Bringing Creston out of decline: mayoral candidates share thoughts

In an evening where problems in Creston were hot topics, the forum ended on a high note with mayoral candidates talking about why they love the town.

Douglas Daggett, a Creston lawyer and native to Southwest Iowa, said Creston was the place to be when he was a child living on a farm in Lenox.

“It was special to me when I was a kid in ‘70s. It is pretty amazing,” Daggett said. “We’ve got this community college and the professors that are here; we’ve got Greater Regional Health and all of the clinics that they put together. It’s a very high-level hospital for rural Iowa.”

Though not a Creston native, Chris Reindl married one and finished his paramedic program at SWCC. Now working as a neighborhood services supervisor for the city of Des Moines, he said it was the school and the outdoor amenities that really drove him to make Creston his home.

“I’m really impressed with the school district. We have four kids that are in the school. I officiate sports, football and basketball, and I had the chance before I even moved here to come down here and officiate in Creston. The athletic director just makes it welcoming, so kudos to the school,” Reindl said. “We have a beautiful golf course. I’m a huge fisherman, and I love that I can go anywhere within 10 miles and have these great lakes here.”

Currently serving as Ward 2 city council representative, Josh Thompson originally hails from northern California but followed his brother-in-law to Creston after falling in love with the town.

“When we first came, it was 2019 during the middle of the polar vortex. It was freezing, but as we ventured into town, we went to the library, we went to Mario’s. We were able to get a feel of the town,” Thompson said. “Creston is full of good people. The town has amazing potential. We have an incredible nature system around us, incredible attractions around us and we’re in a small town.”

Housing in Creston was a priority for the mayoral candidates, looking at both removing nuisance properties and providing more affordable opportunities.

“I think the biggest [priority] for me would be the housing. Have affordable housing, have clean housing, have safe housing,” Reindl said. “Everyone deserves to live in a safe place. There are a lot of HUD grants out there that we can start fixing up some of these houses. If we were to go out and travel, there are so many houses out there than can be brought back. We don’t need to demo or burn down any more of these houses, there are a lot of houses that can be saved.”

While Daggett agreed with this sentiment, he wanted to bring in more new housing.

“It’s not just about having new big developments and rehabbing housing, but it’s also about trying to find a way to expand that entry level housing in the community,” Daggett said. “Somehow, someway, we need to find ways to give incentives to local builders, maybe do some development, maybe build a partnership with someone, to try to find a way to build enough housing stock for that $75,000 to $150,000 price range housing.”

Thompson pointed out ways the city is already working to provide affordable housing, though progress is always slow.

“Bobby Wintermute has been working with the Homes for Iowa group to take some of the blighted properties, some of the houses that need to be taken down, to put in affordable housing. I think that’s a huge win for us,” Thompson said. “Is that going to solve everything? No, not in the short run. I don’t know what else to do in the long run because we need to continue to fix blighted houses and continue with everything we’re doing right now. It will be tough with a shortage of city budget funds.”

All the candidates agreed the city budget was tight and that the only real way to bring in more revenue was to increase the population. However, they each had different ideas on how to do that.

“I had kids that left for college and when they came back, they were like, there’s nothing to do in Creston. We need to find things and activities and community involvement so that we can support,” Daggett said. “It’s a small thing, but Winterset and Mount Ayr have a theater that actually has first-run movies and second-run movies, and somehow we have this wonderful theater but we can’t find anybody to show movies out of it. If we could find a way to get more activities, more things to do in town, that’s also a way to make the community more attractive.”

Rather than focusing on activities, Thompson said Creston needs to prioritize economic development and bringing in more jobs.

“We need more economic development. I think we need to find another big corporation to come in, something more to bolster our economy here in Creston,” Thompson said. “The way I see this is as a big cycle. If you bring jobs, that’s going to attract people. To keep people, you need tourism and events, things to do in town, and by doing that, you’ll create more jobs along the way.”

Making Creston a better place to live, whether through housing and jobs or new activities, was the common theme.

“I have been to a number of different activities and things around town to see how this town is a town of service; this town is a town of volunteering, and that is what I really want to do here,” Thompson said about why he is running. “I’ve been with the Chamber of Commerce for four years now; I’ve been with the city council for about four years now, trying to do my part, trying to improve this town, trying to do what I can to make this a better place, not only for me, not only for my kids, but for everyone.”

Reindl said his goal was to build a Creston kids wanted to come back to following graduation.

“Like many of you, I’ve watched the population of Creston decline. That is an issue that we need to stop. We need to start seeing the population go back up,” Reindl said. “I think we’re annually seeing 3.8% of the population leave. I do have a vision of, when the kids graduate, they want to come back to Creston and live here again and not just go off and do the their thing and go away.”

Daggett was inspired by his father’s public service, setting an example for hard work and community service.

“From that, I learned the value of hard work. I learned that public service was an important component in our communities here,” Daggett said. “He said that when you are a public servant, you need to be responsive and you need to listen to the people that you represent and the people that you serve, and you also need to be learning from them and listening to them.”

All three ended the forum with encouragement for Creston citizens to go out and vote, no matter who they vote for. To find the proper polling place for the Creston mayoral special election, visit apps.sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx. On Dec. 9, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Early voting can be done at the Union County Auditor’s Office up until Dec. 1. The office is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

A recorded version of the forum can be found at www.citylinktv.com/channel/creston-ksib-radio/.