Supervisor Candidates Guest Of William Penn Forum
Three candidates for Mahaska County Supervisor answered questions at a recent William Penn Candidate Forum.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The race for two seats at the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors table is down to the final days.
Candidates took one last opportunity this past week to answer questions from some area media outlets, about themselves and some general topics of discussion in the area.
Mark Doland (R) is seeking re-election to a seat he won, by just over 20 votes, 2 years ago when Ken Rozenboom won a seat in the Iowa Senate. New Sharon City Council member Jeff Foster (D) is looking to be the first Democrat elected to the Supervisor seat in years. Willie Van Weelden has 12 years of service on the Board, but was defeated 2 years ago in a primary against Mike Vander Molen.
During the forum, each candidate was given an opportunity for opening remarks to start the hour-long interview.
The first question asked of the candidates was how they would implement their vision for the county for the next 10 years. Mark Doland said that within that time frame, “it’s hard to envision that far out.”
Most all the candidates agreed that they would like Mahaska County to remain a good place to raise a family, have good paying jobs and offer good housing. Foster said that “we need to always try to attract small businesses.” “I’d like to see in 10 years, Mahaska County as a regional leader,” says Van Weelden.
None of the candidates offered a comprehensive plan on how to achieve that goal, with Van Weelden giving some vision of how those goals could potentially be accomplished. He pointed towards the Highway 63 by-pass and to work with the current employers in the county as ways of his vision for the county.
The candidates were asked if they would support eminent domain in the construction of a new regional airport. Mark Doland and Jeff Foster both say that they don’t support the use of eminent domain for the regional airport. Willie Van Weelden said that he is not opposed to the use of eminent domain for an airport.
The candidates were then asked about the Oskaloosa City Council election in which the incumbent council members were placed back in office against a slate of candidates that were running in opposition to the airport.
Foster claims that those individuals in the county he has been talking with don’t support the regional airport project, because the project had been voted down in the confusing yes means no ballot years before the current project came online. Van Weelden said that those speaking with him are in favor of a regional airport. “This whole thing is a plus for the community,” said Van Weelden. Doland said that he believes the controversy was never the airport but with the usage of eminent domain.
Doland said that the power of eminent domain should reside with elected officials. “We shouldn’t have given that power to an unelected board.”
Doland has been in support of the Highway 63 by-pass, which will also have the power of eminent domain. The Iowa Department of Transportation will control the usage of eminent domain for that project. Their board, much like the South Central Regional Airport Board, is appointed and not elected.
The election is Tuesday, November 4th, with 2 Supervisor seats being decided. Greg Gordy did not seek another term in office, with the 2 elected Tuesday joining Mike Vander Molen on the Board.
