Gather ‘round the table

Gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand meets with small business owners, city officials at La Carreta

Slightly more than 10 small business owners and Marshalltown city officials met with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand on Friday to talk about what was on their minds, and wages and healthcare were big topics.

Alfonso Medina, the owner of La Carreta, hosted the small business roundtable discussion at his restaurant.

Lillie Mae Chocolates owner Aimee Deimerly-Snyder asked Sand about his proposal to raise the minimum wage to $12, how that would be rolled out and if allowances would be given to younger employees.

"I can't imagine starting a 14-year-old at $12 an hour," she said.

Sand told her the plan would have to be "stair stepped."

"We haven't had a minimum wage increase in 20 years," he said. "You don't just flip the switch and say now it's $12. You have to take a few years to put it in there, because it takes time for people to adapt to that."

Marshalltown City Councilor Melisa Fonseca said that when she was 15, she started her first job at Emerson for $10 per hour.

"Seeing that minimum wage hasn't increased since then, I think $12 makes sense," she said. "That was over 10 years ago."

Fonseca brought up the increasing cost of goods and how businesses would be able to pay higher wages when many things are more expensive. Sand told her there would have to be a shift in thinking.

"We should want to reward work, not reward wealth," he said. "If a person is willing to give of their time on this planet, there's a minimum level of compensation and they're rewarded for that. For a lot of places in Iowa, $12 won't get you there, but the idea of a floor at the state level is about thinking about the places with the lowest cost of living. You want to make sure you're not setting the floor so high that in the cheaper counties in Iowa, it's impractical to hire somebody."

With the discussion centering on wages, The Flying Elbow Owner Garrett Goodman said he had an employee with children and some health issues who has difficulties affording health insurance. The proposed $12, while he felt that the amount is great, is not enough to cover it.

"Even $16 an hour . . . it's not even a liveable wage, especially healthcare, and that's big," he said.

Sand said when it comes to healthcare, transparency is important. The first Trump administration did a good thing in requiring health providers to publish the costs of provided services.

"The only problem was, he didn't put any teeth in it," he said. "There's a teeny, tiny fine if they don't do it. They look at it and just pay the fine, because they would rather pay the fine then tell you what the actual procedure costs. . . . We need to have some level of transparency with healthcare costs."

The lack of mental health care in Iowa piggybacked off healthcare. Sand agreed that there is no system in the state, even though three reorganizations have occurred during the last six years.

"Mental health practitioners around the state are closing their shops, because they can't make money . . . because of privatized for-profit companies for Medicaid," he said. "They just want to keep all the money and find reasons, excuses to deny claims. . . . They're literally looking for reasons to say 'no' to paying so they can keep more money and keep it for longer. It's scandalous."

Goodman said all of the healthcare system is "scandalous," as anyone making more than $19,000 each year cannot get help.

"So, you have a person who wants to work full-time who now can only work 20 hours a week," he said.

Sand said one proposal to address affordability is medical debt forgiveness, not funded primarily with public money, but by getting organization 10-to-1 assistance.

"Iowa has one of the highest rates of medical debt, and I think most of us can agree no one gets sick on purpose," he said. "But people can have a lot more freedom economically, a lot more capacity to afford their lives if they're not hanging underneath that medical debt. If we can bring $9 in from outside Iowa for every $1 of Iowa debt that is forgiven, that is a 10-to-1 return. It's a smart investment."

Sand attributed one of the reasons for the problems Iowa is going through to longtime one-party control.

"What you get is power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," he said. "When you give the same small number of people all the power, and they have it for 10 years, pretty soon they're not working for everybody. They're working for insiders and special interest groups. Me winning this race – a lot of that is about getting back to balance."

Sand knows if he is elected, he will work with a Republican-majority legislature. Therefore, he will not be able to get all of the things he wants. They will also not get everything they want. So, working together will be essential.

La Carreta was the second of three Marshalltown stops for Sand on Friday. After the discussion ended, he visited the Iowa Veterans Home, but shortly after getting to town earlier in the day, he toured JBS.

In the Nov. 3 general election, voters will decide whether Sand or his opponent, Republican candidate Zach Lahn, will become the next Iowa governor. Lahn announced a Marshalltown meet and greet event at Legends American Grill scheduled for Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.