Forum topics vary Monday night

By WES KAPPELMAN

OSKALOOSA — More than 50 people crowded the Mahaska County Extension Office’s auditorium on Monday night as county and state candidates answered questions during the Oskaloosa Herald and KBOE’s 2008 Candidate Forum.

The forum began with opening comments from all candidates, followed by three to four questions for each candidate. There were also questions from the audience and closing comments.

The Communication Research Institute of William Penn University recorded the forum, which was played live and will be replayed Thursdays on MCG until Election Day.

A breakdown of the candidates responses during the forum are listed below.



IOWA HOUSE DISTRICT 75

PALMER v. CARROLL

Economic development was a central them in the debate between Incumbent Democratic state Rep. Eric Palmer and Republican Danny Carroll.

Palmer mentioned numerous times that the state’s bond rating increased to AAA recently. He also said repeatedly there needs to be a focus on high-tech jobs, and presented Google and Microsoft as examples of recent success. He also said the state is a leader in alternative energy, specifically wind power, which also produces high-tech jobs in Iowa. Palmer said he supports REAP and CAT and programs that build trails.

Carroll, who had been the district’s representative before Palmer, said the Legislature needs to continue to work hard to create an environment for well-paying jobs.

In particular, Carroll was against challenging Iowa’s Right to Work Law, which allows workers to not join unions. Carroll said that undermining that law was chasing jobs from Iowa. He also said that the Legislature did not pass a rebate stimulus for small businesses.

The discussion shifted to the state budget.

Palmer said the Iowa House had presented balanced budgets; however, some projects may need to be delayed, like replacing a state office building and building a new state prison.

Carroll said the Democrats in the House have used one-time sources of funds to balance the budget. He also said the Legislature has exceeded a 99 percent limit of expenditures to revenue.

The candidates also fielded questions from the audience.

In response to a question from the audience, Palmer said he had never voted to overturn Iowa’s Right to Work law and that he does not plan to. Carroll said that Palmer had supported in a committee a plan to force someone to pay union dues when they were not in the union.

Palmer was also questioned by an audience member about accepting contributions from out-of-state gay activists and whether that was inline with representing family values. In response, Palmer said he has been married to the same woman for 18 years and voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act. He said if a contribution is legal, he accepts it. He also said that Newt Gingrich is contributing more than a $1 million to races in the Iowa Legislature.

Carroll argued that the out-of-state contributors donated to Palmer’s campaign because Palmer agrees with them. Carroll said people should vote on the issue of gay marriage and he would not leave it in the hands of judges.

Looking to the future, Carroll said he hopes to see Iowa No. 1 in population growth and education in 10 years. Palmer said he wants to put the Agriprocessors model behind Iowa and move toward high-tech and high-wage jobs in the next 10 years while continuing to focus on education.



IOWA SENATE DISTRICT 38

RIELLY v. HADLEY

Incumbent Democratic state Sen. Tom Rielly and Republican challenger Michael Hadley gave their views on state government and financial issues.

Rielly said he has helped create jobs in bioeconomy and supported education at all levels, including early childhood education, and he is making efforts on rebuilding roads and bridges. He also said he has worked across party lines on a number of projects.

Hadley said he was the stewardship candidate and said that he thinks that energy was the trigger for the banking problems. He said that the world and Oskaloosa is going to change due to the current economic problems.

Hadley said managing the state’s budget will take conservative thinking. He said cutting spending would be necessary to avoid raising taxes. He said the last Legislature tried to give unions more latitude and give large raises to city employees, noting that the governor vetoed both proposals.

Rielly said that the Legislature has taken steps to meet 18 of the 19 priorities set out by the state auditor to watch spending. He said that from 1996 to 2001, revenue exceeded expenses by 5 percent. He said that changed after 2001 because the economy went into recession and taxes were cut without also cutting spending.

Rielly said he supports Vision Iowa and CAT and expanding affordable and universal health care. He said he will also work to make higher education more affordable.

Hadley said that he would return control of schools to local communities.



MAHASKA COUNTY SHERIFF

DEGEEST v. ADAMS

Incumbent Democratic Sheriff Paul DeGeest and Republican challenger Deputy Richard Adams gave their visions of they would run the sheriff’s office if elected.

DeGeest said when he took over as sheriff there was not a great deal of change that needed to take place. He continued the transition to 4-wheel drive vehicles and said his goal was to run an efficient office. DeGeest said he has applied for a grant to install a camera system at North Mahaska and has recently installed new systems in the Mahaska County Courthouse and law enforcement center.

Adams said one thing he would do as sheriff would be to add more patrols during the night. He said that 60 percent of manpower are spent on days and 30 percent are at night. Adams also said that more day cars need to be marked to increase presence and eliminate perceptions of misuse of vehicles.

There was a question from the audience about issuing concealed weapon permits.

DeGeest said he issues permits with restrictions on carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle or a grocery store. He said he also has a responsibility to protect people that don’t carry weapons. Adams said he would probably issue more permits, which won’t be valid while consuming alcohol or illegal drugs.



IOWA SENATE DISTRICT 36

MCKINLEY

Incumbent Republican state Sen. Paul McKinley’s opponent was not present at the forum, so he had the stage to himself.

McKinley said this would be an election of great consequences. He said the biggest problems facing the state were runaway spending, a hostile environment for business and education stagnation by spending funds on fads.

McKinley said too much money is being spent on personnel in the state’s departments and special education spending could be cut by targeting first-graders more effectively. McKinley also said that the state’s income tax is too high.

McKinley said Iowa needs its assets marketed, which he stated as safety, quality of life and family values.

McKinley said if government programs were the answer to taking care of the economy, than Michigan would be among the nation’s strongest economies.



MAHASKA COUNTY SUPERVISOR

WILLIE VAN WEELDEN

Incumbent Mahaska County Supervisor Willie Van Weelden gave his views on issues facing the county such as road maintenance and economic development.

Van Weelden said the county has placed 167,000 tons of rock this year for county roads, which is up from the average of 100,000 tons per year. He said one problem is that more produce leaves farms in semis and there is more semi truck traffic on the counties roads. He said he is looking into embargoes on some roads from semi use and possibly closing some roads.

Van Weelden said the county needs to think regionally for economic development and it is important to work with neighboring communities.

He said the county needs to continue to take advantage of opportunities.

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