In one of the biggest local elections in years, six candidates are seeking two seats on the West Liberty City Council with the Nov. 2 election for four-year terms. The lone incumbent is David Smith while Robbie Rock decided not to run for re-election.
The other five candidates include Vanessa Espinoza, Dana Dominguez, Ralph Remour, Nadia Olsen and Omar Martinez.
The Index put together a few questions for all the candidates. Omar Martinez was the only candidate not to reply to the questionnaire. Residents can learn more about the canididates this Thursday at a candidate forum at the West Liberty Community Center beginning at 6:30 p.m. hosted by the Rotary Club of West Liberty.
DAVID SMITH
Running for a second term, David Smith has been a resident of West Liberty with his wife, Tammy, for approximately 25 years, raising their two children, Haley of Cedar Rapids and Kayla of rural West Liberty, in the community.
Serving as an interior communications specialist with the Navy for eight years and the local West Liberty Fire Department for 10 years as an EMT and fire fighter, Smith has been a mechanic for P & G Oral Care’s plant in Iowa City for the past 25 years.
Smith, who was a write-in candidate four years ago, says he enjoys learning and figuring out how local government is supposed to operate. “When I ran the first time, I pledged to do thing by the law and that’s what I’ve done,” he said, noting it was no different than pledging his duty to his country..
“There are things the community wants you do do, but you still have to do them by the books,” Smith said, calling himself an “honest individual” who is willing to sit and listen to anyone in the community including residents who don’t agree with his thinking. “I’ll never turn anyone away,” he said.
Smith said there is no doubt there are problems the city has had, but says strong communication can help repair those issues. “We just have to get to the table and talk,” Smith said of the 28E agreement with the rural and local fire departments. “That’s been a problem.”
He said he couldn’t talk much about the fire department issues because the pending ligitagion, but believes the issue is fixable and says “we love our rural community too.” He said it’s been frustrating because there are still a lot of “rules and regulations” council members have to follow.
He said it’s not the first time problems have arisen with the city council. “You just can’t click your figures and things will be done. You have to go by the laws and regulations,” Smith said.
The candidate said one thing he’s proud of is the remodeling of the present city hall/police department, which will soon be entering a second phase that is expected to include a council chambers and more offices for department heads.
“I think things are going to turn out great and people are going to like it,” he said of the remodeling, looking forward to a dedication that is likely to include the statue of West Liberty’s Lady Liberty at city hall.
Smith said one of his biggest dreams for the community is to replace the present Kimberly Park pool, the oldest pool in the state at over 100 years. “We keep repairing it, but it’s time to do something,” he said, complimenting the work of city parks and recreation director Nick Heath for his work in reviving the local parks, two with new playgrounds. “We should do something with that pool,” Smith said, noting he’s not sure what, but the city needs to look at a number of alternatives.
The councilman said another big problem for the city is housing, which has limited growth in the community. “We simply don’t have enough housing,” he said, noting he does know there is a lot of interest among housing developers for the community.
Smith said the council has done the best they can, noting although a lot of people think things can be done a certain way, “there are laws and standards you have to abide by,” noting it can be a “frustrating process” even he doesn’t admire.
He said solving housing and recreation needs is something he’d like to accomplish in his second term, making West Liberty a better place where people will want to reside. He said another accomplishment in the past term was the implementation of the business development grant program, giving businesses an opportunity to update their buildings. He said the program has been more successful than he had dreamed.
He said West Liberty means a lot to his family, noting the community came together to help out his daughter when she had cancer. He said that’s one of the reasons he wanted to give back and serve as a council member.
The councilman said it’s also important to get on the tail end of the 28E agreement issue with the rural and local fire departments. “I was here when the problem started and I want to be here to the end. I plan to be in it for the long haul,” Smith said.
DANA DOMINGUEZ
Dana Dominguez grew up in West Liberty, graduating in 2001 and was a first-generation college graduate. She is currently the Director of Operations & Communication in her department at the University of Iowa.
“I work directly with the Executive Director on strategic planning and oversight for the department. I also run a marketing team and oversee all the promotions for our programs,” she said.
She serves on several committees on campus and has worked on campus-wide initiatives with people from all levels, from students to faculty, to the VP for Student Life and the UI President.
In 2014, she bought her home in West Liberty as a newly single mom with two toddlers. She recently got engaged, adding another daughter, a senior at WLHS, to the mix.
Dominguez says as a family, “we volunteer when we can, including running the caucus for our precinct in the last presidential election, helping at festivals, and supporting the WLFD through volunteering and donating.” She is also a part of an organization called Represent.us, which is made up of Republicans and Democrats who are working together to eliminate the corruption of our current national and state political system.
Dominguez said she decided to run for the council after her fiancé joined the WLFD, where she began to learn about the issues the department was facing with the city as a 28E partner. “I’m a natural problem solver and a truth seeker,” said Dominguez. “Add that to my passion for community and coalition building and my futuristic thinking and it makes me an ideal candidate to serve West Liberty and help solve this conflict amicably.”
“Once I commit to something I like to jump right in, so, since July I’ve read the entire City Code and every publicly available audit and budget report – noting everything I have questions on and what can be improved,” she said. “I’ve met with city and other local leaders to discuss these issues, as well as community members.”
She said it “would be an honor to serve the community who helped raise me and it make it a better place for all.”
One very important issue she says the city faces is the fact that there are hundreds of Latinos living in the community who are eligible to vote but not registered. "Without input from the whole community, we can’t create a better one for all the people who live here she said.”
“Our town has proven time and time again that low-income, communities of color CAN succeed at education, employment, and providing safety for all who live here, but over the past few years, morale in our town has plummeted and education and well-being have suffered.”
She said it’s important to elect a new mayor and council members “or sadly I don’t believe anything will change.”
With the first pandemic happening in 100 years, she empathized that the council had to deal with things no other recent council ever had in history while inheriting a “nightmare of problems” that have been building up for the past decade through our faulty, outdated budgeting system. She said those were the cards they were dealt and “whoever the new council is will need to build upon their work, learn from mistakes, and plan better for the future.”
Dominguez had five priorities she’d like to accomplish as a new council member including: Updating the city’s cash basis accounting system to a modern-day financial accounting system –allowing insight from current city staff and 28E partners who work with city finances every day and “can provide feedback on what the challenges have been to navigate our current system.”
She also hopes to audit the city’s utility contracts and seek ways residents can save money while building a 10-year plan to convert the city to renewable energy like many other communities.
Dominguez also said she hopes to build morale and “increase a sense of belonging in the community.” She commended the Index for starting to share the stories of how families got here. “I had no idea so many people came from Del Rio, Texas. My dad did too!”
She said West Liberty needs more opportunities for the community to interact with each other and share stories.
She also said the city needs a designated dog park and thinks local tamale making contests, neighborhood block parties, and community potlucks, “are all a great place to start.”
Dominguez also said the city needs to build a network of investors to bring more opportunity to West Liberty. “Because we are a unique community and are a majority-minority town, we have access to tons of grants geared towards communities like ours,” she said, noting the city needs a grant writer.
The candidate also said the council needs to partner with the new city manager to imagine a new organizational structure of city administration – “one that will allow a more equitable distribution of job responsibilities, clearer and easier procedures, updated technology, better work-life balance, and lower cost of benefits for our city employees.”
VANESSA ESPINOZA
Born in Zacatecas, México, Vanessa Espinoza was raised in Conesville, Iowa, graduating from Columbus Community High School and earning a BA in Spanish at the University of Northern Iowa before getting a masters in education from Iowa State University.
“I come from a working class family,” she said, noting she is a newer resident of the community, moving to West Liberty with her husband a year ago. She is employed with the West Liberty School District as a Dual Language/AP Spanish teacher at WLHS while also serving as a Dream Catchers mentor. A cofounder of the non-profit organization called Latinos for Washington. Espinoza also provides an annual scholarship since 2011 to the high school through the Espinoza Avila Scholarship.
She moved to West Liberty because it is similar to the town that she grew up in. “I love the sense of belonging and small town feel.”
Espinoza said it’s time to use her leadership skills to contribute to the community. “I am running for city council because there is much more work left to do. We need someone who will support our residents,” she said. “I think that it is important to have our voices at the table and it is our responsibility to make this place better than how we found it. I am unafraid to question things nor to speak up. We need committed members that are willing to be transparent, open minded, and collaborative when making decisions and I am one of those individuals.”
She said housing, the city budget and economic development are the most important issues facing the community. She said being on the city council isn’t an easy task and a “thankless job,” pointing out the present council is doing “the best they can with what they know and what resources they have.”
The candidate said it’s important to provide accessibility to all members of the community and hopes to get rid of PDF’s that are not accessible and make the information accessible with screen readers and would like to have closed captioning on video.
Espinoza said she would like to also promote more resident health, safety, and education specifically focused on mental and physical health.
NADIA OLSEN
Nadia Olsen is origionally from Mexico and came to America in 2004 for graduate studies, then moved to West Liberty in 2008. She has a BA in Spanish and a masters in arts with an emphasis on Spanish and literature. She is married and has three sons. She has been employed with the school district since 2008, first as a Spanish teacher and now as an ESL teacher.
Olsen says she wants to serve the community and “be a voice for the ones that, for some reason or another, are being ignored.”
“I don’t want any family to experience what my family went through because of the city officials' negligence and incompetency,” she said, pointing out many people employed by the city are not serving the people according to their job descriptions.
“I believe that the city administration, police department, and city council are not following due process-nor are they listening to the citizens’ problems or resolving them. It appears that they are not honest or transparent with the community.”
She said there is a long list of questions including utility bill issues, constant hiring and firing of city workers, the problem with the fire department, unclear finances and more.
She questioned whether the present council knows city codes or listens to the community, pointing out “it looks like they go by a rule – tell me who you are and I will tell you what code you follow.”
Olsen says she hopes to be “a voice of the ones that are being ignored, to investigate and bring to light problems that are not clear, to bring a solution to the high utility bills, to resolve the issues with the fire department, to be transparent with the community, and to listen to the citizens of the community to resolve issues that we may not be aware of.”
RALPH REMOUR
Ralph Remour is a 50-plus year resident of West Liberty, attending WLHS and a life member of the Mansell L. Phillips American Legion. He served as a farm hand for Minor Farms in West Liberty for about four decades.
He says he’s running for the city council “to wake them up. They’re sleeping all the time.” He said there are a lot of issues the council doesn’t seem to be able to fix in the community including street work and water problems.
Remour says he’ll make it a priority to try to get more good restaurants in the community “like we used to have” and says West Liberty needs more business. He also felt the 28E agreement issues with the fire department need to be straightened out and said cooperation and prioritizing finances with the department is essential.
The candidate said the city needs to “upgrade a little bit,” making it easier for businesses to come to the community to fill empty storefronts.
He also said he’d like to see more apartments built above downtown buildings.