Four supervisor candidates expected at Tuesday Farm Bureau forum

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

Floyd County voters will get a chance to meet the candidates for county supervisor at a forum planned for next Tuesday evening.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the Brick Building at the county fairgrounds west of Charles City.

The forum will be sponsored by the Floyd County Farm Bureau, and all four candidates for the office are expected to attend.

There are two supervisor seats open in the Nov. 6 general election, so voters will be able to vote for two candidates. At least one new supervisor will be elected, as current Supervisor Mark Kuhn is not seeking re-election.

The candidates are:

• Doug Kamm, 64, Republican, the incumbent who was first elected in 2010 and is completing his second four-year term. Kamm, of Charles City, owns Kamm Excavating Corp. He and his wife, Jean Ann, have two grown sons.

• Roy Schwickerath, 61, Democrat, of Charles City. Schwickerath is the former Charles City fire chief and was elected to a position as a Floyd County supervisor in 2012. He was defeated in a bid for re-election in 2016 by current supervisor Linda Tjaden. He is retired and married to wife, Deb, a teacher. They have three grown children.

• Stewart Dalton, 65, Democrat, Charles City. Dalton is retired and is the former group home manager for Spring Harbor Residential Services. He is married to wife, Elizabeth, and they have a grown son and a grown daughter.

• Michael Staudt, 47, no party, of Floyd. Staudt farms and serves on the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Board of Education. He has four children, and is the son of former county supervisor Leo Staudt.

Candidates will be asked questions developed by Floyd County Farm Bureau members and the questions will not be announced in advance. The forum is not intended to be a debate, the Farm Bureau said.

There are three supervisors on the Floyd County board, each serving a four-year term. Elections are held in even-numbered years with terms staggered. Tjaden was elected in 2016 and her seat will be up for election in 2020. The seats being elected this year will serve from 2019 to the end of 2022.