It was an honor to run for City Council. Congratulations to Mark Vulich. Mark ran a stellar campaign and is a deserved winner. My most profound thanks go out to everyone who supported me with their kindness, their contributions and their 1078 votes. Heartiest thanks Larry Kness, my campaign manager and to my corps of volunteers who worked tirelessly on Election Day.

To all of you who share a vision for a better future for Clinton, I promise to continue to work towards that vision and I invite you to work with me. Coming out to vote is after all, the least anyone can do in our society. Our town, our state and our nation will only become better places if more people chose the path of participation and activity. Together through small sacrifices of time and energy we can do great things.

I’ll see you out there

The calendar says September 19 was only 45 days ago. It has been 45 of the longest days of my life. Not is a bad way but in literally long hours of hectic, interesting and stressful days. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Here are some things I’ve learned in the last 45 days:

Some of the side streets in Clinton are among the worst in the developed world. Seriously. I've been to some pretty run-down places in Europe and certain streets in Clinton put the side roads of Slovakia, Poland and Croatia to shame. To wit: Parts of Cleveland Avenue, 14th Street by the Arboretum – one of our finer City institutions no less – blocks long stretches of Roosevelt and McKinley, so say nothing of 18th Avenue N. by my own home. This situation is the product of decades of neglect. It is going to take at least a decade to fix.

People sense that times are changing; that with great changes come opportunities. The citizens of Clinton know that we are well positioned to take advantage of those opportunities. They also know that it will take a change in mindset and a change in the way of doing things if we are going to be a leading city in the Midwest instead of a laggard.

The citizens of Clinton are weary of the same old way of doing things. They want a city government that is more transparent and more engaged with the voters. Far too many people feel --rightly or wrongly -- that important decisions are back-room deals and the results presented to the voters as fait accomplis. Improving this situation is mainly the responsibility of the city staff and city officials. But a big part of fixing this also means getting our local media more involved. It is not good enough just to report literally what is said every two weeks. The job of the media is to provide all-important background, analysis and context for voters. We have to demand more of both the city and the media.

Finally, the people of Clinton are tremendously optimistic, honest, engaged, informed and open-hearted people. Through all the hard work, it has been a great pleasure to get to know Clinton better. It has been an honor to have many place a great burden of trust in me. It is no wonder that Iowa has become the place where the process of picking our next president begin.

That same burden of trust has been placed on all of us by our founding fathers. I urge all of you to pick up that burden for the half-hour or so it will take to vote on Tuesday. In these troubled times, where so little is being asked of us in support of such vital causes it is one thing we can do that matters the most.

Whatever the result on Tuesday night, I look forward to continuing to work and serve in this wonderful city on the Mississippi. I hope that this election can be a new beginning of community involvement. Because I truly beleive that together, we really can make Clinton a great place to be.

I've moved the position papers on Tax Increment Financing and Property Tax Reduction over to the Issues Page. Menu on the right.

Transparency is one of my biggest values. This link will take you to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board reports on campaign spending by everyone running for election this year. Having to beg for money is an unpleasant part of running a campaign. One calls those people one knows the best. I'm sure the same is true of all of us.

One really finds out who one's friends are when it comes time to ask for money. I am grateful to everyone who has been generous with both their time and money. Some people have been very generous and this has allowed me to spend more time walking and visiting with voters and less time with a phone pressed to my ear asking for money.

KROS has posted the audio from last week's candidate forum. MP3 Link.

Yes, I am in the phone book. I've spoken to both the Editor and the Publisher at the Clinton Herald, and I am convinced that they will do the right thing and print a prominent correction.

Just for fun!

This is available on a four-per-page, letter-sized download. If you have a color printer, print out five or six pages and you have 24 or so little goodies to drop in Trick-or-Treaters' bags. Along with candy of course! What do you take me for? Download PDF File here.

Go on, I dare ya!

Seriously, everyone have a safe and fun night. When you have three little ones with such vivid imaginations... Well, Halloween is a big deal in our house. Laura makes awesome costumes.

I almost missed the KROS forum this morning. It was at 9:00 not 9:30 as I had said. If you missed it too, KROS will re-run it at 12:30 on Sunday. Dave Vickers has also said they want to try to post an MP3 audio file. When they do, I'll have a link.

In other scheduling micues, tonight's Chamber Candidate's Forum is at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. Not 7:30. At least we'll all be on time for that one.