Keokuk, IA – City elections are less than one week away in Keokuk. Residents must decide who should fill seven of nine seats on the city council.
The choices are limited, though, as just three of the seven races are contested. The most crowded field is for a two-year term as an alderman at-large on the Keokuk City Council.
Bill Olmsted served as alderman-at-large until April 2008 when he left to serve as a pastor in the Irish Methodist Church. Mark Hoyt was appointed to the post, two months later, but has decided not to run to fill out the remaining two years in the term.
Four men would like the opportunity to be the third person to fill the seat in the last 18 months. They are Brian Barnes, Lonnie McCarty, Brandon Parsons, and Daniel Winn.
Brian Barnes did not reply to repeated requests for an interview for this story.
Lonnie McCarty is a self-employed small business owner who wants to give back to the city that has given him so much.
"I started my business with absolutely nothing," says McCarty, "and over the course of a 10-year period, I have watched my business grow. I think that I want to do the same and try to help the city do the same on a larger scale."
McCarty says he would be persistent, as a council member, in looking for ways to help Keokuk grow and prosper.
Brandon Parsons says the key to Keokuk's growing and prospering is establishing a pro-growth economy.
"I am going to push for the best economy we can have," says Parsons, "I will look at every line in the budget through the scope of common sense to see if it makes sense to the tax payer. Something has to make sense long-term. It can't be short term investments that make the council look good but do not do anything for the city."
Parsons is a delivery contractor for Fed Ex. He says infrastructure is the most important investment Keokuk can make during down economic times.
Daniel Winn works for Roquette America and is co-owner of Java River Coffeehouse in Keokuk. He says Keokuk has changed a great deal over the years.
Winn says he wants to help return the city to its "hey-day" in the 1970's, when business was booming up and down Keokuk's main street.
"I know what it is like to be an hourly shift worker and I know what it is like to own a small business," says Winn, "I can bring a unique perspective to the business market and know what it takes to bring jobs to Keokuk and to sustain jobs in Keokuk."
Winn says small businesses are the key to Keokuk's growth. That sentiment is echoed by the other two candidates.
The trio also agree that the city's street reconstruction program must continue and that no more traffic signals should be removed from downtown Keokuk at this time. When it comes to improving Keokuk's appearance, Daniel Winn, Brandon Parsons, and Lonnie McCarty all have different ideas.
Winn says the city should require all commercial building owners to carry insurance to try to avoid a repeat of the collapse of the former Green Tambourine building.
"Whether we have to no one likes to see new city ordinances," says Winn, "but I think that is one that is very important. (The city needs) to make sure the business owners along Main Street have insurance on their properties so if something catastrophic does happen there is insurance on that building to maintain it or clean it up if we have to."
Brandon Parsons says Keokuk should offer a tax incentive to residents who make improvements to their homes.
"I really think that we could set a program up that you could get a credit on your city taxes at the end of the year," says Parsons, "for cleaning up your yard, painting your house, installing new windows, any type of modifications that you do that you can prove you did to improve that property."
Lonnie McCarty says the city can encourage people to take more pride in the appearance of Keokuk.
"It's not just 9 council men or a mayor or city hall that's going to make Keokuk a better place," says McCarty, "it's going to take all the citizens In Keokuk to come together. There is strength in numbers and we need to come together as a community."
Daniel Winn, Lonnie McCarty, and Brandon Parsons agree that Keokuk does not need another city administrator and are split on the future of the Keokuk/Hamilton railroad bridge.
Winn says the city should sell the bridge but try to keep the observation deck. McCarty says the city should keep the bridge while Parsons says he would need more information and revenue figures before making a determination.
The winner of the race between Brian Barnes, Lonnie McCarty, Brandon Parsons, and Daniel Winn will have to be able to hit the ground running. That is because Keokuk's newest alderman at-large will start their two year term once the votes cast Nov. 3 are made official by the Lee County Board of Supervisors.