Commentary

Gilbert Election Tactics and Prospects

November 3, 2003

Unless there are write-in candidates for the city council in Gilbert’s upcoming election, three persons will run unopposed for the three open council seats. The candidates include Bob Jaquis, who is finishing his second, two-year term as mayor but wants to switch hats and become a council member with voting rights; Jon Popp, who has been on the council since June 2002 when he filled the vacancy created when Helen Gunderson resigned; and Chad Cook, who has not been active in Gilbert government.

In contrast, there are no names on the ballot for the mayoral seat. Voters have the opportunity to write in names of who they favor to lead the city. The person receiving the most votes and accepts the position will be the next mayor. I.E. if one person receives five write-in votes and another person receives only three write-in votes, the first person is entitled to be mayor.

Yvonne Wannemuehler has announced publicly and Tim Morrow and Dick Wright have informally said that they would serve as mayor if elected by a write-in vote. Yvonne is currently the chair of Gilbert's planning and zoning commission. Tim is a former city council member and as mayor pro tem stepped in to fill the mayor's position at one point in his civic career. Dick served as the town's mayor during the mid-1990s.

Perhaps there are other persons who would also serve if elected. It is indeed difficult to read what is happening out and about the community. Whatever the state of affairs, it is not too late for residents to talk with friends and colleagues about who they see as being good candidates in order to cast informed votes on Tuesday.

There was a headline article in the Mid-Iowa section of the Ames Tribune on November 1 reporting that Yvonne Wannemuehler is running a write-in campaign to be mayor. It also says that she "is being endorsed by Mayor Bob Jaquis."

It is interesting that the Tribune reports that Mayor Bob Jaquis has endorsed Yvonne to be the new mayor. In past situations when the Tribune has tried to get in touch with the mayor for a story such as ones about the closing of city hall last May, he has generally been unavailable or terse if interviewed. Therefore, it is surprising that Yvonne could announce on Friday that she is running a write-in campaign; deliver the information to the newspaper; have a reporter assigned to the story; and for the mayor to provide quotes in time for a headline article in the Saturday morning paper. It does appear that the mayor is taking an active role in Yvonne's election campaign. Perhaps he has even hand-picked her to be his replacement.

We question the appropriateness of the mayor’s endorsement of Yvonne in light of Sections 56.12a, Section 56.2b, and Section 68B.2A of the Iowa Code. However, the legality of his endorsement is not clear. On one end of the argument, Bob Jaquis as a private citizen has the right of freedom of speech. On the other end of the argument, there are restrictions on what a public official such as Mayor Bob Jaquis can do. It seems that to use his title and position to publicly advocate the election of a mayoral candidate to take his place is inconsistent with the law, and we have submitted an inquiry to the director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board for clarification.

Yvonne has served for several years on Gilbert’s planning and zoning commission and has been the chair since January 2000 when Bob Jaquis became mayor. We have observed Yvonne in action at commission meetings. She is bright, responsible, and dedicated. She has also been fair in allowing visitors to be part of important discussions. On the other hand, various comments that she has made lead an observer to think that she has been heavily influenced by the mayor and that he has been directing things such as the comprehensive planning process.

Dick and Tim also have experience, talent, insights, and a responsible work ethic and like Yvonne are respectable candidates for mayor. Unfortunately, it was only at a late date that we found out about Yvonne's active write-in campaign, and even later that we got permission to publish Dick's and Tim's names and their willingness to serve as mayor if elected. Therefore, we are not in a position to flesh out biographical sketches on the three candidates. Nor are we able to have the candidates answer candidate questionnaires. Nor do we endorse one person above the other.

Our projection is that the new city council will be a strong one of relatively like-minded people if  Bob is elected and switches hats to become a council member, Jon retains his seat, and Chad joins them at city hall. If Bob does win his bid to be on the city council, he will have a voting position. That’s different than when he was mayor and wielded a great amount of influence by preparing agendas, moderating meetings, editing meeting minutes, making appointments, and doing who knows what else as mayor.

The question is whether a potential new mayor would have mind of his or her own and be an independent leader as well as a team player. It will be a balancing act. For the past four years, there has been a inordinately controlling mayor with a council that pretty much acquiesced to his style. That pattern needs correction. But it would be unfortunate if the pendulum swung too much toward having a strong, controlling council with an acquiescing mayor.

We have advocated that the authority of a town should reside in the hands of the council and not be usurped by a controlling mayor. So finally, part of our vision may become reality — that of Gilbert’s council taking on more authority. Unfortunately, with four of six people returning to the council table, unless there is a change of heart at city hall, we don’t expect this crew to be any better at honoring Iowa’s open meetings and records laws than the current city government. We also expect it will continue to focus on infrastructure needs with little attention to governing more in accord with Iowa’s open meetings laws, communicating better with the public, and building a sense of community. Our perception is that a mayor and council need to pay as much attention to people issues as it does to the physical infrastructure, even though the latter is much more obvious and often needs prompt attention. Perhaps a new mayor can provide the leadership toward more balance. On the other hand, no mayor can make an active, strong council behave in a manner or focus on issues that the members do not view as being important.

Another factor that might come into play with the town's leadership is that the council is conducting a personnel search for a city administrator/clerk and a deputy clerk. Unfortunately, except for one meeting in July, the council has had no significant discussion of the matter. The mayor contends that it has been delegated to the finance commission that includes him, Jon Popp, and Chris Benda. To put it politely, the committee has held no public discussion nor provided any public record of it's work. Therefore, there is no way for the public to know what the threesome has decided or to know what the basis and rationale for those decisions would be. In not so gracious of terms, this is another example of a stealth style on the part of Gilbert's government, and it's hard to know what's up and how the new staff, when on board, will figure into the balance of power at city hall.

With all of that said, best wishes to whoever is elected on Tuesday. They are to be commended for their willingness to serve the community. And perhaps with the new configuration of people around the city council table, there will be some pleasant surprises in how this town is governed. For sure, we would like to see our projections proven wrong.
 

Note: This piece was originally written very late on November 2. We then received permission on Monday night, November 3, to print Tim Morrow's and Dick Wright's names and the fact that they are willing to serve as mayor if elected. Therefore, this is a slightly revised version written at 10:10 pm on November 3 to take into account the change in information.