Deadlocked council leaves Ward 3 vacant

After four votes where the Creston City Council remained deadlocked, the vacant Ward 3 council position will now be filled via special election.

Three applicants for the open position spoke at city council Tuesday night following a Q&A session with councilmembers the previous day.

Lorelei Herrod spoke first, citing leadership and problem solving skills as reasons she would be a good fit.

“At SWCC, I currently serve on the student senate representing the Business Professionals of America,” Herrod said. Though now a SWCC student, Herrod said she spent 11 years previously in customer service. “I have found that I enjoy trying to solve problems for others. And one of those problems, which I’ve heard from many community members that I hope to fix, is the lack of jobs in our community.”

Other topics of concern Herrod brought up were safety and financial security in Creston.

The next applicant was Tawna Kinzie, a production manager at Bunn-O-Matic.

“I do bring real world leadership experience. I do work through challenges. I communicate with a bunch of different personalities within my job,” Kinzie said. “I balance priorities, and I make thoughtful decisions under pressure. I understand that leadership here is not who has the loudest voice but who also listens to people.”

Kinzie said that she’s built her life and family in Creston and wants to support the future of the community.

The final candidate was Tanner Webb, who works as a paraprofessional and coach at Creston High School.

“I’m able to work together and listen to a wide variety of people that may have different perspectives, which I firmly believe can only enhance the council’s perspective,” Webb said. “I don’t know everything, obviously; I’m very much out of my comfort zone here, but I’m willing to learn and do the work and I’m very passionate about our community. As someone that is disabled, I believe that I will bring a unique perspective to the council.”

From the get-go, the council was hesitant to show favorites. Councilmember Jason Cook said all his scoring of the applicants was close.

“I think nobody stood above or below anybody else. It was very close. It was hard to make,” Cook said. “My motion is to go to election.”

Councilmember Toby Henry agreed, saying the ward should decide who their council representative was. However, he didn’t second the motion, leaving it dead in the water.

Councilmember Kiki Scarberry then made a motion to appoint Herrod, seconded by councilmember Jocelyn Blazek. However, the motion failed to pass, dying with a tied 3-3, with Josh Thompson also voting in favor, while Cook, Henry and Martin Graham voted against the appointment.

Graham then made a motion to appoint Kinzie, seconded by Blazek. Again, the motion failed at 3-3, with Scarberry joining to vote in favor and Cook, Thompson and Henry voting against.

Iowa code says that if a vacancy is being filled by appointment, the vacancy must be filled within 60 days of the date the vacancy occurred. Jen Worisek’s resignation from her Ward 3 council position was effective March 27, meaning the vacancy had to be appointed by May 26. Tuesday’s city council meeting was the last chance to fill the position by appointment, or the city would be forced to go to special election.

All this in mind, the council agreed to give the topic a rest, going through the remainder of the agenda before returning to discussions of the appointment.

More than an hour later when the council returned to the Ward 3 appointment, no discussion was had before Thompson made a motion to appoint Herrod, seconded by Scarberry. However, votes remained the same as the last time for Herrod, failing 3-3.

Graham asked Henry and Cook, so far the only councilmembers to vote against every motion, if their vote was based on wanting a special election or not being in favor of the candidate. Henry said yes and that he would not vote for any of them. Cook, however, said he did have a rating for who he preferred.

Scarberry pointed out that in the last special election, which was citywide, less than 10% of eligible voters turned up at the polls. With only Ward 3 residents eligible to vote for this position, it was agreed by Scarberry, Blazek and Graham that there would likely be even less of a turnout this time. In the regular election last year, there were only 205 votes for Ward 3.

Cost for a special election would be less than the previous citywide special election, but still estimated to cost a couple thousand dollars.

In hopes of moving things forward, Kinzie offered to step out of the race and apply for a position on the board of adjustments. She said however much it cost wouldn’t be worth the election.

After this, Cook made a motion to appoint Webb to the position, seconded by Graham. However, this final vote ended in failure as well, with Scarberry also voting in favor of the appointment and Thompson, Blazek and Henry voting against it.

The council decided not to extend the discussions further, adjourning the meeting. Now the city must prepare for another special election. Information from the city will soon be published regarding the special election and how to become a candidate. Any Creston resident that is an eligible voter and resides within Ward 3 can apply to fill the Ward 3 council vacancy. Due to the proximity to the June 2 primary elections, the special election will have to be held later in the year.