COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel spent time with the two Council Bluffs mayoral candidates whose names appear on the ballot for this Tuesday's election. Mayor Matt Walsh is seeking his fourth term in office and City Councilwoman Jill Shudak is hoping to unseat him.
WATCH KATRINA'S STORY BELOW
The October primary saw an 11% turnout but Pottawattamie County Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa told KMTV that early voting turnout for the general election is almost three times higher than it was for the primaries. Other communities in Southwest Iowa also have local elections on Tuesday including several small towns in Pottawattamie County.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel.
I met with the two Council Bluffs mayoral candidates on the ballot — Council Member Jill Shudak and Mayor Matt Walsh — to talk about their visions for the city. Here are some highlights from those conversations.
Katrina Markel: "Why do you want to be mayor?"
Shudak: "I want to be mayor because I'm really proud of the city that I live in. I was born in Council Bluffs, I was raised just outside of the city limits, I have deep family roots in the town and I'm just not pleased with the way our current leadership, the mayor specifically, talks to the public..."
Katrina Markel: "This would be your fourth term, so why do you want to be mayor again?"
Walsh: "Well, projects take a long time to come to fruition. We have projects that we're working with developers on, projects that we're working with housing builders on, and all of those projects are not yet complete and so I would like to complete those projects."
Katrina Markel: "What are some of the biggest challenges, you think, Council Bluffs is facing?"
Shudak: "Yeah, so I think that we have three big issues that we're facing and at some point in time they're all combined together. It is homelessness, it's jobs and it's housing."
Walsh: "Well, one certain challenge is revenue. Council Bluffs is a town that lives at 80% of the median income level and so we always have to be cognizant of that, we can't tax people out of their homes."
Katrina Markel: "What would be your priorities as mayor?"
Shudak: "Yeah, so the number one priority is in the next 90 days I'm going to do an efficiency audit of all departments. We need to see exactly where we stand."
Walsh: "Well, we talked about homelessness. I think we need to do a better job in that area."
Shudak: "The second, then, is to be the leader at the table when it comes to the homeless."
Walsh: "My main priority is to grow the tax base. People want services; the only way to provide services is either to raise taxes or grow the tax base. I'm not a big raise-the-taxes guy."
Council Member Chris Peterson was edged out in the primaries, but is also still running as a write-in candidate.
