Jefferson voters will elect three persons to four-year terms on the city council in the Nov. 2 election.
Five candidates are on the ballot: incumbents Harry Ahrenholtz, Darren Jackson and Pat Zmolek; and challengers Heath Enns and Mark Wright. All five participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Jefferson Rotary Club Oct 19. Rotarian Rick Morain was moderator. About 25 persons attended the forum in person, and another 30 watched a livestream of the event provided by Sebourn Video Services as a public service.
Each candidate introduced himself and told his reasons for running.
Pat Zmolek is a 1982 Jefferson high school graduate. He attended college and began his career in agriculture. He and his wife Jennifer returned to Jefferson 17 years ago. They have three adult children and one grandchild.
He was elected to the city council two years ago to fill the remainder of (now) mayor Matt Gordon’s council term. He serves on the council’s police, finance, and building committees.
He said he’s running because he has enjoyed his two years on the council. “I think Jefferson is a great place to live and I really would like to help be part of moving the town forward and making it a great place to live and raise a family,” Zmolek said.
Heath Enns grew up in Storm Lake and graduated from high school there in 2007. He graduated from Western Iowa Tech Community College in 2009 and was soon hired as a patrol officer by the Jefferson police department. He worked as a fulltime JPD officer and part-time as a deputy in the Greene and Boone sheriff’s offices until 2016. He was promoted to sergeant in the JPD in 2015, and then to captain in 2016. He resigned from the JPD in August 2020 to become a fulltime Greene County sheriff’s deputy.
He and his wife Addison have two daughters.
He said that as a JPD captain he worked with Jefferson city officials on many issues and was on the council’s law enforcement committee.
He said he’s running for the council because “I want to be sure our tax dollars are being utilized and distributed in the best possible way and, most importantly, responsibly.”
He said he wants to be a voice for residents about how city tax dollars are spent and to be an advocate for citizens.
Mark Wright graduated from Jefferson Community High School in 1978. He and his wife Janelle have two married daughters and four grandchildren.
He said he’d like to be on the council to see where tax dollars are being spent and to be sure they’re spent wisely. “I’m not going to be beholden to anybody except you people in Jefferson,” he said. I do have some opinions on various things, on how the city has spent money in several ways, and I’ll let that be known as those things come about.”
He has not served on a board before, but is an elder at the Church of Christ in Jefferson.
Harry Ahrenholtz grew up in Shelby County. He began his career in the ag industry after graduating from Iowa State University. He lived in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas before coming back to Iowa in 2001. He and his wife Carol have lived in Jefferson since then. They have three grown sons, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
He is completing his second term on the council. He has been on the council’s finance, housing, wage and benefits, and street/water/sewer committees, as well as a member of the Greene County Development Corporation board.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be a participant in a number of projects the city has had, some of them big projects. I’m proud to have been part of them,” he said.
He’s running for a third term because he wants to be part of projects that are now under way, and to be part of a council that captures opportunities coming to Jefferson. He called the council a catalyst for getting projects moving in a good direction. “I’m proud of what we’ve done, but there’s a lot more to do, and that’s why I put my name on the ballot again.”
Darren Jackson graduated from high school in Applington. He teaches American history and English at Greene County High School. He served on the Grand Junction city council before moving to Jefferson. He was first appointed to the Jefferson council in April 2019 following the resignation of Larry Teeples. He was elected to complete the remaining portion of that term in a special election called by voters two months later.
He is an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson and has been part of several volunteer community activities.
He said he’s running because he enjoys working with many people who have a strong interest in moving Jefferson forward. “There’s a great force of people out there that want to keep Jefferson growing with the times rather than bemoan the changes and weep about it used to be. I want to be part of that group,” he said.
Moderator Morain asked the first question. He named several projects that have been mentioned in recent years/months, and asked candidates to name their priorities, or to name projects they wouldn’t support.
Jackson answered first. He said every project Morain named – resurfacing Lincoln Way from Elm St to Grimmell Rd; the animal shelter/dog park; upgrades at the library, water plant, wastewater treatment plant, add more bike trails, development of the 3-Block project; sidewalks on Westwood Drive and on Lincoln Way west of Grimmell Rd – was viable. He said he’s particularly interested in the animal shelter, and he’d like to see sidewalks on both sides of Chestnut St south of Russell St to the middle school. He noted that the upgrades at the water and wastewater plants and a possible library project are all moving forward. “I’m glad to see these things moving on and hopefully they’re all completed and we have new things to talk about,” he said.
Ahrenholtz agreed with Jackson and noted the council’s prioritization of projects. He said he’d like to develop a priority plan for city infrastructure that would include streets, sewer, sidewalks, and the water treatment plant. He said an evaluation of the water plant is being done due to a number of recent maintenance issues. He said he’d like to make the water plant viable for 25 years rather than doing 6-month fixes. He said the wastewater upgrade is a priority because the city is not in compliance with current regulations. He named work of the finance committee and the new finance policy as something that will help the council and staff plan better and match priorities to funds available.
Zmolek put completing the animal shelter, and then the wastewater and water treatment plant, “and really understanding what that means financially to the city and how that will impact us going forward.” He echoed Ahrenholtz’s statements on a multi-year plan for infrastructure improvements.
Enns named the water and wastewater treatment plants as his top priorities. “I want to make sure the funding the funding we have is going to take care of what we need,” he said. “No one when they drive by a water plant says how nice it looks, but it needs to be paid for and it needs to be done.”
He said he knows the need for a new animal shelter and he’d like to help get it finished.
He compared the city of Jefferson to a house, saying he’d want to make sure the furnace is up and running and paid for before buying a 75-inch television for the living room. “It wouldn’t make sense to have a fancy TV in the living room if you couldn’t afford to heat the house,” he said.
Wright said he agrees with maintenance work, particularly with catching problems early. He said he’s unsure about the need for a new animal shelter, and questioned how many dogs and cats are housed on a monthly basis. He said he’d like to know more about the cost for the animal shelter and said he hadn’t heard a cost, except for “numbers thrown out.” “The numbers I’ve heard are large. For as big as they are, we have people building homes in Jefferson for the same money. That doesn’t make sense to me… If we need a new one (shelter), fine, look around and see who can do it well and who can do it cheaply. I don’t see the sense of building a Taj Mahal for a dog shelter.”
Cindy Wise asked the first question from the audience. She addressed the city council July 27 about a transgender biological male using the women’s side of the bath house at the city pool. Since then, the park and recreation board has researched ways to provide private, gender neutral accommodations at the pool…..
“How do you feel about providing the public with private, gender neutral bathroom facilities at the swimming pool or elsewhere in the community if the need arises, especially where children are primarily served?” Wise asked the candidates.
Wright responded first. “First of all,” he said, “I’m completely against the term ‘transgender.’ The Bible states that an individual that engages in that kind of act is an abomination… The New Testament speaks also that homosexuality or anything of that nature…. Is an abomination and it’s a sin.
“Absolutely I would be opposed to anybody going into a female restroom and opening themselves up to that. I would not be for that. I wouldn’t want my daughters, granddaughters, anybody to step inside that. The reverse is also true. I’d think the same way for the female aspect as well… I was told the legislature handles all that, so I wouldn’t be opposed to looking at that differently as well,” Wright said.
Enns agreed with Wright, saying he is totally against his daughters being in a bathroom with “transgenders.” He said of there were a way to create a third bathroom he’d “be all for that.”
Zmolek said the city council must follow all laws and ordinances and that his personal opinion doesn’t matter on this issue. He said that “if we would all just take a step back, let us work on this for awhile, we can find a suitable solution.”
Ahrenholtz said the council wants all city facilities to be “welcoming, safe, and convenient.” He said gender neutral restrooms would address the issue. “I also know that when we do these things we have to be non-discriminatory in our ordinances and comply with state and federal laws. Right now that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Jackson also said the city must follow the law. “I think it’s good when citizens see a problem and they want to point it out. I think it’s also great when there are solutions,” he said.
He praised park and recreation board president Tracy Deal and JPRD director Denny Hammen for coming up with a solution. Gender-neutral bathrooms would be made in the existing bath house without designating them as being for transgender people. Transgender people would have an option to use them, just like anyone else who wanted privacy.
Denny Scheuerman asked candidates if they would have their phone numbers listed on the recycling magnets. Jackson immediately provided his mobile phone number: 515-370-3951. Ahrenholtz and Zmolek both said their phone numbers are in the Jefferson telephone book.
Enns said that residents could call him on his mobile phone and he agreed with posting it publicly. “Your voice is what we should be bringing to the table. If we have something on the agenda we need to bring your voice to, we need to hear it,” he said.
Morain asked if making his phone number public would be a problem with his job in law enforcement. “Typically it’s not good to have your phone number out if you’re in law enforcement, but I feel so connected with the community that I do give it,” Enns answered.
Wright said he would be okay with publicizing his phone number. He said he has never called a council person, but he’d encourage people to step forward and contact them. “I think there should be something set up where the councilmen meet with the community at some point and time on a regular basis anyway,” he continued.
GreeneCountyNewsOnline asked for a brief update on the library project and how far the city should go in funding such a community improvement project.
Jackson is an ex officio member of the library board. He said a feasibility study is being done and an architect is meeting with a focus group of library patrons to determine whether a new library should be built or the current library expanded. He said all options are open except demolishing the Carnegie portion of the library.
Jackson said he could never vote for razing the Carnegie building.
Zmolek agreed that the Carnegie building will remain, but until the feasibility study is done and there are costs to consider, he has no opinion on what the city should spend or not spend.
Ahrenholtz said when a project is designed the city should leverage local funds with grants, and he used the animal shelter as an example of utilizing fundraising with city funds. Regarding the library, he said, “If it’s the right thing to do, we will find the money to do it by all the sources that are available.”
Wright said he didn’t know of the discussion of library expansion and that he doesn’t use the library.
Enns said he doesn’t have enough information to have an opinion on a library project, but that he’d like to learn more. “I’m all about doing whatever we can do to better that library financially, the way it’s designed, whatever it needs. I’m very much for it. We just need to figure out the logistics behind it.”
Morain asked candidates if they have an opinion on the casino referendum vote, noting that Wild Rose provides $140,000 in revenue to the city as well as paying property taxes.
“I’ve never been for the casino in Jefferson and I’m still not,” Wright answered. He questioned if the casino funds are “going to help the taxpayers of Jefferson, or are they going to fund these pet projects like painting sidewalks and these things out here that really have no impact on the people of Jefferson who are paying the taxes?” he asked.
He said he has seen no benefit to the community. “It’s done nothing but been a place for drugs, for activity out there this community never had before,” he said, adding that he often sees law enforcement vehicles in the Wild Rose parking lot.
Enns said any development would bring extra eyes and extra travel. He said from his perspective in law enforcement there was a rise in crime, and people they wouldn’t have to deal with if it weren’t for the casino.
“That being said, there’s the good and the bad. Obviously the good is the money that comes in, the $140,000 that comes into our community, not to mention what comes in to surrounding communities that get a chunk of it as well. I’m okay with it being there, but I’m not a gambler. You won’t see me in there,” Enns said.
He also said he’d like to see more of how Grow Greene County operates with the money it disburses, and that law enforcement has not received as much funding as anticipated.
Zmolek called Wild Rose “a great asset to the community, not only financially for Greene County and the other communities around, but it’s been nice to have an extra hotel there and the facilities are great.”
Ahrenholtz called the casino “a big economic driver,” noting that the money that comes directly to the city is small share of the revenue that was granted by the casino. He said casino funding has helped the Jefferson PD maintain a staff of eight officers, and that tax dollars coming from the casino and Cobblestone Inn are “significant.”
Jackson said he gives “full throated support for the casino.” He seldom gambles there, “but every time I go into work at the high school, that’s one of the benefits, a boon to our community…. It’s unfortunate when people who shouldn’t be gambling are, but then it could be asked if we need to close Doc’s (Stadium) down… People will find their recreation wherever… “
The candidates each made brief closing statements.
Jackson started. He said a goal of all the council has done is to attract young families and entrepreneurs to Jefferson. “I want to be a part of all the good volunteers and the good people who are part of our community,” he said.
Ahrenholtz said if he’s re-elected he would be part of the ongoing effort to keep moving the city forward. “Forward motion is where we now, but we can’t take our foot off the gas. I’m committed to help enable, recognize, reward our dedicated city workers… and volunteers,” he said. “I really do believe we can make this city better than what it is today.”
Wright repeated that he’s not beholden to anybody but the people who pay taxes. “I think we need to be in better communication with the people in Jefferson about how we are spending our money. The communication, in my opinion, has not been there… I want to reaffirm that I’m going to be here for the person that pays the taxes….”
Enns said that along with moving the city forward and being a good steward of tax dollars, “I want to make the city of Jefferson as an employer a desirable place to work as well. The city of Jefferson has many employees on the payroll, and I’ve believe it’s a much better use of tax dollars to keep these experienced and knowledgeable employees happy by providing them competitive wages and benefits,” he said.
Zmolek wrapped up the forum by encouraging people to be in touch with council members and to use the open forum portion of each meeting. “There’s a lot of stuff going on and it’s good to hear opinions, so please give those…. I’ve enjoyed being on the council. Jefferson is a great place to live and I’d like to have the opportunity to keep it moving forward.”
