Supervisor candidates seek support at forum

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

Editor’s note: This story is continued from the Wednesday Press because of time and space limitations during production Tuesday evening. The first part of the story is available at www.charlescitypress.com.

Four candidates for Floyd County supervisor got together Tuesday evening for a forum concerning ag and other more general issues, sponsored by the Floyd County Farm Bureau.

Looking for support among the 50 or so people attending were Doug Kamm, Roy Schwickerath, Stewart Dalton and Michael Staudt. They are running for two seats on the county board in the general election Nov. 6.

The forum was congenial, with no swipes at opponents or serious disagreements in the answers.

Each of the candidates gave their responses to a series of eight questions developed by the Farm Bureau. Responses to the first three questions were included in an article published in the Wednesday Press and at www.charlescitypress.com.

Here are the candidates responses to the remaining five questions.

4) Weather was certainly a factor for communities across our county this year. Many roads now suffer washouts or other damage from heavy rains. How will you keep roads and bridge projects on schedule and on budget while attending to other issues that have arisen from seasonal weather?

All four candidates praised the work of the county Secondary Roads Department and several mentioned County Engineer Dusten Rolando by name and said he was doing a good job.

They all said it would be important to watch the budget because road work and other infrastructure is a major part of the county budget, and all agreed that weather can cause serious problems.

“I don’t think this rain is going to be a fluke — I think rain levels have been going up year after year. … Right now we need to plan for more water, more floods,” Dalton said.

“There may be some technological aspects we can go into to provide better drainage, better road structure, wetlands, any number of things we could do to retain the moisture and prevent it from washing out the roads,” Dalton said.

Kamm said the county doesn’t have enough cash to do more than one or two big projects like bridges a year. A lot of smaller projects are done by the secondary road crews, and that saves the county money in the long run.

5) How would you choose to allocate the local option sales tax when it comes up for election again?

Kamm, Schwickeroth and Staudt said it was likely that that funding would need to continue to be used for roads.

And Kamm said that history is shown that if you don’t have a specific use in mind when you ask the voters to approve the tax, they might not.

Dalton said the money should be allocated where it is needed when it’s up for a vote, and the priority might be roads and infrastructure, but it could also include education or social services.

Schwickerath said it’s important to consider the people’s priorities, but if local option sales tax revenue is used for something other than roads it will leave a big hole in that department’s funding.

6) What strengths do you bring to the table that would lend well to participation on boards and committees related to responsibilities outside the boardroom?

All four candidates pointed out examples of where they had served on other boards or organizations. Most cited that service as ways to keep in touch with other constituents.

Schwickerath noted that he had served on many boards and commissions during his earlier term as a county supervisor, and he thought that he was considered a leader by many of those boards’ members.

“On the County Social Services board, which is a 22-member board, if I had been successful and got re-elected I was going to be serving as the president of that board,” Schwickerath said.

Staudt said he was only 47 but he had been serving on boards for 20 years.

“I like to think things through,” Staudt said. “I don’t like knee-jerk reactions. If I need to get more information, let’s take some time to get more information. Get all your facts straight then make your decision.”

Kamm said he enjoys all the different boards and all the different people he gets to meet as a supervisor, and said he likes to do his research so he knows what he’s talking about when he goes to a meeting.

Dalton said he was very familiar with many of the social services boards, both because of his job and because he served on the county social work department board for 14 years as the parent of a disabled adult. He said there were some areas where he would have to learn but other areas where he would bring a lot of expertise to the position.

7) How do you perceive agriculture’s importance to the county, and what can you do to support it during your term?

The candidates all agreed that agriculture is very important to the county, being responsible for a large share of the county economy and supporting various other businesses as well.

Staudt said it is important to support local businesses such as implement dealers and co-ops.

Dalton said one thing the county can do is provide good government.

“We need to not be too onerous with rules and regulations,” he said. “We need to maybe adopt new technologies. We need to think different ways of farming, different crops possibly. I just think it needs some imagination, some looking into, some organization and a good government structure to maintain it,” Dalton said.

Kamm said supervisors need to do whatever they can when they need to react to something that has happened, but they also need to make sure the county is prepared to deal with things that are likely to come along.

Schwickerath said the supervisors can do some things to support agriculture, “but they’ve not what’s going to make it survive in Floyd County. You people out there are what’s going to make it survive.”

8) Livestock generates $95.8 million in sales and employs 531 people in Floyd County. What are your thoughts on growth of livestock in Floyd County?

Dalton said he wasn’t going to put down the methods used by the livestock industry. “We are feeding the world with the large animal farms that we have,” he said.

But, he said, “We also have to remember a large amount of animals produce a large amount of effluents that we have to deal with, and it can’t be put into the water, we can’t leave it in the soil. It causes odor. I think we need to find some new technologies, maybe tweaking the Master Matrix a bit. I think it’s a problem we have to address.”

Kamm said it’s obvious just by visiting the county fair how important livestock is, but he also said confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are the most contentious issue to come before the supervisors.

He said some people advocate local control, but if that happened, “there would never be another CAFO again.”

“I think there is room for CAFOs,” Kamm said. “We should all be able to make a living. The only thing we would ask is everybody be a good neighbor to each other.”

Schwickerath said the Master Matrix needs to be changed, but the only way to do that is through the statehouse.

“I think the thing is to work with the state of Iowa,” he said. “We have good producers out there. We need to look at what those good producers are doing and we need to use those as examples to write some good laws.”

Staudt said the state needs to maintain control of the issue.

“I don’t think it’s a county decision,” he said.

Staudt said the Department of Natural Resources sets up requirements for CAFOs including setbacks, manure plans, well monitoring, etc.

“As long as farmers follow them, hog confinements, dairy confinements, cattle confinements — all of those are a good thing to feed the world,” he said.

Each of the candidates concluded with a closing statement.

Schwickerath said he brings a lot of experience to the position, as a former supervisor and a fire chief. He said he is a good listened and is willing to consider the other side.

“If you give me a good argument I’ll listen to it, Schwickerath said. “My goal is I want to listen to every one of you.”

Staudt said, “My goals are water quality, to be financially sound, create new jobs, bring new industry to Floyd County, and, of course, always listen to you. That’s what we’re here for, to serve you. My door would always be open. My phone would always be on.”

Dalton said, “I think I can offer much. I’ve had a long term in social services, which is one of our biggest expenses in the county. I’m looking for new ideas, but I’ll stick with the old ones that work.

“I hoping to provide a little fresh blood,” he said. “I’m offering long experience. I’ve had a wide experience in various aspects of life and I’d like to provide that experience to the county.”

Kamm said, “I’ll be the first one to tell you that there’s a learning curve and the first couple of years at this your eyes just roll in your head. It is a unique job.”

He said he did a lot of soul-searching when deciding whether to run for a third term.

“I decided I still have fresh ideas, and still enjoy it fully,” he said.

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 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, married and has 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 and has 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 is married and they have four children.