March 31, 2025 • 36 mins
Season 1, Episode 13: Indianola Mayor Steve Richardson joins "Indy Unplugged" for an in-depth conversation covering key topics as of late that are shaping the city's future.
In this episode, Mayor Richardson shares updates on the three City Manager finalists, where citizens are invited to a community meet-and-greet event on Tuesday, April 1, from 5:30-7 p.m. at Simpson College’s Hubbell Hall and have the opportunity to interact with the candidates and learn about the next steps in the selection process. The conversation also dives into the city's budget progress and timeline, including recapping the March 24 public hearing and the upcoming April 21 meeting, as well as as the latest regarding the at-large council member vacancy, with interviews scheduled for the Indianola City Council’s regular meeting on Monday, April 7.
Additionally, Mayor Richardson shares some fascinating fun facts about various city departments learned during departmental visits, offering a glimpse into the inner workings of local government.
Fast-forward to a specific topic covered:
- 00:00: Intro
- 00:42: Welcome
- 01:48: Mayor’s Memo
- 03:28: City Manager Finalists & Next Steps
- 13:13: City Budget Progress
- 23:19: At-Large Council Vacancy & Upcoming Process
- 27:21: Did You Know? Departmental Fun Facts
- 32:45: Final Thoughts & Reminders
- 35:18: Closing
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[Music]
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Welcome to Indy Unplugged,
the podcast that’syour front-row seat
to the real talkof Indianola.
I’m Aaron Young,your friendly neighborhood host,
and we’re diving deepinto unfiltered stories,
candid chats and the nitty grittyof our vibrant city.
Think of this as a crash coursein all things Indianola.
No fancy jargon,just real conversations.
(00:32):
So, get comfy,hit that play button
and let's explore the heart and soul of our community
on Indy Unplugged.
Hey, what’s up? Hello!
Welcome back to another episode of IndyUnplugged, a City of Indianola podcast.
And we are joined again today by IndianolaMayor Steve Richardson.
Mayor Richardson,
it's been quite an eventful pastfew weeks, especially from the
(00:56):
the budget progressand of course, our city manager finalists,
which we just recently announced.
Those three candidatesthat will be joining us here this week,
the week of March 31st.
First of all, just how are you doing?
How has, I guessnow this past month is serving as mayor?
How how has it been?
Well, it's been great.
It's, been a process for us.
I'm spendinga lot more time than I thought.
(01:18):
I made a comment at one of the meetingswhen I introduced myself
and I said, I thought I was retired,but I guess I'm not, and that's okay.
But no, it's been a wonderful process.
I think the things that we are doingcurrently in the city
have some great prospectsahead of us and opportunities ahead of us.
And as I've said before, Aaron, that, you know, sometimes
in our greatest, difficulties,sometimes are the greatest opportunities.
(01:39):
So I really see some good thingscoming down the road here.
Very positive about some of these things.
And I try to relay down in the mayor'smemo that I've been getting out, too.
So, yeah.
How we just recently also pushed outour second edition of the mayor's memo.
How has the feedbackbeen from the community members
and receiving that documentand the information that it contains?
Well, I've had a few people talk to me,but mostly I've had two business
(01:59):
owners in which they allow meto put that in there.
And I always ask,
I just don't
obviously throw them out there and say,hey, you know, I want to say and
but I let them look at itand see if they're okay with it.
I put it in their businesssomewhere, located there,
and there's a number of the restaurantsand eateries in town that have those.
And I,I get a lot of feedback from those folks,
and they read the documents and, they saythat, people read them all the time.
(02:21):
And I've had a couple folksin a couple of cafes and stuff
where I'm stopping inand delivering the new one.
They've said, hey,we really appreciate this. Thank you.
And so I think it's been positive.
It's been a positive reception.
And that's what I was attempting to doall along, is have positive feedback,
let the community know where we areand what we're doing, and,
just give them a broader sense of wherewe're headed.
(02:42):
That's great.
And the information
the mayor's memo can be accessthrough a number of different ways,
of course, in person at those businessesalong the square primarily,
but also it's availableon the city's website at
and, you know, iowa.gov
as well as our social media channelsSo make sure you're following the City
of Indianola on Facebook, Instagram,LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter slash X.
(03:04):
You can find that information,on those timelines.
But one of those topics,within the mayor's memo,
and of course, as we go into this weekis the announcement
of our three finalistsfor the vacant city manager position.
Tell listeners just how that processhas been these last few weeks
for yourself and for council, as wellas what's in stores for the week ahead.
(03:27):
Right.
So we, hired MGT,which was governor originally,
and they've changed their name to MGT.
It's a search firm.
We use them last time around,but this time
we were toldthat we have a lot better pool.
And I, as I look through that pool,not nothing
against the folksthat were applying before.
So but as we look throughthat pool are very strong candidates.
MGT narrowed it downbased on some criteria
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that they had shared from departmentheads, staff and council all about what
they would like to seein the next. Next city manager
narrowed it to 14 candidates.
We narrowed that to seven.
We interviewed to seven last week.
On we had the council meeting on Mondaynight and Tuesday night
and Wednesday night we spent on anadditional hours in the council chambers.
(04:09):
But that's that's what our job is.
And so,
we narrowed it down to three finalists,and I think we got three great candidates.
And I have to tell you, the final seven,we're all great candidates, too.
And, so I wouldn'tif they weren't part of that pool.
It's,
one of those situations.
I guess it just didn't happen.
But there were some great candidatesthere as well.
(04:29):
But the finalists, three finalistswe have,
I think are great candidatesfor City of Indianola.
Are there any specific qualitiesor traits of those three finalists
that really stick out in your mindthat shows that, hey, any one of
these leaders, they could really excelleading our city and our staff.
I agree, I think there is thereand I think you look at the
things that are in their resumesand that's available.
(04:51):
I believe too,
I believe it was,
the internal advocate added,I believe it's on our website as well.
And so that information is very,
very, available for folksif they want to search for it.
But what I found in those interviews were
that the interviewsgave us some information as to
what were key componentsof these individuals
(05:11):
and what they strivefor in those current communities.
I think probably across the board,
economic development was a big issuefor a lot of these three candidates.
I believe that was probably one of thethings that I don't know what the staff
and people in our organization had told meas far as what they were looking for.
But I know what the council was lookingfor, somebody
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that was strong in economic developmentbecause of all the projects
we've got goingon, as well as relationships
within their staffsthat they currently have,
and also the fact that they were leaders
in those communitiesand various ways, number of ways.
And the three are interesting individuals.
They all have different backgroundsthat bring them to the table for us.
(05:52):
But I'm very pleasedthat the three that we have
and I'm excitedto get a chance to see them in person
and how they interact with the community,
especially at the meet and greeton Tuesday night and tomorrow night
at 530 to 7 at Kent Center, Hubbell Hall,which is on second floor.
And just a refresher
for listeners within Indianola,this is the top leadership position
within the city of Indianolaorganizational structure.
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And they manage the day to dayoperations of the city
and ensuring that the policies
declared by the mayor in the IndianolaCity Council are fulfilled.
So they help prepare the annual budget.
They apply the ordinancesset by the council.
They hire personnel, recommend policiesor programs to the council.
They keep the council fullyadvised of the financial
and other conditions of the cityand they also provide
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the council with informationto aid in decision making.
And as Mayor Richardsonreferenced earlier, where there will be
that community meet and greet on Tuesday,April 1st from 530 to 7 p.m.
at Simpson College at the HubbellHall, second floor of the Kent
Campus Center, located at 701North C Street in Indianola.
(06:57):
Right. And there's a and that'sjust a part of the process to air.
And of course, they're coming in.
We have one coming in tonightfrom out of state.
And, and that's fine.
But on Tuesday, tomorrow,
what they're going to do is at noon,they start a three round rotation.
And so the three rotationswill be a community tour.
(07:17):
That's one part of the rotation.
Secondpart of the rotation is department staff.
And we felt it reallyimportant to align staff, actual people
working in the streets, in our buildings,doing our daily work.
And the daily taskswere part of this process.
I think they kind of got
left out a little bit last time,and I think that's really important.
They've all been there's been one person
chosen from each departmentto serve on that committee.
(07:39):
And then the third component is departmentheads.
And I know there's been some questionabout why I only have a community group
that's actually interviewing these folks.
Well, that'swhat the thing at 530 is all about.
You get a chance.
You really,literally get a chance to walk up and talk
to these people in a settingwhich is a little bit more casual.
But I really do think that's a wayfor you to tell as a person,
(08:00):
and I will take part in those as well.
I'll make the rounds
and it's an opportunity
to see how they interactwith daily citizens on a regular basis.
And I think that's a real important part.
It's not only what they say,but it's body language.
It's everything part of that,and I think that's really a key component,
about all of this.
And, I would tell you a quick story,
and if this is something you really don'twant to put in here, you can edit out.
(08:22):
But here's so my daughter one time on hervery first job interview,
she had a job interview for a companyin, Madison, Wisconsin, and called epic.
And it was a good job for her.
And it was paid really wellright out of college.
And and she said, well, they're calledthey called me up and want me
come up for an interview.
And of course,my wife is a recruiter for our company
for a number of years as well.
(08:43):
And so we're talking to her on the phoneand she goes, well, I don't know.
She and she says,
you know, they're going to pick me upand all these kind of things.
And my wife chimes in and says,
you do realize that the minute they pickyou up,
you are on quote on unquote,and they will evaluate
everything you do from the time you land
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and get off the airplaneuntil you get back on that airplane.
And she there was this long pauseon the other end of the line, and I said,
that's exactly right.
That's what's going to happen,and that's what's going to happen here.
From the minute they show up at Cityand City Hall until they leave on,
Wednesday morning,after we interview them,
they will be in front of people,whether it's the restaurants, whether it's
(09:26):
wherever it is, that's an opportunityfor people to talk to these folks.
So no pressure. No.
No pressure whatsoever. None. No.Absolutely not. No.
So it's, it's one of those thingsthat people just don't
realize that you have to look at a personin their in totality.
And I think the opportunities,
whether it's with a group of people
and getting them out of a settingwhere you got 6 or 8 people around a table
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and you're sitting there beinginterviewed, that's one part of the game.
But the other part of the game ishow do they interact with our staff
when they're there?How do they interact on the tour?
How do they interact with peopleat Hubbell Hall?
And, we have a meet and greet, tomorrow night.
That's a real part of it.
And, just tell you one more quick story.
We had some people come in.
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We were interviewing some folksfor particular functions within the city
as, companies were comingin, we had 4 or 5 companies come in.
And one of the things that
was really important,and it was a very vital part of that, is
how they interacted with our receptionwhen they came in.
In other words,how did they interact with the person
that was meeting them thereand talking with them and being at a desk?
(10:28):
And it was interesting to notethat there was only one company
that actually interacted and talkedand joked around with the person
behind the desk and actually showed themrespect for what they were doing,
even though that was that.
That's not considered in some cases,a high function
project or a personnel position.
But frankly and honestly,it was critical for us
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because that's part of the interviewprocess.
And peopledon't realize that sometimes either.
So every step that person makes here inthe community is going to be vital
in the decisions we make. Yeah.
And I think overall it's really neatfor our process
that there is that full representationof all these different stakeholders
from our elected officials and appointedofficials, to our frontline staff
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and department heads, to the communityat large and the business owners.
And so there really is
that full representation, albeitin this quick process this week.
Right.
But we're making the most of what we are able to control and, host and put on.
And I think overall there is going to bethat full representation
through every stepof that process. Exactly.
And I've been at I've beenin that situation as an interviewee
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and understanding that 24 hours you're
there is critical and it is exhausting.
I mean, you get done at the end of the dayand you just want to climb
in bed and sleep for 12 hours,but you can't because you got to be up 6
or 8 hours later and do the same processover for the remainder of the other day.
And and it is exhausting,but it also is a good way,
(11:54):
I think, for people to say whoyou really are,
and I it's
if we take full advantage of that processas a community, I think
we'll end up with a great candidateas our city manager.
Exactly.
And again, listeners, that communitymeet and greet one more time.
It is Tuesday, April 1st, starts at 530and we'll go on until 7:00 pm.
So again, 530 to 7 p.m.
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and that'll be hosted at the Hubbell Hallat Kent Campus Center
at Simpson College,located at 701 North Sea Street.
So there's going to be parking nearby.
Go into can't campus centerdoors, head up to the second floor.
And that'swhere the opportunity will be held.
And you can find all this informationonline on the city's website at WW.
(12:37):
And, you know, iowa.govbackslash city manager finalists.
And you can also find this informationon our social media channels as well.
Well, I would add one more thing too.
If you look on our websiteand see the pictures of these individuals
and you see them in a restaurantfor the next 2440 eight hours,
I wouldsuggest walk up, introduce yourselves
and see how they reactand listen my my phone numbers out there.
(13:00):
Give me a call if you see somethingor want to talk about it a little bit,
I'd be glad to talk to anybodyor email me one of the two.
That's fine as well.
And I think any feedbackwe get is important.
So I think that's critical. Exactly.A great reminder, mayor.
Kind of switching gears,we'll kind of focus now
more on our city budget and the progressthat's been made.
And it was last Monday,one of those council meetings.
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And at 6 p.m.
Monday, March 24th,the city held its required public budget
hearing to discuss the maximum leviesand spending.
Just to shed some lightinto how that meeting went and kind of
the components of those conversations.
So the state requires us to mail outdocuments from the state.
And I do have to say thatI'm not exactly happy with those documents
(13:42):
because they don't spell outthe entire process.
And it's just a very quick snapshot.
And everybody's taxes are different
from my mind to my neighborsto person across the street, anything.
So but based on that, we havewe are required
required by the stateto have a budget hearing.
That's what we had last Monday night.
(14:02):
We had two people, one person speak,
one person, sent in a document.
And we kind of quickly recapthat as well through the process.
We that's all we had or two people, butreally it's just a hearing on the maximum.
And the point
being that our real budget hearingis going to be April 21st,
(14:22):
that's when we really get downand talk about what we're going to cut,
what we're going to, we're goingto, keep and where we're going to head.
From that particular point.
I will emphasizewith the listeners, though, Erin, that
this is still a process
moving target,because as this current fiscal year
wraps up, as we move toward June 30th,there may be some more dollars saved.
(14:45):
And so that will change,what we need to have for the next year.
And so this meeting last Mondaynight was just simply setting a maximum
and will set a levy, on the 21st
and, will be the actual official action.
But again, we can make,
amendments tothat as we move down the process.
(15:05):
But that will be the maximum levythat will be charged.
But then as far as what we cutand what we keep, if we find more money
in the budget,there are things that we can look at.
In fact, I think we found about $80,000that we can probably recoup here
in a, in a near time,probably in the next fiscal year,
by doing some various things with,
things
that are paid to the city of Indianola.
(15:28):
And I think that, you know,if we can restore
$80,000, does that mean that money goesacross the board?
Every department is go to one department.
I think that in that particular case,the 80,000 can be spread
among a number of different departments,because that's that's where they're going
to get the moneysand that they collect anyway.
And so that may mean that they could add
1 or 2 things back, end of the process,whatever they're cutting out.
(15:52):
And I want to emphasize too,that you talked
a little bitabout the function of a city manager.
Some of these folks are what we call cityadministrators.
And sometimes in some of the citiesthe city administrator doesn't have.
And bring me back to the budgetwhen I get done with this.
But city administrators sometimes don'thave the functions of a city manager.
Does city manager in the cityof Indianola manages all departments?
(16:14):
Every department underthe city is under that city manager.
I am you separate?
That's a different subject. But
city administrators sometimes don'tmaybe don't handle the police department.
Maybe they don't do the fire department.
Maybe they have another departmentthey don't deal with
because they have their own boardsor whatever.
And so we're looking for a city managerto take and do all of those things,
(16:34):
and that to deal with every one of thosedepartments and staffs involved with that.
And then back to the role of the council,
the role of the mayor and the councilin that particular setting on
that structure is that the mayorand the city manager work together.
City, city council is one that sets policyand should set policy.
We don't want to get in the weedsin certain things.
(16:54):
And so, that's always kind of a learningexperience between a new city manager
and the council and the mayor about what,what's where that line is drawn.
And that'll be
that'll be somethingthat we have to kind of figure out
as we move down the pathsand where everything else.
But again,
that city manager that we're going to hire
here is a responsiblefor all of those things.
Having said all that, back to the budget.
(17:15):
I think there's going to be thingsthat we can find.
And we've talked a little bit,I believe, in the last podcast about
I have asked city department headsto find things in this current fiscal year
that they can maybe, give upand not spend money on.
Department has been great about that.
It's been wonderful.
We've found a significant numberof dollars that we're not going to spend
this current fiscal year,and we've got four months left here.
(17:37):
Well, about three and a half nowand actually about three, I guess.
But the point is that
we've got some dollars we've saved.
And so with that in mind,we might be able to resource restore
some things that we're going to talkabout cutting on April 21st.
And that's what I wantlisteners to understand is
there are a lot of thingswe're probably not going to get to
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because they just cost too much moneythis year.
But some things that maybe can be restoredpartially or in bits and pieces,
maybe things that we can doas that money comes back in and we restore
some of those budgets based on the dollarswe have available.
So it is a moving target, but the maximum
dollar amount will be set on the 21stand then the items we cut.
And these are the these are the things.
(18:18):
And again I want to let the departmentheads prioritize what they bring back.
If there's things they bring back.
And simply because I don't thinkthat's our job as a council,
we set the overall policy,we set the dollars
that we're going to collectand the dollars that we're going to spend.
But then how that department head
does that within their budgetis within their realm of responsibility.
So that's where we should be, and that'swhat we're going to do on the 21st.
(18:42):
Like you said, a very fluid situationin that, next meeting
regarding the budget, April 21st.
So please considerjoining us in the council chambers, 6 p.m.
April 21st.
And you can also join us from afar.
It'll be streamed on our Cityof Indianola YouTube channel.
But yeah, a very fluid situation.
And some of those cuts, you know,for the communications department
(19:03):
specifically, and just knowing the historyand the experience that I have.
You know, we recently, allocated dollarsto not print the City of New
Normal Spring issue of the magazine,which is roughly a
anywhere between a 12 to 15$16,000 savings.
So we're able to then save that moneyallocated to a different department
(19:23):
that may need it, and then circle back toas we look toward fiscal
year 2627, if it is an opportunityfor that publication to come back.
But even if it doesn't,we're still working behind the scenes
and refining our strategiesto still meet citizens where they are
and make sure that we are doing
everything we can in that space,especially in that print space to,
provide that content and that informationthat's so relevant in and much needed
(19:48):
across the board for our stakeholderand those respective departments.
So we're definitely trying to figurethings out as we go across the board.
But that's especially one examplefrom at least my, my territory that,
you know, thatthe impact that the community
will see now and,you know, in the weeks and months ahead
and that's and I want to mentionone thing that you just
you just said that you're puttingthat money back into the total budget,
(20:11):
total pie to be split upamong other departments.
And that is the great thing, Erin,that I see with all of our departments,
they've all made those sacrificeswith the idea in mind
that it's going to benefit all of us.
It's not you know, there may be somethingthat I can put off this year,
but it's a critical functionthat another department needs.
And if I can move that money over to them,we maintain that critical function.
And that's when I talk about the factthat we have a great staff in this city.
(20:34):
I mean, things like that where it's
selfless sacrifice in their departments.
It's not a silo, it's a it's a,
it's a community organizationthat's there to work with everybody.
And I reallyI can't applaud our staff enough for that.
And I know maybe people get tired of mesaying that.
But listen, it's not many places you find.
And I you know,I've worked in the private sector
(20:56):
for 20 years, and there were alwayspeople that, you know, this is my budget.
You're not touching it.I'm going to do this.
I didn't see that this time around.
I saw the department headsand I didn't see it.
I've not seen it before here either.
I just want to make that clear.
And it's been selfless sacrificefor the good of the entire organization.
And I do appreciate that.And I know the council does too. Yeah.
I just think that's it'sthe attitude that we all have.
(21:18):
You know, this is a unique budget cyclebecause of House file 718 and,
you know, some other componentsthat kind of boil down into the, the,
the situation that we're in.
But we are through the work of departmentheads and,
you know, you had council members soand sit in on the department head meetings
as well as as well as CityTreasurer Doug Shore.
And with where we're at rightnow, going to April 21st, we are
(21:40):
you know, we're doing well.
We are we'rewe're it's still a work in progress.
We've still got some work to make up.
And, and we're going to probably,
spend down a little bit of the reserveto get us to that point.
But I just want to saythat we think that through the fiscal year
26, starting July 1st,that there's going to be some revenues
that maybe we are going to put in placethat we can do to collect
(22:03):
some additional revenues.
And I think that is going to help usbring that down.
And maybe not even,I want to say not spend that, reserve,
but we're going to get to a point where
I think it's going to help the reserveand actually,
give us the opportunity to have a littlemore, cushion in some of our spending.
And so, listen,
(22:24):
I've been at the state level.
I've been city level,
probably the most effective governmentyou're going to have is at the city level
because of the fact and probably countyand school district, too, because they're
they are beholding to the local taxpayers
and we don't spend money for obviously,I don't think I, I joked,
I got some council members that squeakwhen they walk, but I appreciate that,
(22:46):
I really do, and they're pretty tightwith their dollars and I am to
I think that, people have to realizethat there's not much left to cut.
There's no fat out there, you know,and you may see
some people,you know, in certain situations,
you're kind of questioning, well,why aren't they here?
Or why aren't they doing thisor doing that?
But believe me, there's reasons why we dothe things we do, whether it's OSHA rules
(23:09):
or federal policies or state policiesthat we have to follow, too.
But I got to tell you,there's just no fat.
There's not fat,there's not any fat left in this budget.
I got to be honest with you.
yeah, one of thing I want to focus in on,and Is the, appointment
of an at large city council member. Right.
So, that deadline for the At-Large CityCouncil member applications was 4 p.m.
(23:29):
last Friday, March 28th,and we ended up having five candidates
apply to go through that process.
So, those five candidateswill are invited to participate
in interviews with, yourself and councilon Monday, April 7th, I believe.
I mean, the meeting starts at 6 p.m.,but very shortly thereafter.
Just talk about that process.
(23:49):
I mean, you were just recently on itfrom the the mayor appointment side.
What should listeners know about that,how that all works and operates?
Well, I think that, it was a good processthat, the candidates
go to a separate roomand they call people in and one at a time,
and let them tell why they should be the, appointee.
Of course,
citizens still have the opportunityto ask for a reverse referendum, but
(24:12):
right now, when you've gotmaybe six months left in this term,
it will be a little more outor about eight months out, nine months.
But it doesn't make a lot of senseto spend $20,000.
But we've been cutting everythingwe can possibly cut here on an election.
But that's the citizens choice.
If they get a petition up
and they want to have a vote,and that's to where we're going to go.
But the other sideof that is, disappointment.
(24:34):
The term would end at the end
of this year, calendaryear, December 31st.
And if they choose to run againand are elected,
then that's another story as well.
But I really think it's a good processfor us to have an opportunity to, to
to listen to these peopleand see why they want to be,
city manageror city council member at large.
And, it's and I would encourage peopleto come out or talk with these people.
(24:57):
I think, that information is online,if I'm not mistaken, and
you have an opportunity to talk with them,I hope that each one of those candidates
comes to the meet and greet,tomorrow night
and has an opportunityto talk with city managers,
and see if their style fits with, their,their personal beliefs.
And I just think that's an importantprocess, too.
(25:18):
Might be one of the questions we ask him.
Did you go to the meet and greet or.
We'll probably see them.We know who they are.
We'll see them there.
And so I don't have a problemwith that either.
But I think they justthey need to be participatory.
Seen a number of themin our council meetings and that's good
I appreciate that.
Yeah.
So on Monday, April 7th,those five candidates will interview
and then likely have council go throughand potentially appoint
(25:40):
an individual that night.
Or they can always hold ituntil the next meeting.
But it seems likejust like the last process,
they'll likelymake their decision that night
and make that appointmentduring that time correct.
And because there's five council members,even though there's only five council
members,I don't get a vote, which is okay.
I knew that when I,
when I signed up for this, this spot,but there has to be four of them.
(26:01):
Agree on it and hopefully it's unanimous.
But, I think the intent isthat we can get through that process.
So state law requires us to hold a hearing
and appointment, make the appointment,and then we have to adjourn the meeting.
And then I can swear that person.
Then at that point in time,
so they actually are not going to be ableto make any decisions
(26:21):
on that April 7th meeting.
But so the process would beif we come to a consensus on that evening,
then, after the meeting is adjourned,then I will
sort of that person into the cityman or city council's position.
So, yeah, got a lot of openings here.
So I'm going to get in city council,city manager.
I got to be careful with that. Yeah. Yeah.
Well yeah.
Listening as you can find that informationon the city's website.
(26:42):
Go to Indianola, iowa.govand then search for council vacancy.
And there's a dedicated page therethat was, intended for applicants, but
also for, rather interested applicants,but also for the community at large.
So you can go throughand find that information.
And of course, you can learn moreabout the candidates from our local media
partners, specifically with the animalIndependent Advocate and K and Nia,
(27:07):
and of course, the agendas for,The next council meeting on Monday,
April 7th will be published in advance,likely later in the, late afternoon
early evening on this comingThursday, April 3rd.
Well, switching gears,one of the other topics that you addressed
in your latest mayor's memo is fun factsabout our department.
(27:28):
So as you went aboutand did your departmental visits,
you probably heard, you know,some information and some fun facts
that you've it was a refresheror was the first time you've heard this.
And so what were the two in particularthat we included in the mayor's memo that
that stuck out for you?
Well, so the two that I and I,
I have to say that I just recently beento those department meetings and,
(27:50):
interim City Manager Doug Boylanand I have been every department but one.
We've got one more leftand, they all throw things at us
quick and fast about what they doand why they're,
you know, they're they're needed,and I get it.
But, the library and the, wastewater
treatment facility, had some thingsthat I thought were pretty interesting.
(28:10):
We were out at the,
new treatment
plant and talking with their staff,and they were talking about the rain.
We had over two days last summerwhere we had over ten inches of rain
and historic rain. Historic rain. Exactly.
And that plant was designed to run,
well, little over 12 million gallons,maybe 13 or 14 million gallons a day.
(28:31):
We normally run anywhere from,you know, it's it's a lot less than that.
2 million, maybe,or a little more than that.
And don't hold me to that number.
But there's timeswhen I was out there on a tour,
probably year and a half ago,
and they werethey were only using half the plant.
And so they use half the plant for a weekand switch it over to the other half.
So thingskept running and operating properly.
(28:53):
And so this timethey were running the entire plant
for 24 hours straight, and Amanda,for 24 hours straight, they were running
12 million gallons a day,so have about 24 million gallons of water.
Actually,is a little more in 24 hours, about 36.
And they ran that throughand it was interesting.
One of the guys said, this plant actuallyvibrates when it's running that many.
(29:16):
You know, you actually hear in your field
the vibration of everythingrunning and moving.
And and it was pretty interesting.
And to the fact that we processed
12 million gallonsof, of, stormwater, wastewater,
all of those kinds of things, stormwaterwe normally don't process.
But, you know, we still have some influxin some of our older systems.
(29:36):
And, that is just incredible amountof water that's run through that system.
But think about this as well.
We that means our, our point wherewe discharge that is in the middle River.
And I often think about the waterwe discharge is a heck of a lot cleaner
than what comes in the river.
But, I mean, 12 million gallons of waterin a middle river.
(29:58):
I don't know how much to what the flow isof of that thing, what that river is,
but it's got to be a lotless than that on a normal basis.
But that was interesting.
The other thing with a libraryis that all of the things that they do,
I got to tellyou, I didn't realize all the programs
that they do with kids and everythingelse.
It's got to be 2 or 3 programs a daywith the numbers they've got
and the numbers of books and e-booksand things that they have available.
(30:20):
And it was just it was justa really interesting learning experience.
I'm hoping I get some information
for the next, mayor's memo.
I want to
peoplehave always talked about traffic cameras
and stuff,and I want to get some information
from the police departmenton our flock cameras.
Those don't record speed.
They don't give you traffic citationsbased on that,
(30:40):
the flock cameras are only thereto pick up license plates of people.
They pick up all license plates,and they only saw them for a short
period of time.
But what it does is a great example.
Was the gentleman from, southern eyedlittle southern Missouri had dementia.
He was there was a,
warningout to everybody to look for this car.
(31:02):
And we actually picked up the car
with the flock camera,and our officer stopped him north of town,
and, got him back to his family,and he didn't know where he was.
And there's just things like that.
We've stolen carspeople wanted on warrants.
I mean,
I, like, give some numbersfrom our police department,
maybe put that in the next one.
Also, number of in of cases our firedepartment deals with in a year's time.
(31:23):
I think last year we just under 3000pretty close to 3000 calls a year,
which is incredible.
Number of calls.
And so I want to get some more informationput together on that
and put it in the next mayor's memo.
Yeah.
No, a bunch of different and various,did you know, facts and just information
to continue to educate, inform, influenceand showcase
(31:44):
the the breadth of both knowledgeand expertise that our department staff
in the community in turn,are able to benefit from?
Absolutely. And it's
it's is amazingthat again, I just goes back to staff
we have and the things that they doon a regular basis.
And it just doesn't
only those four departments,there's things that your department does.
(32:04):
There's a lot of things that you guys do,and there's a lot of things that
all the other departments do as wellthat we really don't see on a daily basis.
And it's informationthat, I think is important.
One of the things I did want to talkwith Jason Holder a little bit about was,
you know, the number of,
scams or phishing things
or other kinds of emailsor things that we get
(32:28):
kept out of our email system.
And I don't knowif he's got numbers on that,
but that would be kind ofinteresting information too.
So, yeah, I think like that.
I think Jason or my Lisa, both of themare able to pull that information.
I'm sure they probably are. Yeah, yeah.
Since they help an old dinosaurlike me with internet.
So that's okay.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Well, mayor, before we wrap things up,is there anything else you'd like to share
(32:49):
as we, especially as we go into this, this big week with our city manager
finalists or just anything on the horizonthat the city can look forward to.
Well, I do want folks to realize that if we do get an agreement
with, one of these individuals
to become our city manager,it's probably going to be 30 to 45 days.
I don't know what their current contractsrequire them to be released
(33:10):
from their jobs,and it may be a 30 day minimum.
So we're probably not going to havethis individual as our city manager
until middle of May would be my guessat the earliest.
And so in the meantime, interim CityManager Doug Billings doing a great job.
I'm sure we'll have a lot of conversations
with the incoming personabout what's going on and,
and share what we can do and maybeget some ideas what their thoughts are
(33:34):
and some of the decisionsthat we have to make as we move forward.
But I do think that it is an excitingI mean, I'm excited about it.
I, I think that it's just an opportunityfor us to take a fresh
look at a lot of different thingsand have somebody come in
from the outside and say, well,have you thought about doing this?
And we can say to them,if you thought about doing this,
and I think there's
a way that it will melt intowhat's it typically and, and Indianola.
(33:56):
So, I'm looking forwardto that aspect of it as well.
And then, just the factthat we are closing out the fiscal year
and I'm interested to seehow we end up with that, what kind of job
the staffs have done and,and creating opportunities for us
in different areas,even though it's a diminished budget.
And so that's an important thing too,
(34:17):
a couple of other thingsI'm kind of trying to get set up.
I don't know, I needed a little more, discussion with a number of people,
but I do want to have kind of a
roundtable with some of the businesses,or I open roundtable with businesses
and as many as the city council as we canand, have an open meeting about,
you know, talk to usabout what's going on.
And the other thing I want to do to it,
(34:38):
it's probably afterthe legislative session is over,
which kind of was unfortunate,but I'm I'm still looking
at some legislative issuesthat are coming down.
It's going to be harmful again.
But I want to get our state legislators inand maybe or even our federal
legislators in the sense that we just needto have a community meeting
and let people know how
thingsare actually affecting us as a city.
(35:00):
And whether or not, there's some thingsthat maybe we can work together with them
to make their,their, jobs a little easier,
but also make it easier on usto find other ways
to deal with revenues or expendituresor whatever the case may be.
So those are some things downthe road. But again, that's
a couple months out.
So Well, mayor,
if there's nothing else,
I just want to thank you again, as always,for hopping on for this episode.
(35:23):
Well, maybe people are goingto get tired of hearing me.
I don't know, I'malways. I'm always willing to come on.
And I know Andrew, okay.
And he's been good aboutwant me to come in and talk about,
council meeting after we have it and,and I'm sure that we'll get called in
after theafter the city manager, process.
And that's fine too.
I'm always willing and and, able to talk
to people about this, informationand get it out there as much as we can.
(35:44):
Yeah. No,there's a thirst for this information.
Of course, across the board.
And we just always appreciateour listeners by sharing their comments
and the reviews for each and every episodethat we put out for Indy Unplugged.
And yeah, just make sure you continueto hit that subscribe button.
Follow along in our journey.
This is going to be a big,
big week for the city of Indianola aswe go through that city manager process.
(36:06):
And again, just going to share that dateone more time.
That community meet and greet is tomorrownight, Tuesday, April 1st,
from 5:30 p.m.
to 7 p.m.
over at Hubbard Hall at the Campus Center,
at Simpson College's campus at 701North C Street, Indianola.
Well, again, mayor, thank you so much.
And who knows, maybe next time, listeners,you can be a future
(36:26):
guest of Indy Unplugged.
[Music]
(00:11):
Welcome to Indy Unplugged,
the podcast that’syour front-row seat
to the real talkof Indianola.
I’m Aaron Young,your friendly neighborhood host,
and we’re diving deepinto unfiltered stories,
candid chats and the nitty grittyof our vibrant city.
Think of this as a crash coursein all things Indianola.
No fancy jargon,just real conversations.
(00:32):
So, get comfy,hit that play button
and let's explore the heart and soul of our community
on Indy Unplugged.
Hey, what’s up? Hello!
Welcome back to another episode of IndyUnplugged, a City of Indianola podcast.
And we are joined again today by IndianolaMayor Steve Richardson.
Mayor Richardson,
it's been quite an eventful pastfew weeks, especially from the
(00:56):
the budget progressand of course, our city manager finalists,
which we just recently announced.
Those three candidatesthat will be joining us here this week,
the week of March 31st.
First of all, just how are you doing?
How has, I guessnow this past month is serving as mayor?
How how has it been?
Well, it's been great.
It's, been a process for us.
I'm spendinga lot more time than I thought.
(01:18):
I made a comment at one of the meetingswhen I introduced myself
and I said, I thought I was retired,but I guess I'm not, and that's okay.
But no, it's been a wonderful process.
I think the things that we are doingcurrently in the city
have some great prospectsahead of us and opportunities ahead of us.
And as I've said before, Aaron, that, you know, sometimes
in our greatest, difficulties,sometimes are the greatest opportunities.
(01:39):
So I really see some good thingscoming down the road here.
Very positive about some of these things.
And I try to relay down in the mayor'smemo that I've been getting out, too.
So, yeah.
How we just recently also pushed outour second edition of the mayor's memo.
How has the feedbackbeen from the community members
and receiving that documentand the information that it contains?
Well, I've had a few people talk to me,but mostly I've had two business
(01:59):
owners in which they allow meto put that in there.
And I always ask,
I just don't
obviously throw them out there and say,hey, you know, I want to say and
but I let them look at itand see if they're okay with it.
I put it in their businesssomewhere, located there,
and there's a number of the restaurantsand eateries in town that have those.
And I,I get a lot of feedback from those folks,
and they read the documents and, they saythat, people read them all the time.
(02:21):
And I've had a couple folksin a couple of cafes and stuff
where I'm stopping inand delivering the new one.
They've said, hey,we really appreciate this. Thank you.
And so I think it's been positive.
It's been a positive reception.
And that's what I was attempting to doall along, is have positive feedback,
let the community know where we areand what we're doing, and,
just give them a broader sense of wherewe're headed.
(02:42):
That's great.
And the information
the mayor's memo can be accessthrough a number of different ways,
of course, in person at those businessesalong the square primarily,
but also it's availableon the city's website at
and, you know, iowa.gov
as well as our social media channelsSo make sure you're following the City
of Indianola on Facebook, Instagram,LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter slash X.
(03:04):
You can find that information,on those timelines.
But one of those topics,within the mayor's memo,
and of course, as we go into this weekis the announcement
of our three finalistsfor the vacant city manager position.
Tell listeners just how that processhas been these last few weeks
for yourself and for council, as wellas what's in stores for the week ahead.
(03:27):
Right.
So we, hired MGT,which was governor originally,
and they've changed their name to MGT.
It's a search firm.
We use them last time around,but this time
we were toldthat we have a lot better pool.
And I, as I look through that pool,not nothing
against the folksthat were applying before.
So but as we look throughthat pool are very strong candidates.
MGT narrowed it downbased on some criteria
(03:48):
that they had shared from departmentheads, staff and council all about what
they would like to seein the next. Next city manager
narrowed it to 14 candidates.
We narrowed that to seven.
We interviewed to seven last week.
On we had the council meeting on Mondaynight and Tuesday night
and Wednesday night we spent on anadditional hours in the council chambers.
(04:09):
But that's that's what our job is.
And so,
we narrowed it down to three finalists,and I think we got three great candidates.
And I have to tell you, the final seven,we're all great candidates, too.
And, so I wouldn'tif they weren't part of that pool.
It's,
one of those situations.
I guess it just didn't happen.
But there were some great candidatesthere as well.
(04:29):
But the finalists, three finalistswe have,
I think are great candidatesfor City of Indianola.
Are there any specific qualitiesor traits of those three finalists
that really stick out in your mindthat shows that, hey, any one of
these leaders, they could really excelleading our city and our staff.
I agree, I think there is thereand I think you look at the
things that are in their resumesand that's available.
(04:51):
I believe too,
I believe it was,
the internal advocate added,I believe it's on our website as well.
And so that information is very,
very, available for folksif they want to search for it.
But what I found in those interviews were
that the interviewsgave us some information as to
what were key componentsof these individuals
(05:11):
and what they strivefor in those current communities.
I think probably across the board,
economic development was a big issuefor a lot of these three candidates.
I believe that was probably one of thethings that I don't know what the staff
and people in our organization had told meas far as what they were looking for.
But I know what the council was lookingfor, somebody
(05:32):
that was strong in economic developmentbecause of all the projects
we've got goingon, as well as relationships
within their staffsthat they currently have,
and also the fact that they were leaders
in those communitiesand various ways, number of ways.
And the three are interesting individuals.
They all have different backgroundsthat bring them to the table for us.
(05:52):
But I'm very pleasedthat the three that we have
and I'm excitedto get a chance to see them in person
and how they interact with the community,
especially at the meet and greeton Tuesday night and tomorrow night
at 530 to 7 at Kent Center, Hubbell Hall,which is on second floor.
And just a refresher
for listeners within Indianola,this is the top leadership position
within the city of Indianolaorganizational structure.
(06:14):
And they manage the day to dayoperations of the city
and ensuring that the policies
declared by the mayor in the IndianolaCity Council are fulfilled.
So they help prepare the annual budget.
They apply the ordinancesset by the council.
They hire personnel, recommend policiesor programs to the council.
They keep the council fullyadvised of the financial
and other conditions of the cityand they also provide
(06:37):
the council with informationto aid in decision making.
And as Mayor Richardsonreferenced earlier, where there will be
that community meet and greet on Tuesday,April 1st from 530 to 7 p.m.
at Simpson College at the HubbellHall, second floor of the Kent
Campus Center, located at 701North C Street in Indianola.
(06:57):
Right. And there's a and that'sjust a part of the process to air.
And of course, they're coming in.
We have one coming in tonightfrom out of state.
And, and that's fine.
But on Tuesday, tomorrow,
what they're going to do is at noon,they start a three round rotation.
And so the three rotationswill be a community tour.
(07:17):
That's one part of the rotation.
Secondpart of the rotation is department staff.
And we felt it reallyimportant to align staff, actual people
working in the streets, in our buildings,doing our daily work.
And the daily taskswere part of this process.
I think they kind of got
left out a little bit last time,and I think that's really important.
They've all been there's been one person
chosen from each departmentto serve on that committee.
(07:39):
And then the third component is departmentheads.
And I know there's been some questionabout why I only have a community group
that's actually interviewing these folks.
Well, that'swhat the thing at 530 is all about.
You get a chance.
You really,literally get a chance to walk up and talk
to these people in a settingwhich is a little bit more casual.
But I really do think that's a wayfor you to tell as a person,
(08:00):
and I will take part in those as well.
I'll make the rounds
and it's an opportunity
to see how they interactwith daily citizens on a regular basis.
And I think that's a real important part.
It's not only what they say,but it's body language.
It's everything part of that,and I think that's really a key component,
about all of this.
And, I would tell you a quick story,
and if this is something you really don'twant to put in here, you can edit out.
(08:22):
But here's so my daughter one time on hervery first job interview,
she had a job interview for a companyin, Madison, Wisconsin, and called epic.
And it was a good job for her.
And it was paid really wellright out of college.
And and she said, well, they're calledthey called me up and want me
come up for an interview.
And of course,my wife is a recruiter for our company
for a number of years as well.
(08:43):
And so we're talking to her on the phoneand she goes, well, I don't know.
She and she says,
you know, they're going to pick me upand all these kind of things.
And my wife chimes in and says,
you do realize that the minute they pickyou up,
you are on quote on unquote,and they will evaluate
everything you do from the time you land
(09:04):
and get off the airplaneuntil you get back on that airplane.
And she there was this long pauseon the other end of the line, and I said,
that's exactly right.
That's what's going to happen,and that's what's going to happen here.
From the minute they show up at Cityand City Hall until they leave on,
Wednesday morning,after we interview them,
they will be in front of people,whether it's the restaurants, whether it's
(09:26):
wherever it is, that's an opportunityfor people to talk to these folks.
So no pressure. No.
No pressure whatsoever. None. No.Absolutely not. No.
So it's, it's one of those thingsthat people just don't
realize that you have to look at a personin their in totality.
And I think the opportunities,
whether it's with a group of people
and getting them out of a settingwhere you got 6 or 8 people around a table
(09:46):
and you're sitting there beinginterviewed, that's one part of the game.
But the other part of the game ishow do they interact with our staff
when they're there?How do they interact on the tour?
How do they interact with peopleat Hubbell Hall?
And, we have a meet and greet, tomorrow night.
That's a real part of it.
And, just tell you one more quick story.
We had some people come in.
(10:07):
We were interviewing some folksfor particular functions within the city
as, companies were comingin, we had 4 or 5 companies come in.
And one of the things that
was really important,and it was a very vital part of that, is
how they interacted with our receptionwhen they came in.
In other words,how did they interact with the person
that was meeting them thereand talking with them and being at a desk?
(10:28):
And it was interesting to notethat there was only one company
that actually interacted and talkedand joked around with the person
behind the desk and actually showed themrespect for what they were doing,
even though that was that.
That's not considered in some cases,a high function
project or a personnel position.
But frankly and honestly,it was critical for us
(10:48):
because that's part of the interviewprocess.
And peopledon't realize that sometimes either.
So every step that person makes here inthe community is going to be vital
in the decisions we make. Yeah.
And I think overall it's really neatfor our process
that there is that full representationof all these different stakeholders
from our elected officials and appointedofficials, to our frontline staff
(11:10):
and department heads, to the communityat large and the business owners.
And so there really is
that full representation, albeitin this quick process this week.
Right.
But we're making the most of what we are able to control and, host and put on.
And I think overall there is going to bethat full representation
through every stepof that process. Exactly.
And I've been at I've beenin that situation as an interviewee
(11:32):
and understanding that 24 hours you're
there is critical and it is exhausting.
I mean, you get done at the end of the dayand you just want to climb
in bed and sleep for 12 hours,but you can't because you got to be up 6
or 8 hours later and do the same processover for the remainder of the other day.
And and it is exhausting,but it also is a good way,
(11:54):
I think, for people to say whoyou really are,
and I it's
if we take full advantage of that processas a community, I think
we'll end up with a great candidateas our city manager.
Exactly.
And again, listeners, that communitymeet and greet one more time.
It is Tuesday, April 1st, starts at 530and we'll go on until 7:00 pm.
So again, 530 to 7 p.m.
(12:16):
and that'll be hosted at the Hubbell Hallat Kent Campus Center
at Simpson College,located at 701 North Sea Street.
So there's going to be parking nearby.
Go into can't campus centerdoors, head up to the second floor.
And that'swhere the opportunity will be held.
And you can find all this informationonline on the city's website at WW.
(12:37):
And, you know, iowa.govbackslash city manager finalists.
And you can also find this informationon our social media channels as well.
Well, I would add one more thing too.
If you look on our websiteand see the pictures of these individuals
and you see them in a restaurantfor the next 2440 eight hours,
I wouldsuggest walk up, introduce yourselves
and see how they reactand listen my my phone numbers out there.
(13:00):
Give me a call if you see somethingor want to talk about it a little bit,
I'd be glad to talk to anybodyor email me one of the two.
That's fine as well.
And I think any feedbackwe get is important.
So I think that's critical. Exactly.A great reminder, mayor.
Kind of switching gears,we'll kind of focus now
more on our city budget and the progressthat's been made.
And it was last Monday,one of those council meetings.
(13:20):
And at 6 p.m.
Monday, March 24th,the city held its required public budget
hearing to discuss the maximum leviesand spending.
Just to shed some lightinto how that meeting went and kind of
the components of those conversations.
So the state requires us to mail outdocuments from the state.
And I do have to say thatI'm not exactly happy with those documents
(13:42):
because they don't spell outthe entire process.
And it's just a very quick snapshot.
And everybody's taxes are different
from my mind to my neighborsto person across the street, anything.
So but based on that, we havewe are required
required by the stateto have a budget hearing.
That's what we had last Monday night.
(14:02):
We had two people, one person speak,
one person, sent in a document.
And we kind of quickly recapthat as well through the process.
We that's all we had or two people, butreally it's just a hearing on the maximum.
And the point
being that our real budget hearingis going to be April 21st,
(14:22):
that's when we really get downand talk about what we're going to cut,
what we're going to, we're goingto, keep and where we're going to head.
From that particular point.
I will emphasizewith the listeners, though, Erin, that
this is still a process
moving target,because as this current fiscal year
wraps up, as we move toward June 30th,there may be some more dollars saved.
(14:45):
And so that will change,what we need to have for the next year.
And so this meeting last Mondaynight was just simply setting a maximum
and will set a levy, on the 21st
and, will be the actual official action.
But again, we can make,
amendments tothat as we move down the process.
(15:05):
But that will be the maximum levythat will be charged.
But then as far as what we cutand what we keep, if we find more money
in the budget,there are things that we can look at.
In fact, I think we found about $80,000that we can probably recoup here
in a, in a near time,probably in the next fiscal year,
by doing some various things with,
things
that are paid to the city of Indianola.
(15:28):
And I think that, you know,if we can restore
$80,000, does that mean that money goesacross the board?
Every department is go to one department.
I think that in that particular case,the 80,000 can be spread
among a number of different departments,because that's that's where they're going
to get the moneysand that they collect anyway.
And so that may mean that they could add
1 or 2 things back, end of the process,whatever they're cutting out.
(15:52):
And I want to emphasize too,that you talked
a little bitabout the function of a city manager.
Some of these folks are what we call cityadministrators.
And sometimes in some of the citiesthe city administrator doesn't have.
And bring me back to the budgetwhen I get done with this.
But city administrators sometimes don'thave the functions of a city manager.
Does city manager in the cityof Indianola manages all departments?
(16:14):
Every department underthe city is under that city manager.
I am you separate?
That's a different subject. But
city administrators sometimes don'tmaybe don't handle the police department.
Maybe they don't do the fire department.
Maybe they have another departmentthey don't deal with
because they have their own boardsor whatever.
And so we're looking for a city managerto take and do all of those things,
(16:34):
and that to deal with every one of thosedepartments and staffs involved with that.
And then back to the role of the council,
the role of the mayor and the councilin that particular setting on
that structure is that the mayorand the city manager work together.
City, city council is one that sets policyand should set policy.
We don't want to get in the weedsin certain things.
(16:54):
And so, that's always kind of a learningexperience between a new city manager
and the council and the mayor about what,what's where that line is drawn.
And that'll be
that'll be somethingthat we have to kind of figure out
as we move down the pathsand where everything else.
But again,
that city manager that we're going to hire
here is a responsiblefor all of those things.
Having said all that, back to the budget.
(17:15):
I think there's going to be thingsthat we can find.
And we've talked a little bit,I believe, in the last podcast about
I have asked city department headsto find things in this current fiscal year
that they can maybe, give upand not spend money on.
Department has been great about that.
It's been wonderful.
We've found a significant numberof dollars that we're not going to spend
this current fiscal year,and we've got four months left here.
(17:37):
Well, about three and a half nowand actually about three, I guess.
But the point is that
we've got some dollars we've saved.
And so with that in mind,we might be able to resource restore
some things that we're going to talkabout cutting on April 21st.
And that's what I wantlisteners to understand is
there are a lot of thingswe're probably not going to get to
(17:57):
because they just cost too much moneythis year.
But some things that maybe can be restoredpartially or in bits and pieces,
maybe things that we can doas that money comes back in and we restore
some of those budgets based on the dollarswe have available.
So it is a moving target, but the maximum
dollar amount will be set on the 21stand then the items we cut.
And these are the these are the things.
(18:18):
And again I want to let the departmentheads prioritize what they bring back.
If there's things they bring back.
And simply because I don't thinkthat's our job as a council,
we set the overall policy,we set the dollars
that we're going to collectand the dollars that we're going to spend.
But then how that department head
does that within their budgetis within their realm of responsibility.
So that's where we should be, and that'swhat we're going to do on the 21st.
(18:42):
Like you said, a very fluid situationin that, next meeting
regarding the budget, April 21st.
So please considerjoining us in the council chambers, 6 p.m.
April 21st.
And you can also join us from afar.
It'll be streamed on our Cityof Indianola YouTube channel.
But yeah, a very fluid situation.
And some of those cuts, you know,for the communications department
(19:03):
specifically, and just knowing the historyand the experience that I have.
You know, we recently, allocated dollarsto not print the City of New
Normal Spring issue of the magazine,which is roughly a
anywhere between a 12 to 15$16,000 savings.
So we're able to then save that moneyallocated to a different department
(19:23):
that may need it, and then circle back toas we look toward fiscal
year 2627, if it is an opportunityfor that publication to come back.
But even if it doesn't,we're still working behind the scenes
and refining our strategiesto still meet citizens where they are
and make sure that we are doing
everything we can in that space,especially in that print space to,
provide that content and that informationthat's so relevant in and much needed
(19:48):
across the board for our stakeholderand those respective departments.
So we're definitely trying to figurethings out as we go across the board.
But that's especially one examplefrom at least my, my territory that,
you know, thatthe impact that the community
will see now and,you know, in the weeks and months ahead
and that's and I want to mentionone thing that you just
you just said that you're puttingthat money back into the total budget,
(20:11):
total pie to be split upamong other departments.
And that is the great thing, Erin,that I see with all of our departments,
they've all made those sacrificeswith the idea in mind
that it's going to benefit all of us.
It's not you know, there may be somethingthat I can put off this year,
but it's a critical functionthat another department needs.
And if I can move that money over to them,we maintain that critical function.
And that's when I talk about the factthat we have a great staff in this city.
(20:34):
I mean, things like that where it's
selfless sacrifice in their departments.
It's not a silo, it's a it's a,
it's a community organizationthat's there to work with everybody.
And I reallyI can't applaud our staff enough for that.
And I know maybe people get tired of mesaying that.
But listen, it's not many places you find.
And I you know,I've worked in the private sector
(20:56):
for 20 years, and there were alwayspeople that, you know, this is my budget.
You're not touching it.I'm going to do this.
I didn't see that this time around.
I saw the department headsand I didn't see it.
I've not seen it before here either.
I just want to make that clear.
And it's been selfless sacrificefor the good of the entire organization.
And I do appreciate that.And I know the council does too. Yeah.
I just think that's it'sthe attitude that we all have.
(21:18):
You know, this is a unique budget cyclebecause of House file 718 and,
you know, some other componentsthat kind of boil down into the, the,
the situation that we're in.
But we are through the work of departmentheads and,
you know, you had council members soand sit in on the department head meetings
as well as as well as CityTreasurer Doug Shore.
And with where we're at rightnow, going to April 21st, we are
(21:40):
you know, we're doing well.
We are we'rewe're it's still a work in progress.
We've still got some work to make up.
And, and we're going to probably,
spend down a little bit of the reserveto get us to that point.
But I just want to saythat we think that through the fiscal year
26, starting July 1st,that there's going to be some revenues
that maybe we are going to put in placethat we can do to collect
(22:03):
some additional revenues.
And I think that is going to help usbring that down.
And maybe not even,I want to say not spend that, reserve,
but we're going to get to a point where
I think it's going to help the reserveand actually,
give us the opportunity to have a littlemore, cushion in some of our spending.
And so, listen,
(22:24):
I've been at the state level.
I've been city level,
probably the most effective governmentyou're going to have is at the city level
because of the fact and probably countyand school district, too, because they're
they are beholding to the local taxpayers
and we don't spend money for obviously,I don't think I, I joked,
I got some council members that squeakwhen they walk, but I appreciate that,
(22:46):
I really do, and they're pretty tightwith their dollars and I am to
I think that, people have to realizethat there's not much left to cut.
There's no fat out there, you know,and you may see
some people,you know, in certain situations,
you're kind of questioning, well,why aren't they here?
Or why aren't they doing thisor doing that?
But believe me, there's reasons why we dothe things we do, whether it's OSHA rules
(23:09):
or federal policies or state policiesthat we have to follow, too.
But I got to tell you,there's just no fat.
There's not fat,there's not any fat left in this budget.
I got to be honest with you.
yeah, one of thing I want to focus in on,and Is the, appointment
of an at large city council member. Right.
So, that deadline for the At-Large CityCouncil member applications was 4 p.m.
(23:29):
last Friday, March 28th,and we ended up having five candidates
apply to go through that process.
So, those five candidateswill are invited to participate
in interviews with, yourself and councilon Monday, April 7th, I believe.
I mean, the meeting starts at 6 p.m.,but very shortly thereafter.
Just talk about that process.
(23:49):
I mean, you were just recently on itfrom the the mayor appointment side.
What should listeners know about that,how that all works and operates?
Well, I think that, it was a good processthat, the candidates
go to a separate roomand they call people in and one at a time,
and let them tell why they should be the, appointee.
Of course,
citizens still have the opportunityto ask for a reverse referendum, but
(24:12):
right now, when you've gotmaybe six months left in this term,
it will be a little more outor about eight months out, nine months.
But it doesn't make a lot of senseto spend $20,000.
But we've been cutting everythingwe can possibly cut here on an election.
But that's the citizens choice.
If they get a petition up
and they want to have a vote,and that's to where we're going to go.
But the other sideof that is, disappointment.
(24:34):
The term would end at the end
of this year, calendaryear, December 31st.
And if they choose to run againand are elected,
then that's another story as well.
But I really think it's a good processfor us to have an opportunity to, to
to listen to these peopleand see why they want to be,
city manageror city council member at large.
And, it's and I would encourage peopleto come out or talk with these people.
(24:57):
I think, that information is online,if I'm not mistaken, and
you have an opportunity to talk with them,I hope that each one of those candidates
comes to the meet and greet,tomorrow night
and has an opportunityto talk with city managers,
and see if their style fits with, their,their personal beliefs.
And I just think that's an importantprocess, too.
(25:18):
Might be one of the questions we ask him.
Did you go to the meet and greet or.
We'll probably see them.We know who they are.
We'll see them there.
And so I don't have a problemwith that either.
But I think they justthey need to be participatory.
Seen a number of themin our council meetings and that's good
I appreciate that.
Yeah.
So on Monday, April 7th,those five candidates will interview
and then likely have council go throughand potentially appoint
(25:40):
an individual that night.
Or they can always hold ituntil the next meeting.
But it seems likejust like the last process,
they'll likelymake their decision that night
and make that appointmentduring that time correct.
And because there's five council members,even though there's only five council
members,I don't get a vote, which is okay.
I knew that when I,
when I signed up for this, this spot,but there has to be four of them.
(26:01):
Agree on it and hopefully it's unanimous.
But, I think the intent isthat we can get through that process.
So state law requires us to hold a hearing
and appointment, make the appointment,and then we have to adjourn the meeting.
And then I can swear that person.
Then at that point in time,
so they actually are not going to be ableto make any decisions
(26:21):
on that April 7th meeting.
But so the process would beif we come to a consensus on that evening,
then, after the meeting is adjourned,then I will
sort of that person into the cityman or city council's position.
So, yeah, got a lot of openings here.
So I'm going to get in city council,city manager.
I got to be careful with that. Yeah. Yeah.
Well yeah.
Listening as you can find that informationon the city's website.
(26:42):
Go to Indianola, iowa.govand then search for council vacancy.
And there's a dedicated page therethat was, intended for applicants, but
also for, rather interested applicants,but also for the community at large.
So you can go throughand find that information.
And of course, you can learn moreabout the candidates from our local media
partners, specifically with the animalIndependent Advocate and K and Nia,
(27:07):
and of course, the agendas for,The next council meeting on Monday,
April 7th will be published in advance,likely later in the, late afternoon
early evening on this comingThursday, April 3rd.
Well, switching gears,one of the other topics that you addressed
in your latest mayor's memo is fun factsabout our department.
(27:28):
So as you went aboutand did your departmental visits,
you probably heard, you know,some information and some fun facts
that you've it was a refresheror was the first time you've heard this.
And so what were the two in particularthat we included in the mayor's memo that
that stuck out for you?
Well, so the two that I and I,
I have to say that I just recently beento those department meetings and,
(27:50):
interim City Manager Doug Boylanand I have been every department but one.
We've got one more leftand, they all throw things at us
quick and fast about what they doand why they're,
you know, they're they're needed,and I get it.
But, the library and the, wastewater
treatment facility, had some thingsthat I thought were pretty interesting.
(28:10):
We were out at the,
new treatment
plant and talking with their staff,and they were talking about the rain.
We had over two days last summerwhere we had over ten inches of rain
and historic rain. Historic rain. Exactly.
And that plant was designed to run,
well, little over 12 million gallons,maybe 13 or 14 million gallons a day.
(28:31):
We normally run anywhere from,you know, it's it's a lot less than that.
2 million, maybe,or a little more than that.
And don't hold me to that number.
But there's timeswhen I was out there on a tour,
probably year and a half ago,
and they werethey were only using half the plant.
And so they use half the plant for a weekand switch it over to the other half.
So thingskept running and operating properly.
(28:53):
And so this timethey were running the entire plant
for 24 hours straight, and Amanda,for 24 hours straight, they were running
12 million gallons a day,so have about 24 million gallons of water.
Actually,is a little more in 24 hours, about 36.
And they ran that throughand it was interesting.
One of the guys said, this plant actuallyvibrates when it's running that many.
(29:16):
You know, you actually hear in your field
the vibration of everythingrunning and moving.
And and it was pretty interesting.
And to the fact that we processed
12 million gallonsof, of, stormwater, wastewater,
all of those kinds of things, stormwaterwe normally don't process.
But, you know, we still have some influxin some of our older systems.
(29:36):
And, that is just incredible amountof water that's run through that system.
But think about this as well.
We that means our, our point wherewe discharge that is in the middle River.
And I often think about the waterwe discharge is a heck of a lot cleaner
than what comes in the river.
But, I mean, 12 million gallons of waterin a middle river.
(29:58):
I don't know how much to what the flow isof of that thing, what that river is,
but it's got to be a lotless than that on a normal basis.
But that was interesting.
The other thing with a libraryis that all of the things that they do,
I got to tellyou, I didn't realize all the programs
that they do with kids and everythingelse.
It's got to be 2 or 3 programs a daywith the numbers they've got
and the numbers of books and e-booksand things that they have available.
(30:20):
And it was just it was justa really interesting learning experience.
I'm hoping I get some information
for the next, mayor's memo.
I want to
peoplehave always talked about traffic cameras
and stuff,and I want to get some information
from the police departmenton our flock cameras.
Those don't record speed.
They don't give you traffic citationsbased on that,
(30:40):
the flock cameras are only thereto pick up license plates of people.
They pick up all license plates,and they only saw them for a short
period of time.
But what it does is a great example.
Was the gentleman from, southern eyedlittle southern Missouri had dementia.
He was there was a,
warningout to everybody to look for this car.
(31:02):
And we actually picked up the car
with the flock camera,and our officer stopped him north of town,
and, got him back to his family,and he didn't know where he was.
And there's just things like that.
We've stolen carspeople wanted on warrants.
I mean,
I, like, give some numbersfrom our police department,
maybe put that in the next one.
Also, number of in of cases our firedepartment deals with in a year's time.
(31:23):
I think last year we just under 3000pretty close to 3000 calls a year,
which is incredible.
Number of calls.
And so I want to get some more informationput together on that
and put it in the next mayor's memo.
Yeah.
No, a bunch of different and various,did you know, facts and just information
to continue to educate, inform, influenceand showcase
(31:44):
the the breadth of both knowledgeand expertise that our department staff
in the community in turn,are able to benefit from?
Absolutely. And it's
it's is amazingthat again, I just goes back to staff
we have and the things that they doon a regular basis.
And it just doesn't
only those four departments,there's things that your department does.
(32:04):
There's a lot of things that you guys do,and there's a lot of things that
all the other departments do as wellthat we really don't see on a daily basis.
And it's informationthat, I think is important.
One of the things I did want to talkwith Jason Holder a little bit about was,
you know, the number of,
scams or phishing things
or other kinds of emailsor things that we get
(32:28):
kept out of our email system.
And I don't knowif he's got numbers on that,
but that would be kind ofinteresting information too.
So, yeah, I think like that.
I think Jason or my Lisa, both of themare able to pull that information.
I'm sure they probably are. Yeah, yeah.
Since they help an old dinosaurlike me with internet.
So that's okay.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Well, mayor, before we wrap things up,is there anything else you'd like to share
(32:49):
as we, especially as we go into this, this big week with our city manager
finalists or just anything on the horizonthat the city can look forward to.
Well, I do want folks to realize that if we do get an agreement
with, one of these individuals
to become our city manager,it's probably going to be 30 to 45 days.
I don't know what their current contractsrequire them to be released
(33:10):
from their jobs,and it may be a 30 day minimum.
So we're probably not going to havethis individual as our city manager
until middle of May would be my guessat the earliest.
And so in the meantime, interim CityManager Doug Billings doing a great job.
I'm sure we'll have a lot of conversations
with the incoming personabout what's going on and,
and share what we can do and maybeget some ideas what their thoughts are
(33:34):
and some of the decisionsthat we have to make as we move forward.
But I do think that it is an excitingI mean, I'm excited about it.
I, I think that it's just an opportunityfor us to take a fresh
look at a lot of different thingsand have somebody come in
from the outside and say, well,have you thought about doing this?
And we can say to them,if you thought about doing this,
and I think there's
a way that it will melt intowhat's it typically and, and Indianola.
(33:56):
So, I'm looking forwardto that aspect of it as well.
And then, just the factthat we are closing out the fiscal year
and I'm interested to seehow we end up with that, what kind of job
the staffs have done and,and creating opportunities for us
in different areas,even though it's a diminished budget.
And so that's an important thing too,
(34:17):
a couple of other thingsI'm kind of trying to get set up.
I don't know, I needed a little more, discussion with a number of people,
but I do want to have kind of a
roundtable with some of the businesses,or I open roundtable with businesses
and as many as the city council as we canand, have an open meeting about,
you know, talk to usabout what's going on.
And the other thing I want to do to it,
(34:38):
it's probably afterthe legislative session is over,
which kind of was unfortunate,but I'm I'm still looking
at some legislative issuesthat are coming down.
It's going to be harmful again.
But I want to get our state legislators inand maybe or even our federal
legislators in the sense that we just needto have a community meeting
and let people know how
thingsare actually affecting us as a city.
(35:00):
And whether or not, there's some thingsthat maybe we can work together with them
to make their,their, jobs a little easier,
but also make it easier on usto find other ways
to deal with revenues or expendituresor whatever the case may be.
So those are some things downthe road. But again, that's
a couple months out.
So Well, mayor,
if there's nothing else,
I just want to thank you again, as always,for hopping on for this episode.
(35:23):
Well, maybe people are goingto get tired of hearing me.
I don't know, I'malways. I'm always willing to come on.
And I know Andrew, okay.
And he's been good aboutwant me to come in and talk about,
council meeting after we have it and,and I'm sure that we'll get called in
after theafter the city manager, process.
And that's fine too.
I'm always willing and and, able to talk
to people about this, informationand get it out there as much as we can.
(35:44):
Yeah. No,there's a thirst for this information.
Of course, across the board.
And we just always appreciateour listeners by sharing their comments
and the reviews for each and every episodethat we put out for Indy Unplugged.
And yeah, just make sure you continueto hit that subscribe button.
Follow along in our journey.
This is going to be a big,
big week for the city of Indianola aswe go through that city manager process.
(36:06):
And again, just going to share that dateone more time.
That community meet and greet is tomorrownight, Tuesday, April 1st,
from 5:30 p.m.
to 7 p.m.
over at Hubbard Hall at the Campus Center,
at Simpson College's campus at 701North C Street, Indianola.
Well, again, mayor, thank you so much.
And who knows, maybe next time, listeners,you can be a future
(36:26):
guest of Indy Unplugged.
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