The two candidates vying for the Iowa House District 20 seat squared off Tuesday night at a forum in Greenfeld and then met again Wednesday morning for speeches at the McCreary Community Building in Perry.
Republican Ray Bubba Sorensen of Greenfield and Democrat Warren Varley of Stuart each seek to fill the seat in the Iowa House of Representatives left vacant by the retirement of the nine-term incumbent, Rep. Clel Baudler of Greenfield, who recruited Sorensen, notable as the painter of the Freedom Rock, to run as his Republican successor.
Tuesday night’s forum in Greenfield drew about 100 people to the Warren Cultural Center on the Adair County Courthouse square. Three candidates for the Adair County Board of Supervisors answered questions for half an hour before Sorensen and Varley took the stage.
The moderator posed eight questions, and the candidates had to fit their answers within a 90-second window. After introductions, the moderator asked each candidate about his vision for the future of House District 20 and how he would realize that vision if elected. Each candidate’s vision statement is reproduced here. See the videotape of the event for the full Q&A portion.
Sorensen: “My vision for the future of House District 20 is to remain ranked as the number one state in the country. My vision involves continuing to invest at a fast rate in our K through 12 education. My vision involves reaching number one in the country for our teachers’ salaries. My vision involves fixing the Medicaid MCO problems and making sure that our long-term-care patients are taken care of. My vision involves property tax reform and making sure it’s never a burden on our fixed-income senior citizens. My vision involves access to competitive, high-speed internet access in every nook and cranny in Iowa. My vision involves pulling these things together at the state house and keeping the American dream alive and well here in rural Iowa — reducing burdensome red tape on small businesses, insure Iowans can attain the skills needed for new career opportunities and bigger paychecks and continue to leave more money in the pockets of hard-working Iowa taxpayers. How do we help bring this all about? By putting aside partisan identity politics and working with all my future colleagues to find the best path. It’s easy for us both to say what we want and will do, but at the end of the day we are going to be one-one-hundred-and-fiftieth of a moving body at the statehouse, and it will take us all to look at what’s best for Iowa, not what’s best for our parties.”
Varley: “As an attorney and economic development leader, I certainly understand the concerns facing rural Iowans, such as declining population and increasing poverty. But also and more important, I’m aware of the tremendous opportunities we have here in rural Iowa and are ready to unlock. We sit on the richest soil in the world and have abundant rainfall, sometimes too abundant. We have housing and community infrastructure at a time when it’s in critically short supply both in the state and across the country. Best of all, we have wonderful quality of life and community spirit. I revel in that everytime I go out door knocking and meet people at meetings of community organizations. Fiscal reponsibility requires investment in infrastructure, though. Access to high-speed internet is certainly a critical component, and we’ve seen how our independent telcos, like Cumberland, Coon Valley and Panora, have been leaders in getting high-speed internet out to our rural customers, and by tweaking rules we can make them more competitive to benefit consumers. Most important is human infrastructure. We have a critical shortage in our middle-skills workforce.”
The candidates answered the following questions over the course of the 75-minute session. Readers are encouraged to review the videotape of the questions and answers.
- About one-third of the state revenue is derived from the farm economy. With consolidation of farm operations and farm income dropping over the past five years, what do you think can be done about rural decline and this loss of state revenue?
- What is your view of how Medicaid is administered in the state of Iowa?
- Funding of the school systems is a topic of discussion. What are your priorities on funding schools, both public and private?
- Women’s reproductive issues are of much concern. A woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion is the law of the land, but Iowa has recently passed a bill that limits a woman’s right to an abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. What is your opinion on this recent legislation?
- Water quality improvement is a concern in terms of expenses in treating water to ensure its purity for drinking as well as for preserving our soil and wildlife. How should water-quality improvements be administered and paid for?
- How do immigration policies play into the future of Iowa?
- Working families rely on child-care systems in order to arrive at work ready to be productive. When working parents can rely on high-quality, affordable child care, their productivity increases, absenteeism is reduced and turnover in minimized. What will you do to help young families in the workforce?
- What is your opinion on the legalization of medical cannabis?
Sorensen referred to prepared remarks during the opening and closing statements and the Q&A portion. Varley spoke ex tempore and without notes, much as he did last week at ThePerryNews.com’s candidates forum in Perry.
Clel Baudler of Greenfield, who represented the district for nearly 20 years, attended the Tuesday forum and seemed pleased with the outcome.
“Bubba kicked his ass,” said the salty old Iowa State Trooper, when asked how he thought the rivals performed. Not all attendees shared Baudler’s judgment.
“Go paint a rock and leave government to the adults,” said one attendee, whose Iowa Nice was noticably threadbare.
The candidates met again Wednesday morning in Perry. Each had half an hour in which to make a speech and field questions. Varley opened the event, speaking for about 20 minutes and then taking questions. Sorensen in his turn spoke for fewer than five minutes and spent the balance of his time on Q&A.
Varley emphasized his track record in support of rural economic development, including presiding over Midwest Partnership and the Stuart Enterprise for Economic Development. He served on the board of directors for the Adair County Farm Bureau for 12 years.
Varley discussed education and the challenges posed to many school districts by declining populations, shrinking property values and starvation budgets approved by the Iowa Legislature. He noted that more than 50 percent of Iowa’s population is now concentrated in 10 counties.
“Perry’s done a particularly good job of avoiding many of these problems,” Varley said. “You’ve kept your downtown vital and restored the old buildings.” He said property taxes for the Perry Community School District are relatively high because property values are relatively low. He compared the situation of Perry property owners to those in the Okoboji Community School District, where the tax levy is very low because the property is so valuable.
The candidate also spoke about the privatization of the Iowa Medicaid program, calling it a “disaster” and saying the higher administration costs — from 12 to 20 percent by the MCOs as compared with 4 to 5 percent when administered by the state — are “dollars that are going to adminsitration and profits instead of treating people.”
Varley answered a question from the audience about the Iowa Legislature’s efforts to eliminate the backfill funding promised to cities and counties after the state’s 2013 commercial and industrial property tax cut.
On the question of water quality, Varley said it was time for the state to revise the master matrix, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ regulatory framework governing confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
In his brief opening speech, Sorensen mentioned the importance of mental health care for U.S. military veterans and the importance of access to high-speed internet as a quality-of-life issue affecting rural communities.
Sorensen was asked about funding for public and private schools and in particular whether he thought the state should have more guidance and oversight of homeschooled students.
“My stance is the parents know best what to do with their children,” Sorensen said. “I don’t want the state telling me what to do. I’ll do what’s best. I’m fully supportive of public, private and home schooling. Does there need to be guidance and some oversight? Yes. Typically, I’m not a pro-regulation type of guy. I’d rather strip down regulation. I kind of feel like the state and especially our federal government have become very Big Brothery.”
Sorensen said he travels a lot for work, and he and his wife have considered home schooling their two children, “taking them on the road and giving them a good education on the road and showing them some of the state and country.”
The candidate’s reply to a question about water pollution and soil erosion in Iowa took a similarly libertarian turn.
“I’m a firm believer, like our children, that the farmers know best how to steward their land, and we’re on that path now,” Sorensen said. “This is something that you have to allow time to heal. We’re investing in water quality. We’ve got to allow the reduction strategy a chance to even work, and I know most farmer’s in my area are working their butts off on conservation.”
He noted that farmers’ homes flood as much as anyone else’s, and farmers have to drink the same polluted water, too.
“We’ve got to trust our farmers that they will take the right steps,” he said. “Now if they quit taking those right steps, then we have a problem.”
Iowa House District 20 has a population of about 30,000, with about 10,000 residing in Dallas County. The district is home to about 20,000 registered voters, including some 8,100 registered with no party, 7,000 registered Republicans, 4,900 registered Democrats and about 100 registered Libertarians.
The forum in Greenfield is available to view on Warren Varley’s website. I appreciated his knowledge and thorough grasp of the issues. He did not read talking points from a paper, and it is obvious he has spent a lot of time talking with people about their concerns. These are things I like to see in a representative!