Integrity is the cornerstone of effective leadership. We, the public, depend on our local leaders to have integrity when setting policies, allocating resources, representing their personal interests with honesty and transparency because the decisions they are making have a direct impact on our lives. Their integrity influences public trust and encourages civic engagement. When our leaders display strong moral principles, they will resist favoritism, discrimination, the misuse of power, and strive for an equitable community.

Leaders with integrity will encourage us to participate in local government, attend meetings, voice our opinions, have a sense of shared purpose, and become motivated to volunteer in Marshalltown.

When integrity is lacking, we are less likely to participate. We feel our voices are not being heard, input ignored, and decisions made by leaders seem self-serving.

A recent mailing for Mike Ladehoff paid for by PAC states, “Let us make sure that everyone in Marshalltown feels heard and connected to our city. Mike” Unfortunately, I and others have had the opposite experience in dealing with Mike.

As co-founder for Splash 4 Life, I briefly sat on the design team for what was supposed to be a splashpad now the water plaza. After politely sharing concerns about safety, ADA compliance and cost, Mike rudely dismissed me from the design team. Mike has yelled at, lied to, lied about, bullied and publicly slandered our Splash team. This happened because I dared to speak after being told by Mike that I was not allowed to talk. I have been present when Mike has angrily stated that “neighbors need to just mind their own business” when asked about nuisance code enforcement in his ward. Due to his poor money management skills, a family member never received all their back pay after working for his now bankrupt business.

If you look at voting records, Schneider, president of Trails and employee of Marshalltown Companies has a history of not abstaining from voting when his personal interests arise. Ladehoff and Schneider usually push for amenities that benefit a select group rather than tackling our decaying infrastructure. Thompson’s record reflects wanting citizen involvement and making improvements to our infrastructure to benefit all of us.

If you want integrity brought back to our city government, responsible and equitable spending with a vision to move forward, vote for Thompson, McLain, and Bradbury. To quote Thompson — We need common sense solutions to complex problems.