Keokuk, IA – Residents have eight days to decide who should represent them on the Keokuk City Council. Due to a few resignations, seven of the panel's nine seats are up for grabs.
Three of those seats will eventually feature new members as a trio of incumbents chose not to seek another term in office. Two other races feature challenged incumbents, including the 1st ward.
Two men believe they are the best choice to serve its residents on the Keokuk City Council.
Incumbent Mike O'Connor and challenger John Helenthal want the opportunity to serve Keokuk's southeast side.
The 1st ward stretches from Main Street to Grand Avenue and from the Mississippi River and North 9th Street. It also includes a stretch of land east of Grand Avenue.
Mike O'Connor moved to Keokuk after 30+ years as a peace officer in California. He has represented the first ward on the city council for the last four years.
O'Connor chairs the panel's police and code revision sub-committees. He says that experience is needed with so many new members set to join the council.
"There is obviously going to be a learning curve for newly elected officials," says O'Connor, "and I think now is the time to look at experience and performance."
O'Connor wants to make Keokuk a better place than it was when he came to town.
John Helenthal wants to do the same thing. He moved into Keokuk's 1st ward after living throughout the region his entire life.
Helenthal wants to follow in the footsteps of his father and great uncle as both men served on the Keokuk City Council. He says his neighbors convinced him to run sooner than he planned.
"I started getting hints from the neighbors," says Helenthal. "(They said) we really need someone with the spirit and drive that you have so I thought about it for a bit. They kept pushing and pushing before finally saying, What's holding you up let's go.'"
Helenthal says he would bring a sense of leadership and a willingness to listen to the Keokuk City Council.
O'Connor and Helenthal each say the biggest challenge facing Keokuk is the multi-year, multi-million dollar sewer separation project. Keokuk is currently working with two other Southeast Iowa cities to reduce the scope of their overflow prevention projects or to secure more time to complete the work.
O'Connor says the city is taking the right approach. "I applaud the mayor's stance to not sign a consent decree admitting to something that there is not any standard for."
Helenthal says there is another serious challenge facing Keokuk: its appearance. He says city leaders must do everything possible to encourage people to clean their properties and to help others do the same.
Helenthal says Keokuk must also avoid aiding in the creation of eyesores such as the dirt piles on the land in Tolmie Park the city sold to a potential developer. He says more questions should be asked in situations like that.
"Do they have the ability to pay for it? Just like a bank, can you repay this loan if we give it to you? Can you follow through? If we give you this property, sell it to you, or give you these breaks, can you actually fulfill this contract and do what you say you can do?"
Both men say economic development and business retention are crucial to Keokuk's present and future.
O'Connor says a group of financial investors should be brought together to try to secure the land needed for a second industrial park. He says the city must also strive to add more quality-of-life amenities.
Helenthal says the city needs to promote itself to current and potential businesses and industries. "We need to promote the fact that we have a lower cost of living," says Helenthal, "so maybe we can attract some of these businesses to come in. We are in the center of the U.S.A. so it is not like we are sitting off in left field and hard to get to."
Helenthal and O'Connor say K.E.D.C. should receive public funding, when warranted. They also believe the street reconstruction project should continue as long as Keokuk is getting a good return on investment.
Another issue sure to come up before the Keokuk City Council is the hiring of a new city administrator. The city's last, and only, administrator left the job after only a couple of months to take a new job in New Jersey.
O'Connor says past experiences have not changed his opinion on the position. "I think that the complexities of modern day government just necessitate someone who has been trained, educated, and experienced in those areas of complex government."
Helenthal says he opposed hiring another administrator, at first, but has started to change his mind about the position. He says if another management-type employee is added, then the mayor's position should be reduced to part time.
Incumbent Mike O'Connor and challenger John Helenthal feel they have the leadership, passion, and desire needed to represent the 1st ward on the Keokuk City Council. They feel they will make the right decisions on the issues discussed already and others that are sure to come up: Main Street traffic signals, the Keokuk/Hamilton rail bridge, the privatizing of certain city services.
It will be up to voters, though, to decide who gave the best answers and earned a four-year term on the Keokuk City Council.