LETTER: Ads against Wilhelm are misleading

By Samantha Hess, Charles City

When I saw the Waylon Brown add about Mary Jo Wilhelm, I said, “REALLY? Is he telling the truth?”

This is not the place to go into every issue, but if you want the facts before you vote, please don’t get them from campaign ads. Mary Jo Wilhelm has been serving us since 2008 and has poured her heart and intellect into the job. I looked into the accusations and you should too!

Two issues mentioned in the ad are totally misleading: Mary Jo’s voting for heated sidewalks and against tuition freezes.

Wilhelm shared this on the heated sidewalks accusation: “The heated sidewalks for West Union was in the Economic Development budget. The amendment was directed at a project that West Union was trying to do. I could not agree with this amendment since it states that any money appropriated in the community development division will never be used for financial assistance for melting snow from sidewalks or streets Never is a long time for an unknown development, use, need, etc. This does not constitute voting for heated sidewalks.”

Wilhelm shared this on the tuition: “It’s public record that Mary Jo voted in 2013 (HF604), 2014 (SF2347) and 2015 (HF658) to provide adequate funding to ensure tuition freezes for Iowa State University, University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa. Mary Jo Wilhelm was correct in not voting for a restrictive GOP amendment that would have prevented the Regents from doing their appointed job. Now her opponent is trying to mislead voters about Mary Jo’s record. We are very fortunate to have a Senator who is as smart, hardworking, respected and effective as Mary Jo Wilhelm.”

So, the answer to my question about the truth of Waylon Brown’s ad is “No, not really!”

I checked out the facts and researched Mary Jo Wilhelm’s record. If you do the same I think you will agree with me that, no, it is not time for a change, and you will vote for Mary Jo Wilhelm.