Meet the candidates for Cresco Council/Mayor
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 1:09pm
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Those running for election for Cresco City government include:
• Mayor (Vote for no more than one)
Mark Kubik
Mark Bohle
• Council - 1st Ward (one)
Alex Fortune
• Council - 3rd Ward (one)
Jan. M. Carman
• Council - At-Large (one)
David J. Brenno
Questions asked included:
What assets do you bring to city government?
What are the challenges facing (your town), and how would you address them?
What are the best features of (your town)?
What goals do you have?
Cresco Mayor
Mark Bohle
• Assets: I have been mayor for 10 years and have a strong financial background. I have been in the community of Cresco for over 40 years and have always been involved with the community
• Challenges: All communities of any size, including Cresco, have the same challenges in Iowa; how to do more with less. Infrastructure (sewer, water, streets) needs to be constantly maintained and improved while burdened with more costly environmental regulations. These are funded by road use taxes and utility billings and not by property taxes.
Continuing to provide services for our citizens (police, fire, parks, library and fitness center) is a constant challenge, all of which are funded by property taxes. We deal with the uncertainty each year of what the State of Iowa may decide to do regarding how our property taxes are allotted, i.e, make a change in valuations and/or assessments, which can change what is received by our city and county to run our departments. It is important to be in contact with our legislators to provide feedback to them on items that may affect our community.
Continued improvements in the city are needed to continue to attract people to our city. The fitness center needs updating; it has been a huge boon to our community for many years, and we want that to continue. Our school also has some needs for improvements to continue to serve Cresco and surrounding areas well for future generations.
Low interest rates have helped the city to continue with improvements and equipment updates for the past 10 years. Of course the struggle is to avoid increasing property taxes to fund these improvements. The City has done very well in budgeting to keep the city’s finances strong while maintaining our short and long term agenda over the years.
• Best feature: Our people are the best feature of our community. We are always able to come together for large community events to promote our community. Cresco is a great place to live. We have great parks, plus a fine fitness center, along with walking trails. Our theater is another draw to our community, with movies and other live entertainment becoming more frequent. We have a great library. The police and fire departments are constantly working to make our citizens safe and are great assets to our community.
The Howard County fairground is also a great asset for our community with year-round facilities for use and, of course, The Mighty Howard County Fair that is held annually the last full week of June.
• My goals are commensurate with the City Council and staff to serve our community. Constantly, we are working on and will continue to work on nuisance properties and providing more housing that is needed in the community. This will allow more people to be able to live and work here in Cresco. We will continue to plan for today and the future. We want our community to continue to grow.
Cresco Mayor
Mark Kubik
• Assets: Being a business owner for 13 years and a county supervisor for four years has taught me a great deal about finances and also working within a budget. I’ve always felt that government should be run like a business, utilizing the taxpayer dollars appropriately. That is why it is so important to work within the budget and make cuts where necessary.
It’s also going to take a great deal of commitment to work with city officials to make sure the needs of the taxpayers are met.
• Challenges: As most of us know, maintaining the infrastructure, such as street maintenance, sewer and water lines, can come at a hefty cost to the taxpayer. The question I hear a lot is, “Why are my taxes so high, and will it continue to increase annually?” The answer is “Yes” to both. Unfortunately with the rising cost of material and labor to maintain our infrastructure is on the rise, it’s solely up to the residence and business owners to absorb those costs.
To address these issues, it will take the mayor, city council and city clerk much discussion to achieve these problems. Your tax dollars are spent on our hospital, school, and city entities, and we should feel blessed at what we have in our community. All I can say is that I will do the best of my ability to make sure I’m doing right for our city.
• Best features: By far the people are. I enjoy stopping and talking to people and hearing what’s going on in their lives or just waving as we pass by each other.
Two points I would like to address is that we have a state-of-the-art hospital right here in our community and bring forth excellent health care needs for us and our families. The other is I am proud to be a 1984 graduate from Crestwood High School and do hear many great ideas coming in the near future and to the teaching staff on a fantastic job they are doing to educate our future leaders.
• Goals: I want to make a difference in our community, which means we all have to work together to make Cresco prosper and a place we can all call home. I do see many great ideas coming to life, such as home and property improvements, not to mention what downtown businesses have been doing to beautify their stores inside and out. With your vote we can strive for a better future for us and generations to come.
1st Ward
Alex Fortune
Assets: I have served on various committees throughout the city since moving back in 2008. I currently serve as the appointed Ward 1 City Council representative, and as an active member of the Cresco Theatre Commission since 2012.
In my time with the Theatre Commission, I have contributed to the remodel of the lobby, Champlin Hall, the renovation of the auditorium, as well as led the marquee renovation. I was also on the commission when the city began managing the day-to-day operations versus a private rental company running it and have worked with the commission and the city in reducing the deficit in the budget to bring the theatre and its operations closer to profitability.
I am on the board of directors for my family’s company - Upper Iowa Tool and Die, and with that experience I can bring another perspective with business sense to the council.
• Challenges: Several challenges are things like infrastructure concerns, how to continue to grow the City and how you provide for its current and future citizens, while still keeping it affordable to live in this great town.
The best way I can explain how to address them is financial responsibility and long-term planning. We cannot fix everything overnight but having a course of action that is not only fair to the tax payers while still producing results is essential to the stability of our town.
• Best features: I moved here from a suburb of Des Moines in 2008. It was fast-paced. It was city living. After moving here, the hardest thing to understand is things move at a different pace here, people are friendly, at 5 p.m. at night it is quiet in town. While Cresco may be a smaller community, the recreational/social outlets (things like bike trails, snowmobile trails, cross country skiing, our fitness center, an affordable movie theatre that produces live entertainment as well as regular showing of movies) are that of a much larger city. Cresco and Howard County for that matter have so much to offer in amenities that most don’t realize.
• Goals: To continue the growth of our community for years to come while preserving what makes Cresco unique. I want to help present responsible spending to the tax payers while not reducing services and to continue enhancing quality of life. It’s our community and I want everyone to be proud to call it home.
3rd Ward
Jan Carman
• Assets: I served on the Howard Winneshiek Community School Board for nine years before serving the last seven years on Cresco City Council. I have been involved in several influential decisions both while serving on the school board and the city council. I am knowledgeable regarding the budget process and how the budget works. I not only make decisions that are fiscally responsible, but do acknowledge that we each have our own opinions and reason for voting the way that we do.
• Challenges: We need affordable housing for moderate level income families. We as a Council are addressing that issue now, as we develop the trailer park that the City recently acquired and let out proposals for renovation. There are also many job opportunities in Cresco that we need to fill by attracting families to our community — where their children will also attend our schools.
• Best features: Our clinic/hospital, schools, fitness center, library, theatre, bike trail, volunteer fire department, various groups, the banks and the many great businesses that we have in Cresco. All the volunteers we have in our community. Everyone is community-minded and willing to help out when-ever it is needed and with whomever is in need. I feel Cresco is a welcoming community — we look out for each other. We have small-town values.
• Goals: To continue to be fiscally responsible, to be involved in community activities/events and to help make Cresco the best place to live, work and grow.
At-Large
David J. Brenno
• Assets: I feel that I’m very open-minded when it comes to making decisions. I like to consider all options before making a decision. I was involved with city government in Ridgeway, Iowa for over 20 years, and I’m finishing my fourth year on City Council in Cresco. I’ve learned a lot. That experience helps a lot when making decisions, and planning for the future.
• Challenges: Planning and executing the budget is always a challenge.
The DNR is making cities in Iowa update their sewer plants. The estimate to update the sewer plant in Cresco is around $5,000,000. This will be a huge project. There may be grants available, but that is no guarantee.
Keeping our streets updated is also a financial challenge. There are very few companies that produce cement and build streets in this area, so the price to replace streets can be elevated. The cost to replace one city block of a street appears to grow every year.
In addressing these challenges, we have to be very careful (financially) when choosing which project to address. Increasing the tax burden to residents is an option. In my eyes, it is the last option. Nobody on the current City Council likes to increase the City’s Property Tax levy. Also, if we choose to cut money out of the budget, we also risk cutting services that residents rely on. It is a delicate balance.
• Best features: Cresco is a beautiful city in the Northeast Iowa, Southeast Minnesota area. We are lucky to have the fitness center today. Many similar communities haven’t been able to do the same.
The Cresco Theatre is a “one of a kind” venue. You would have to drive a long way to find such a unique, beautiful theatre. The Cresco Public Library is also a great place for many things.
The City of Cresco also has a great group of dedicated employees. They help make this City a great place to live and work.
The City of Cresco is fortunate to have groups of great people that serve on our various boards: Parks, Library, and so on.
The Cresco Fire Department is also a huge asset for us. I think that it is wonderful that these people take the time to help make Cresco a better place to live.
• Goals: Adding new housing in Cresco has been a continuing goal. I’m excited to have a new housing development started where one of the trailer courts used to be. This will be a great addition to the City of Cresco.
Bringing new businesses to town is also an on-going goal for the City. The Cresco Chamber and Howard County Economic Development are always looking for new opportunities. They are a great resource for people looking to start new businesses.
I am looking forward to serving the residents of Cresco for four more years. I hope that each new year is better than the previous.
