City election signals end of Carter era

By ANDY GOODELL

OSKALOOSA — There’s no doubt the most heated race in Oskaloosa’s city elections Tuesday night concerned two at-large seats.

At-large incumbents Janet VanDerBeek and Jimmy Carter each lost their seats to newcomers Tom Walling and Scottie Moore. VanDerBeek earned 308 votes, while Carter had 556. Moore received 1,516 votes and Walling 1,294.

“It was a tough campaign,” said Carter Tuesday night at the Mahaska County Courthouse just after preliminary voting totals were announced from the auditor’s office.

Carter has continuously served on the Oskaloosa City Council since the mid-1980s. He issued the following statement to the Herald Wednesday morning.

“First and foremost, I want to thank the Lord for the opportunity He gave me to serve the Oskaloosa community as councilman at-large for 24-plus years. To my wife and family, words could not express all of my gratitude and love for the years of help and support. To those who have given me a word of encouragement and for your prayers, I say ‘thank you so very much,’” said Carter. “Through these years, I’ve always tried to serve with honesty, dignity and integrity. I hope, in some small way, the public has seen I did try to make a difference. Through the years, I’ve always considered it a privilege the voters had given me to serve them. To that I’m grateful and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Carter concluded by looking hopefully to the future.

“I look forward to see all of our streets paved, our taxes lowered and our tax base grown,” he said “May God give wisdom to our newly elected leaders.”

Voter favorite Scottie Moore was also on hand Tuesday evening, saying she was “pleasantly surprised” to have won an at-large seat. She also thanked those who worked on her campaign. She commented on the numerous letters to the editor praising her, which where published in recent issues of the Herald.

“I’m honored that people thought enough of me to send a letter,” she said.

Walling thanked voters, as well.

“I’m looking forward to it as a new challenge,” said Walling Tuesday.

In other Oskaloosa city election results, 1st Ward incumbent Aaron Ver Steeg narrowly beat out Jerry Ryken with 179 to Ryken’s 138 votes. Doug Yates earned the 3rd Ward seat in a landslide victory of 551 to 135 votes over incumbent Wesley Wills.

Lastly, Dave Krutzfeldt received 1,735 votes in his unopposed bid for Oskaloosa mayor.

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Herald City Editor Andy Goodell can be reached at news2@oskyherald.com

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