Ottosson Running Unopposed For Ward 1 Council Seat

Diane Ottosson, candidate for Oskaloosa City Council Ward 1 – 2017

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Diane Ottosson is running unopposed for the Oskaloosa City Council in Ward 1. Unless a write-in campaign is launched, Ottosson will be replacing Ver Steeg.

Ottosson got her first taste of Oskaloosa in 1982 when her husband John came to William Penn College to play basketball.

After John completed college, the couple moved back to Diane’s home state of Indiana and ran a small business there, until returning to Oskaloosa in 1990 when John was offered a position at William Penn.

Ottosson isn’t shy about saying that tackling the job of the city council wasn’t her idea, but friends encouraged her to run. Ottosson discussed the idea with her husband and spoke with community leaders and other council members about the idea. “I felt like with some of the things I’ve experienced already professionally and with my volunteer work in the community that I probably had pretty good preparation for the role.”

“I also feel a lot of responsibility. When you have a good community, and you want it to keep moving in the right direction, then we need to be onboard and help move it that direction,” added Ottosson.

“We are kind of a quaint community,” added Ottosson. “I’ve often said that Oskaloosa’s a little town in rural Iowa, and we could have dried up and blown away a long time ago, but we haven’t. Instead, I see we’re progressing and adding to the amenities that we have here and making it a good community with good people.”

Ottosson is running unopposed, “I would still like for the people to vote for me. Even though there’s not another name next to mine on the ballot, unless somebody chooses to write-in, I still would appreciate that ballot being marked because I see that as a message of encouragement for me.”

You can watch the entire interview below.