’s Office for the cost of utilities. Thank you to all, it was much appreciated.

For 2024, looking forward to our Courthouse exterior landscaping growing back in the coming spring, I know it will not be as it was before but I did not like the gravel road on the north side of the Courthouse and all the equipment parked out front.

Also for 2024, I am looking forward to several staff in new positions and working on the transition to those new roles. We also will be rolling out the real estate books online with Cott so patrons can do real estate research 24 hours a day and seven days per week! I am very excited for this new functionality. On the election side, we are looking forward to a special election March 5, 2024, then primary June 4, 2024, and presidential Nov. 5, 2024. We are in need of updating our Election laptops used at the Polling Locations as our current ones were purchased in 2017, this will be discussed during my upcoming budget meetings.

I wish to thank Marshall County patrons for their patience during our challenges the past few years. I also encourage anyone to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown), State Representative, District 52 — I retired as a teacher last year. For me, it was the right time. I feel the majority party in the legislature has beaten down public education and educators. They passed bills to fund private education with no accountability.

They passed bills that trample on the rights of non-binary or transgender students to make them use the bathroom of their birth sex. They took away the parent’s rights to decide what was best for their own children and pushed an agenda that put politics over people. They took away the local control of parents and school boards to evaluate the literature in school libraries and passed statewide laws that censor books and prevent discussions or teaching on anything other than heterosexual people. The majority party stated that they wanted to give parents more choice in their child’s education. But that decision making, choice and control only works if you believe as they do.

For the upcoming year, My goal is that the legislature can work together to make lives easier for everyday Iowans. My goal is that we can attend to issues that provide meaningful change and are priorities for Iowans. My goal is that we can look at taxes and our state funds to provide necessary items in our state. It is one thing to give relief to taxpayers and businesses from the state level, but then shift the burden of funding on the cities, counties, and schools and ultimately back to the people. My goal is that we can have the people who understand the workings of the AEA at the table when we are talking about reorganization. My goal is that we can finally fund expanded mental health services in our state. I want our long-term health facilities to be safe and healthy places for people to live. I wish for every child to have food and not worry about where their next meal is coming from.

My goal is to work together with all members of the legislature to find areas we can agree on and find compromises that serve Iowans. We need respect for those who are different than we are, who have different ideas than we have. We need to appreciate each other and not drag each other down because of divisiveness. In general, my goal is for peace on Earth and goodwill towards each other.

Mayor Joel Greer — 2023 was the year that saw the 5-year anniversary of the tornado, which meant landmarks were preserved and progress was made throughout the city. The courthouse was not only reopened but also restored to a grander splendor and more functional space. The Lennox facade and museum construction proved it is here to stay. The new airport terminal and hangar will welcome bigger jets and allow them to stay here overnight. Medical and mental healthcare saw significant upgrades with the new hospital, Primary Healthcare, McFarland Clinic, Center Associates and the groundbreaking for the Veteran’s Clinic. We completed demolition of the damaged historic downtown buildings and cut ribbons for some that were saved, including the new chamber and central business district offices and the new business rental spaces Polleys have created. Also new on our historic Main Street are the school district’s use of the Orpheum, two retail businesses (one moving from the mall, and one starting anew) and a new locally owned pharmacy. State Street repairs have been made and traffic is back on it, so the businesses inconvenienced by the construction should see their customers enjoying easy access and parking.

From the mayor’s perspective, the year saw some challenges of losing longtime and pivotal people serving as city staff and city councilors, but we have a seasoned city administrator and longest-serving councilor and two new councilors sworn in to keep progress moving forward.

Goals for 2024: With such capable volunteers and staff in the chamber, CBD, and arts and alliance roles, collaboration should continue with the city engineer and the firm contracted to oversee the overdue upgrades to Main Street, and with the county supervisors to make our town square be the city’s focal point.

A recent exciting development is ice skating on the space where the Fantles Building was. That building was so grand, and it looked so hurt by the tornado for so long, that I can hardly wait to see people, especially kids, enjoying it. Marshalltown has had momentum making our way through the tornado and derecho disasters, so my biggest goal is that its citizens vote to keep it. So much of what we have been able to accomplish in recent years has been because of our local option sales tax revenue. Most other successful Iowa cities use these funds to replace funding formerly provided by the state.

We compete with surrounding cities to find firefighters and police officers and to build a larger employment base. The voters can meet the goal of continuing momentum by renewing that needed funding source. A final goal is that we see local and national politics return to a level of civility and discourse previously enjoyed. Our city is lucky to have its major employers, leaders, nonprofits and foundations working together, and that will continue if we can avoid negativity and name-calling.

John Hall, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO — We had some great accomplishments and incredible progress during 2023 that stand to make 2024 an even stronger year. We successfully secured the Destination Iowa Grant in partnership with the City of Marshalltown, the Arts & Culture Alliance, and the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation for $2 million to complete the Martha-Ellen Tye Playhouse, Water Plaza, Trailhead and Trail Bridge within the Linn Creek District. We were able to wrap up Leadership Marshalltown’s inaugural class featuring the new Leadership Framework from KLC and launched our second class this fall. We spent considerable time meeting with the Iowa High School Esports Association in a bid to relocate the State of Iowa’s High School Esports Showdown from West Des Moines to Marshalltown and successfully hosted the first Showdown this fall. We will see them again in February and May and hopefully this is just the beginning of a long relationship with this organization. We officially launched the new branded marketing campaign – Nos Vemos en Marshalltown/Meet in Marshalltown – the State of Iowa’s first bilingual tourism identity. We received a grant for $7,500 from the Iowa Tourism office to expand the marketing reach of this campaign, specifically to Latino centric communities in large population centers here in Iowa and surrounding states. We had the great fortune of being there with countless businesses to celebrate milestones, moves, or grand openings with ribbon cuttings scattered throughout the year (there is always something to celebrate in Marshalltown). And we have to mention that we officially moved our offices downtown! We are thrilled to be located within the heart of our downtown community and to have the Marshalltown Central Business District co-located with us to increase communication and collaboration and we collectively work to reinvigorate the downtown.

Of course, 2023 was not without challenges. One that sticks out most acutely is the situation with the mall ownership. We are proud of the way the community has rallied around those businesses and supported them through this time. We are also tremendously happy with the way the conversation has unfolded in public and on social media. This situation is not a black eye on Marshalltown but is only a reflection of out-of-state ownership and that is clearly understood by most. As we shift into 2024, we are incredibly optimistic that we can put an end to this situation and find a way to get this into more localized ownership. We know that local ownership means local pride and having someone who will care about the property will make all the difference.

Beyond that, 2024 is going to be about continuing the great work we have been pursuing as we work to accelerate growth to support our business community. We look forward to getting the private fundraising for the Linn Creek District projects across the finish line, unveiling the strong business and community support for these projects and the impact that quality of life and quality of place mean for recruitment of the high-quality talent that our companies need. We are excited to finally celebrate the completion of the “Site Certification” designation from the State of Iowa for 95 acres on Marion Street that will serve as a great marketable site for new industrial development. We are already seeing prospective businesses taking interest in that land and other land in Marshalltown and it is clear that Marshalltown is open for business. We are excited to see more progress in the housing goals we set out about two years ago. In spite of headwinds for housing that we hear about in national media, it’s clear that housing availability is still a strong need. Our focus this year will be on the missing middle of housing prices ($250,000-$350,000) and accelerating new market rate housing, both owner occupied and rental. With the recent unveiling of the completed brownfield studies for two large greenspaces within downtown, we are excited to really kick off the marketing efforts for those parcels to see what activity and interest can be generated for new investment in buildings that the community said they wanted to see in our downtown. And of course, we, like everyone else, are looking forward to renting a pair of ice skates from Parks & Recreation to try out the new ice rink on the corner of Main and Center once the weather gets and stays cold enough this winter!

2023 has been a great year for our community and for the work we get to pursue. Every year we get the opportunity to build on what we accomplished in the last year and 2024 is looking to be no different. Cheers to a great 2023 and an even better 2024!

Jarret Heil, Chairman of the Marshall County Board of Supervisors — 2023 was a year we turned the corner with the completion of the construction on the courthouse and returned to normal operations. I’m thankful for Supervisor Carol Hibbs’ leadership that accelerated the completion of this project. I’m also grateful for all the service to our local veterans from VA Director Kevin Huseboe. I really enjoyed working with him, the Iowa Veterans Home, Iowa Workforce Development and John Hall at the Marshalltown Chamber on making Marshall County a Home Base Iowa County. Lastly, I’m thankful for all the work of our Marshall County employees in the service they provide to the people of Marshall County. I’m looking forward to 2024 working through the challenges to continue to provide excellent service to our residents, enhance our infrastructure and protect the taxpayer in our budgetary process.

David Hicks, YSS of Marshall County Director — In 2023, Marshalltown continued to affirm the importance of increased collaborations with unique partnerships. We accomplished far more by working together rather than being divisive. This is a refreshing trend that needs to continue. Personally, I look forward to connecting with more people in social settings. I can learn a lot from others and I welcome opportunities to do so. As with the end of every year, people become naturally introspective: do you count your blessings or do you count your mistakes? Positivity, optimism, and hope may be hard to find in 2024, but oftentimes we just need to stop looking for happiness in the same place where we lost it.

Todd Jacobus, Commandant of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs — The Iowa Veterans Home staff is grateful for the incredible mission that has been entrusted to us: to care for and serve those who have served our nation.

The Staff, Veterans and spouses of IVH are grateful to the community for the incredible support during 2023 and for embracing us for 136 years. Simply put, IVH is fortunate to be in Marshalltown!

The IVH leadership team is grateful to 700+ staff members who chose IVH as your workplace. We are so grateful for each of you. Blessings on you and your families. And we are hiring!

In 2024, we will do a better job of making Iowans aware of vacant rooms at the IVH. We have no waiting list, and we continue to find Veterans who are not aware of our great facility.

We will be more focused on our recruitment of licensed nursing staff, who are on the front line of direct care to our Veterans, so that we can re-open another wing of our Malloy Building.

We hope to continue building on the vibrancy of Marshalltown and the Marshall County veterans community through partnerships with Home Base Iowa, Veteran Service Organizations, and Marshall County Veterans Affairs.

We will work with our State elected officials to pursue legislation that will modify the definition of “Veteran” and requirements for County Veteran Service Officers in Iowa Code.

As always, we believe that the best is yet to come!