MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- In one of the most crowded races in many years, Maquoketa Mayor Tom Messerli faces three men who want his job. Piles of rubble from a fire nearly two years ago still blacken half a city block and are a major reason for the large slate of candidates seeking to lead the city.
Mayoral candidates (two-year terms) include:
* Incumbent Tom Messerli, 48, president and chief engineer of Empire Broadcasting.
Family: Sheri Melvold and two children.
Lived in town: 25 years.
Previous elected office: Eight years as mayor.
Top priorities? I've got projects, like the downtown cleanup and some street projects, that I've started and I'd like to see finished, even though some people think the city didn't start on the fire cleanup fast enough. I want to make sure we take care of our existing businesses and not just go out a get new ones that won't be here in two or three years.
Biggest challenge? The down economy. People expect a certain level of services, but we won't have the same level of tax revenue as in the past.
* Paul
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Family: Wife, Rosemary, and five grown children.
Lived in town: 32 years.
Previous elected office: City councilman for four years (has been off for two years).
Top priorities? Get our downtown back in shape by beating the bushes for money to get businesses downtown and stepping up our recruitment efforts. Build our economic base, not just by adding more retail, but with companies that will hire folks at a decent wage.
Biggest challenge? Maintaining fiscal solvency. The city is OK right now with comfortable reserves, but the state cutbacks will trickle down and make things darned tight in the future.
* Jason Hute, 38, state correctional counselor at Anamosa State Penitentiary.
Family: Wife, Nicole, and two elementary school children.
Previous elected position: Serving first four-year term on City Council.
Top priorities? After the fire site is cleaned up, the downtown should be updated and revitalized following a Streetscape program design. We meed to complete the South Main Street Trail, both as a safety issue and as an attraction. Because Maquoketa is growing to the south, we need to fix up 17th Street to the new residential area out there.
Biggest challenge? The economy. We haven't felt it heavily here yet, but it's coming, especially after the recent state cuts. We need to give our economic development people a clearer understanding of what we want to bring to town.
* Jim Seward, 41, licensed mental health counselor with a practice in Maquoketa.
Family: Wife, Amy, and two elementary school children.
Lived in town: Five years.
Previous elected office: None.
Top priorities? Clean up the downtown rubble -- two years (of it being there) is ridiculous and irresponsible. We could have pooled our street money and the funds for the new fire station and cleaned up all that garbage a long time ago.
Biggest challenge? Our overall prosperity is down and there are a lot of hard-working people out of jobs. We need to get jobs here -- it doesn't matter if it's retail or high-tech. They are out there if you just know where to look.
