COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — A debate about the future of a Council Bluffs public golf course may have played a pivotal role in Tuesday's mayoral election, where City Council member Jill Shudak defeated incumbent Mayor Matt Walsh.
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KMTV talked to Shudak and incoming City Councilman Cole Button to discuss the changes coming to city government.
The mayor-elect says a plan to develop Dodge Park and the Riverside Golf Club into housing had a significant impact on the election outcome.
"Absolutely, it did. Not only my victory but my decision to run for mayor," Shudak said.
However, the golf course wasn't the only hot-button issue driving voters to the polls.
"That was probably our number one topic when knocking doors is — what are we going to do about the homeless situation?" Shudak said.
Council Member-elect Cole Button said he sees firsthand the impact of mental illness and homelessness through his work with Pottawattamie County Corrections.
"A lot of those problems end up with me at the jail," Button said.
Shudak plans to address these challenges through collaboration by bringing different community partners to the table.
"One of things I would really like to do is work with Mayor (John) Ewing and get a joint task force together because whatever happens in Omaha affects Council Bluffs and whatever happens in Council Bluffs affects Omaha," she said.
Both Button and Shudak say the housing issue helped them win and will be a priority moving forward.
"We need starter homes in this community," Shudak said.
"Affordable housing is a big issue right now. We need dynamic housing," Button said.
"We have a lot of apartments that are coming onto the market in the next few years," Shudak said. "I think it's going to be somewhere around 2,700 that this council has either approved - or has approved and either has broken ground or is going to break ground, which is a great influx of apartments. What we're not seeing though is those starter homes and those owner-occupied homes."
"So that we can have a fix of single family, duplexes, triplexes, apartments, condos. So, we have to make sure that we're filling those needs in all stages of life," added Button.
Shudak says an efficiency audit will be one of the first orders of business once she takes office.
Since Shudak had two years left on her city council term. The council will either appoint a new member or call a special election. Both Button and Shudak say they'd prefer a special election.
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