Rielly Shares Thoughts On Supervisor Election
Tom Rielly talks about life and plans after losing out in his bid for the open Mahaska County Supervisor seat.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The race for the open Mahaska County Supervisor seat has ended, after a nearly month long campaign. For Tom Rielly, the results were the same, “missed it by that much!” Rielly says, pinching his fingers together.
“I gave my best in two elections, and came up short this time. I’m back to what my original plan was, way back about a year ago, that I really just want to focus in on Rielly Insurance. I’ll still be active in the community, I always will.” Rielly says of his future, now that the election is over.
Rielly says that spending time with his wife Mary and his daughters is of importance to him. “In the grand scheme of things, I’ve seen my friends go through some pretty tough times.” Rielly explained, seeing his friends deal with life altering medical conditions and loss of loved ones, “In the grand scheme of things, losing this election is not the end of the world by any means. It certainly would have been great to win, I think I still have some great things to bring to the table.”
While watching returns come in, most candidates and their supporters find a spot at the Mahaska County Courthouse to watch and listen as the returns come in, but Rielly has a different tradition. “I like watching the results come in with my wife,” Rielly explained. The tradition is “just something I’ve always done… back to the very first time I was elected mayor. I guess it was also kind of a fun tradition when my dad was alive. That was always a big night for us, we always liked to get together, me and him and Mary, watch the different types of election results come in.” Whether it was a city race or a national contest, the tradition continued in the Rielly home.
Rielly’s passion for the transportation system in the area, in particular roads and bridges, will be an issue that will have his eye in the future. “We’ve got to advocate, and I’m still going to advocate. In fact, I’m going to Des Moines tomorrow to advocate for additional funding for roads and bridges. Just because I’m not an elected official…” Rielly says it might be a good thing not being an elected official and being able to speak saying, “Our roads and bridges are crumbling before our eyes, what are you going to do about it?”
Rielly also has an interest in the possible restructure of county government. “I think it would be interesting to see if we can have discussions ranging from increasing the board size from three to five to studying and having conversations about having a county manager. What are the pluses and minuses for that?”
“There’s a lot of important issues out there, and just because I’m not an elected official doesn’t set me on the sidelines. I’m still going to be active in that capacity,” Rielly says.
But in the end, Rielly is looking forward to concentrating on his insurance business, and his clients, “really enjoying my time with Mary, our girls and our pooches.”
