Candidates seek party nominations in all three Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisor districts (AUDIO)

 

 

Click on the map above to see full view of new supervisors districts

 

 

MASON CITY — Voters in Cerro Gordo County will have a full ballot when they head to the polls for primary elections on Tuesday, with primary-level races in each of the three new supervisor districts. 

 

== District 1 features two incumbents running for the Republican nomination after being grouped into the same district after redistricting. Tim Latham and Chris Watts have each served six years on the supervisors.

Latham says he’s brought a lot to the table in the last six years with his development and business experience.  “I think we’ve gotten a lot more done than previous supervisors, not that they didn’t, but I believe my experience brings a lot of that to the table as far as the construction of the new centers, the development.”

Latham says his business experience has helped move the county forward in the last six years.  “I bring that to the table that I don’t believe any supervisor in a long time has brought to the table, and I think it shows in what we’ve done. There’s three of us and we work pretty well together, but I think my experience, and I don’t rush things, I do the due diligence and I make sure before, where I think sometimes Chris wants to rush things, and I don’t do that.”

Watts says he’s been interested in county government for more than just the six years he’s served as a supervisor and he thinks county government is on the right track. “The last six years, we’ve seen a lot of positives happen in Cerro Gordo County, anywhere from our road and bridge reconstruction projects to the new engineering facility for the road workers. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into it, and I have a lot of unfinished projects.”

Watts says he’s had a good interaction with the public when approached with issues.  “I listen to your concerns and then I take those concerns back. Anybody that knows me, if you’ve called me for a problem in the country, not only do I get the county engineer involved, but a lot of times you’ll see me out there with him, looking and learning. I do my homework. I go to the other boards that are not required of us so I can learn what’s coming before us eventually. I do my homework.”

The new First District includes all of Mason City’s Third Ward, Ward Two Precinct Two, and Ward Four Precincts Two and Three. No candidates filed for the Democratic nomination in the First District.

 

== The rest of Mason City not in the new First District joins with the communities of Rock Falls and Plymouth as well as the Falls and Lime Creek-Mason North townships to create the new Third District, where there are primaries for both parties.

Don O’Connor and Travis Pike are seeking the Republican nomination.

Pike, a farmer and longtime high school sports official from rural Mason City, says his family wants to make sure Cerro Gordo County continues down a good path.  “We just want to see Cerro Gordo County, especially in District Three, we want to see improvements and we want to see our quality of life continue to grow.”

Pike says the county needs to continue to focus on growth.  “We need to see an influx of businesses come to us, because I feel the more businesses that come in to the county, the more opportunity there is for growth, whether that is a slaughterhouse like we had a chance to have, or a distribution center like the Target one that got away. Anything to help grow our county would be good for us. It would increase money coming into the county, and that would relate to more spending on other things that we could use and help us benefit the county.”

O’Connor, who has spent 40 years managing and operating retail businesses in the private sector, is involved in a number of civic groups and organizations and now wants to serve the citizens of Cerro Gordo County.  “We wanted to give back. I’m involved in a lot of volunteer groups and organizations because I believe in giving back. Cerro Gordo County has been extremely good to us, so here’s an opportunity for me to give back in another way and help all the residents of Cerro Gordo County.”

O’Connor touts his experience with the public in being the better choice in the primary.   “I’ve worked with the general public all my adult life. I’m very proud to say I was successful in what I did, and to do that, I had to be able to work with all walks of life and create relationships and figure how to be positive with those relationships, and I’ll bring that to the supervisors.”

For the Democratic nomination in the Third District, Mason City city councilman Paul Adams faces Lori Meacham Ginapp, who works in the county auditor’s office.

Adams, who has been a councilman for the last six years and serves as the mayor pro-tem, says he now wants to carry that experience to all the residents of Cerro Gordo County.   “My term on the city council is winding down and I had reservations about whether I was going to run again, but I do like serving. I like public office, I like elected office, I like serving the citizens of Mason City and the idea of serving the all citizens of Cerro Gordo County certainly appealed to me.”

Adams says job growth is key for the future of the county.  “We need people in Cerro Gordo County, I think everybody knows that. It’s something we’ve talked about in the city of Mason City for a long time is attracting people to fill vacant jobs. There’s over 1000 jobs still vacant in Cerro Gordo County that we need to fill, and to do that we need people here because the unemployment rate is so low. The county needs to partner with cities inside the county to attract people to live in those communities or the rural areas of the county.”

Meacham Ginapp says her 16 years of experience as a county employee makes her a good candidate for the supervisors.   “With my experience with the county working there, I just think that would be good. I know a lot of the different offices, I know where our strengths are, and when we work on our strengths, our weaknesses just get that much stronger.”

Meacham Ginapp says the board of supervisors should not be micromanagers but be there to be supportive of the workings of county government.  “The supervisors should be there to give support and listen. They’re not there to tell people what they should be doing or how they should be doing it, but listen and figure out ways to encourage them to work well with their employees and how the employees should interact with the customers, the people who come into the courthouse.”

 

== Incumbent Casey Callanan is being challenged by former Clear Lake Schools and Clear Lake Sanitary District employee Kelly McLaughlin of Clear Lake for the Republican nomination in the Second District.

Callanan says he wants to continue the positive things happening for the county.  “I just feel like we’ve got a lot of good momentum going. We have a lot of synergies between the county and the cities inside of Cerro Gordo County, and I want to just keep the momentum going, and I think there’s more to be done.”

Callanan says the county has been doing good things during his tenure.  “There’s just a lot of things we’ve got our fingers in, and I feel like my experience over the last eight years would serve the constituents and taxpayers well going forward.”

McLaughlin wants to use his previous work experiences to strengthen the board of supervisors.   “There’s so many things that I’ve learned over the years about infrastructure, budgeting, people, and being a public servant, and now that I’ve retired, I just really feel like it was time to give back a little more, and something that I’d like to do and do it at a full-time level.”

McLaughlin says he hopes people closely examine what he would bring to the supervisors.  “I think look at what’s out there to vote for. It’s hard to beat years of experience and success, and I would definitely appreciate them to consider that and to consider me their candidate.”

The Second District includes the communities  of Clear Lake, Ventura, Burchinal, Portland, Rockwell, Swaledale, Thornton, Meservey and Dougherty and their surrounding rural areas. 

 

The candidates made their comments during a candidate preview program that we presented a few weeks ago here on KGLO and online at kglonews.com. You can listen back to that program by clicking on the audio player below

 

 

== There’s only one other contested primary race at the county level in Cerro Gordo County. Democrats will choose between Peggy Meany and Jacob Schweitzer for their nomination for County Treasurer. The winner will face Republican Nikki Fessler in the general election.