House candidates take part in Fairfield Chamber Forum

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield area residents were invited to a candidate forum Wednesday featuring the Iowa Statehouse race.

The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce held a forum Oct. 16 at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center. The first hour focused on the race for the Iowa House District 87 seat between Republican incumbent Jeff Shipley and Democratic challenger Thomas O’Donnell. The second hour focused on the race for Iowa Senate District 44 between Republican incumbent Adrian Dickey and independent challenger Lisa Ossian.

HOUSE RACE

The candidates took turns answering questions from the moderator, Chamber Director Mendy McAdams. During the first hour, Shipley expressed a desire to keep taxes low to attract business as Iowa competes with other states. He spoke about his opposition to carbon capture pipelines and the importance of protecting property rights. O’Donnell said rural education is his top priority and that the state underfunds public education. Overall, he said the state is heading in the wrong direction and that the governor and Legislature have “given away the reserves” to corporations while allowing the state’s water to pollute.

O’Donnell said he heard from a local high school that it could no longer offer consumer science due to a lack of funding. He didn’t like the school voucher program the Legislature passed several years ago because it diverted tax money to private schools that he believed should go to public schools.

Shipley said it is incorrect to say the state is underfunding education and noted that the Fairfield school district spends nearly $16,000 per student, more than double the amount the voucher program gives to parents who send their children to an accredited private school . He said that the state is working to simplify obtaining a teaching license and spoke about the need for effective delivery of education.

On the environment, both candidates agreed there is room for improvement in Iowa. O’Donnell said there are too many indoor animal feeding operations and that more regulations need to be put in place on manure application, such as prohibiting its use when the ground is frozen. He said pigs and cattle make up a big part of the economy, but also stressed that “farmers need to be good neighbors.”

Shipley said he shares the embarrassment of not being able to swim in some lakes due to pollution. He is also concerned about the amount of microplastics entering the food chain.

Later in the forum, candidates were asked to talk about how they would support local farmers. O’Donnell said he knows farmers face high rents, which is why they feel the need to plant along the banks of streams. Shipley said creativity is needed to solve problems in agriculture and noted that he has earned the endorsement of the Iowa Farm Bureau. O’Donnell responded that he “wouldn’t be proud” of the Farm Bureau’s endorsement because it “represents corporate agriculture.” In a later question, Shipley disputed this characterization of the Farm Bureau, saying it was a grassroots organization he worked with to protect property rights from eminent domain by pipeline companies.

SENATE RACE

The conversation between Dicky and Ossian was more personal. In his opening statement, Dickey said Ossian was lying to the public by filing to run as an independent candidate because she previously ran as a Democrat and is registered as a Democrat as a member of the Oskaloosa City Council. Dickey suggested that Ossian was trying to escape the “toxic reputation” of the Democratic Party.

In her opening statement, Ossian said Dickey hired a lawyer in an attempt to invalidate her campaign documents. She also mentioned the fact that Dickie had been arrested while traveling to RAGBRAY and that he had initiated legislation to ban photographs in journalistic reports.

Dickey said the allegations are false. He said he did not hire an attorney to review Ossian’s records, but filed a complaint that some of the voter signatures she obtained did not have an address and therefore should not have been counted, and that Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd said that the State had not previously applied this provision and refused to do so in this case. He also said that he was eventually cleared of all charges as a result of his arrest during RAGBRAI and that the charges were dropped. He added that he had nothing to do with the photo ban bill and in fact voted against it.

Discussing these issues, Dickey said his priorities are cutting taxes and easing restrictions on employers, helping them grow by “getting out of the way.” Three years ago, Dickey touted the Legislature’s property tax reduction bill. Ossian said it was a bad idea and that it would shift the burden to local governments. She said taxes are necessary to ensure public safety and provide services such as emergency medical care.

The two candidates had different views on agriculture. Ossian said we need to “scale down farming” and wants to see more diversity and creativity in farming. Dickey said that’s the wrong attitude because the government shouldn’t determine the size of farms, and that Iowans need to recognize that it’s a farm state. He said that pigsties had been built near his house, but they did not smell much.

On housing, Ossian said “the greenest home is one that’s already built,” and that money should be invested in restoring existing structures. Dickey said sometimes renovating an older home can be more expensive than building a new one.

The state government has been accumulating its surplus, or “rainy day” fund, for several years, and this has been another point of contention. Ossian said she would prefer to see the money go to things like bridges, roads and day care centers. Dickey said it’s good that the state is setting aside money for emergencies, with some of the surplus earmarked for potential unemployment claims if the economy takes a downturn.

They had different views on the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. Ossian said the government has no interest in supporting art that doesn’t make money and that it’s not the right way to evaluate artists. Dickey said Fairfield is an arts and cultural mecca, but it did not achieve that status through government intervention. However, Ossian said art archives require money from the state.

For those wondering if they can vote in any of these races, Iowa’s 87th District includes the southern half of Jefferson County, including Fairfield, all of Van Buren County and the southwest corner of Henry County, including Mount Pleasant. The 44th Iowa Senate District is a combination of Iowa’s 87th and 88th Districts. Iowa’s 88th District includes all of Keokuk County, the eastern half of Mahaska County including Oskaloosa, and the northern half of Jefferson County excluding Fairfield.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at [email protected].