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Decision day looms

Second-ward residents vote Tuesday for new councilperson

Residents from Marshalltown’s second ward — home to the Hughes-Grove Neighborhood Association, the revitalized 13th Street business district, and the Iowa Veterans Home — will go the polls Tuesday and elect a ward representative.

Candidates are Leigh Bauder, Jay Carollo, Gabe Isom, Brittany O’Shea and Bob Untiedt.

Eligible voters from the second ward only will be given time to cast their ballots in the Malloy Leisure Resource Center at IVH from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Unofficial voting results will be released by Marshall County Auditor/Recorder/Elections Commissioner Nan Benson after polls close.

The official results will be released after the Marshall County Board of Supervisors canvass results March 5.

The ward, which encompasses much of Marshalltown’s northwest quadrant, has been without representation on the city council since Jan. 2.

On that date then second ward councilor Joel Greer was sworn in as mayor.

The candidates

The slate is made up of three men and two women. And the candidates have backgrounds and experience as diverse as Marshalltown.

They range in ages from 28 to 66.

With the special election, Bauder, Carollo, O’Shea and Untiedt renewed their efforts for selection a second time.

That is because the city council declined their individual applications for appointment after a round of public interviews at a Jan. 5 special council meeting.

It was the council’s expressed intent then one might garner four “yes” votes from six city councilors necessary to earn the seat.

At the Jan. 8 regular city council meeting, the four each earned two votes, but not the four-vote majority.

Consequently, the city passed a resolution at its Jan. 22 meeting calling for a special election. Upon receipt of the resolution, Benson set Feb. 27 as election date.

“Basically, that is the earliest date we could, so that we’re not delaying it at all,” she said.

The special election opened the door for Isom.

He is a Kansas City native employed at Emerson Process Management/Fisher Controls, and the youngest candidate at 28.

He and others have been campaigning aggressively since, employing tactics ranging from traditional door-knocking to yard signs to social media posts.

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Contact Mike Donahey at 641-753-6611 or mdonahey@timesrepublican.com

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