Mayor, councilman will seek re-election in Charles City races Nov. 2

Board of Education member Freund won’t seek another term

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Charles City’s Mayor Dean Andrews has announced he is running for re-election in the upcoming Nov. 2 city and school board elections.

Andrews said there have been many exciting things happening in Charles City over the last four years, and he would like to see that trend continue.

“As I said in my campaign four years ago, my goal is to see Charles City move forward in a positive and progressive direction,” he said.

Charles City Council member DeLaine Freeseman also said he will seek another four-year term.

The other City Council seat up for election this year is currently occupied by Jerry Joerger, who had announced previously that he will not be running for re-election.

In the Charles City Board of Education election, the three members whose terms are over at the end of this year and whose seats are up for election are Scott Dight, Missy Freund and Josh Mack.

Freund said Thursday she has decided to not seek another four-year term.

“I have appreciated the opportunity to serve our community on the board of education over the last four years,” she said. “I became interested in the board after working with them as a parent to revise our allergy policy as I have a daughter with a life-threatening allergy. I experienced first hand how open the board members were in communicating with parents and enjoyed being a part of that process.  I wanted to be able to do the same for other parents and hope that over the last four years I have shown that.”

Freund said she feels it’s important to have parents actively involved in the board and she hopes to see other parents run for the board, “to continue in the direction our district is headed.”

“I am very proud of the work that we have done over the last four years and have confidence that will continue,” she said, adding that it wasn’t an easy decision to decide not to run again.

“I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and exploring other potential leadership opportunities at work and/or in the community where I work now as well,” Freund said. “Serving on the board has been a wonderful experience but I am ready to hand it off to someone new and focus more of my time at home.”

She said she wanted to “extend a sincere thank-you to our community for their support over the years, and also for challenging us,” and said it had been an honor to serve the community.

The filing period to be on the ballot for office in the Nov. 2 election is open now and runs until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16.

Affidavits of candidacy and nomination petitions must be turned in to the Floyd County Auditor’s Office for city elections, and to the school district secretary’s office for board of education elections.

As of Thursday afternoon, no one had returned candidate forms for city elections, said Amanda Theilen, election clerk with the Floyd County Auditor’s Office.

Seats that are open in this year’s city and school board election to be held Nov. 2 are:

CITY ELECTIONS

• Charles City –  Mayor Dean Andrews and City Council members DeLaine Freeseman and Gerald Joerger.
• Colwell – Mayor Jeff Wright and City Council members Jennifer Cross, Judy Budwig, Mark Kirsch, Ryan Wegner and Rachel Krause.
• Floyd – Mayor Travis K. O’Connell and City Council members Charles Newman and Kevin Krueger.
• Marble Rock – City Council members J.R. Ackley, Todd Schriever and Tracy Merfeld.
• Nashua – Mayor ​​Clinton Betsinger and City Council members Tom Johnson and Scott Cerwinske.
• Nora Springs – Mayor Randy Hassman and City Council members Margaret Ueker and James Kraninger.
• Rockford – Mayor Scott Johnson and City Council members Vernon Arndt, Alex Hirv and Jason Stokes.
• Rudd – Mayor Jeffrey Buland and City Council members Matthew Bouillon and Tyler Scheer.

SCHOOL ELECTIONS

• Charles City School District – Board members Scott Dight, Missy Freund and Josh Mack.
• Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock School District – Board members Jeff Kuhlers and Mike Staudt.