Smith still 'wants to have a say' as mayor

Ron Smith is wrapping up his second term as mayor of Greenfield but he takes many more years of experience than that into the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election seeking another term.

Smith, who first joined the city council here 30 years ago, is in a contested race for mayor with Jimmie A. Schultz.

“I had been on the council by far the longest of anybody else [when I first ran eight years ago] so I felt it was my job to step up. When I first ran for council, I didn’t have a mission to accomplish, I know,” Smith said. “I just wanted to have a say, I guess.”

Smith is six years into retirement from a long career working in the telephone industry. He grew up in the Greenfield area, attending schools in Orient, Exira and Corning. He has five siblings, most of whom are still living somewhere here in southwest Iowa.

There are several highlights Smith has when he recounts what all has been accomplished in his time as mayor. Those include the sewer treatment plant, which is almost complete, the repaving of the square and the upcoming street projects.

“Right now, we’re just wrapping up the sewer treatment plant. That was a lot of money, a big deal and was a time consuming thing,” Smith said. “Another project that is in order is that we repaved the square, and I’m proud of that — it looks nice. We’re in progress to pave some other ones now. There are several streets that need done and there are more streets that need done than what we have money to do. We’re doing roughly $1 million in projects this year and hopefully next year we can take on some more.”

These projects are just a few examples of the many things that go on to keep a town going and Smith hopes voters will put their confidence in him to lead the town for another four years.

“There are two meetings each month and there’s almost always something at them. Some meetings get pretty lengthy but most of the time I can keep it relatively short. I try and give everybody time to speak but I don’t let them just go on and on and on either,” Smith said. “There have been times I’ve had to tell people that we’re not going to get things accomplished tonight and we need to move on, and they seem to understand. I try and respect people who come into the meetings.”