March 18, 2024

Candidates agree on goals, disagree on path in League forum

There were few surprises in Thursday’s League of Women Voters’ Candidate Forum at Newton City Hall, as hopefuls seeking election in Iowa Senate District 15, Iowa House districts 29 and 28 stayed on message — answering questions posed by voters on topics ranging from the state of infrastructure improvements, renewable fuels and the future of common core standards.

Allen, Bruntz:

In the race to fill the seat being vacated by long-time State Senator Dennis Black (D-Newton), the debate between Iowa Senate District 15 candidates Chaz Allen (D-Newton) and Crystal Bruntz (R-Baxter) stayed centered on the issues.

For Bruntz, the forum was an opportunity to define herself and policy positions in contrast of Allen — who has more name recognition from his 10 years serving as mayor of Newton.

As he’s done throughout his campaign, Allen emphasized his record as a city government head, touting his role in attracting TPI Composites to Newton following the departure of Maytag. Allen voiced his support for the Wind Production Tax Credit and urged a longer extension from federal lawmakers to give the industry more predictability in order to wean the industry off subsidies its relied on to stay competitive since the 1990s — a trend that makes many free market Republicans in Iowa uneasy.

“We’re unable to create a long-term plan for wind energy because Washington wants to only do one year at a time,” Allen said. “The wind industry has said we can get off of this if you give us a longer term to ensure that we can come up with a plan. We want off of it.”

Bruntz echoed the free-market approach, stating that Iowa industries should develop energy products based on market demands. But she did not go as far as stating support for the PTC. Instead, she touted her experience working for energy industry companies Pioneer Hybrid and Kum and Go, where she has worked in accounting and human resources.

Both candidates came out against raising the state’s gasoline tax, currently used to fund infrastructure projects such as damaged roads and bridges. But Bruntz and Allen agreed that, particularly in the rural parts of the district where the roadways are used in grain and cattle transport, infrastructure needs attention.

Allen cited a plan put in place in Newton where monies for arterial road funding was shifted to fix city streets as an example of how he would analyze the problem at the state level. Bruntz also proposed looking at amending how funding from the gas tax was distributed between urban and rural areas.

On the topic of education, Bruntz did not directly state her support or opposition of the federal and state educational standards, but the Republican said she feels the Common Core is too limiting for teachers and students, and said schools should be allowed to teach various proven curricula. She used her own experience assisting her children with math homework as an example of the difficulty Common Core methods present when interpreting newer methods of instruction.

“Every child learns differently,” she said. “The Common Core teaches it one way and some kids get it. The other way, or the way that I learned math, is different. Some kids learn in that way. When we only have one way we teach, especially on the math or in English, we do our children a disservice.”

The question of state-funded private school vouchers was raised tying in to Bruntz support for more competition between schools. She supports options for parents looking for alternatives to their local school districts. Bruntz commended local Polk and Jasper County institutions for their willingness to allow open-enrollment, but she said switching pubic schools is not always an option in some rural communities.

Although he supports families’ right to choose home or private schooling, Allen firmly stated that he did not support diverting funding away from the public school system in Iowa.

“It is the great equalizer,” Allen said. “Ninety percent of our children go through the public school system and it’s the same standard. They either need to be prepared for college, prepared to join the workforce or be prepared for military service. Those are the standards we need to meet.”

Kelley, Payton:

In the race for Iowa House District 29, incumbent Dan Kelley (D-Newton) and his opponent Patrick Payton (R-Newton) provided voters a stark contrast in their policy positions and in their views on the roll of government.

While campaigning for a third term, Kelley has been pushing his record on renewable energy — particularly in support for Wind, Solar and bio-fuels — heavily. He reiterated his positions at Thursday’s forum.

Payton said he feels all forms of energy are important to the marketplace and believes any energy industry must be able to “survive in the marketplace,” alluding to the federal PTC policy for wind energy.

The lawyer and PhD cited his early career experience as a teacher of middle school to graduate school when discussing views on educational policies. Payton said he opposes federal government intervention in education standards at the local district level. Payton said he does not believe in a “one size fits all approach” in educational standards, and went as far to suggest that Iowa’s school administrators should get back into the classrooms when a teacher is absent instead of hiring a substitute instructor as a method to cut educational costs

“I don’t care if you try to box these kids in with Common Core guidelines, if you don’t give these teachers the right to vary from them, it’s not going to work,” Payton said. “Simply, students learn at different rates and different times, and you have to give teachers the flexibility they deserve.”

Kelley did not support policies during the 2013-14 legislative session to roll back the Common Core, and he stated his intent to keep that position at the forum. But Kelley tried to strike a tone of bipartisanship by expressing his willingness to listen to different ideas. Kelley touted his position on a commission to study the practice of teaching science and math education. He said Common Core standards allow children moving from district to district to be on par with students at their new institution.

But unlike their senatorial hopeful counterparts, Kelley and Payton traded rebuttals at the forum, particularly on the issue of the state gas tax. The candidate sparred on the clarity of Kelley’s answer that he “currently is not in support” of the tax. In his response to Payton, the two-term congressman stated he feels many of the projects currently proposed by the Iowa Department of Transportation are a “waste of money” — particularly in Jasper County.

“If we’re going to raise this tax, then we need to spend this money appropriately,” Kelley said. “It needs to be spent in rural Iowa where the farmers need to get the grain to the Co-op to do their business.”

Before his remarks on the issue of Common Core standards, Payton responded to Kelley with a jab trying to paint his opponent as wavering on his gas tax stance.

“Just a comment on Dan’s comment on the gas tax. I don’t know if he’s for it or against it now,” Payton said. “The other thing is, I’m against it.”

Heartsill, Suhr:

Candidates competing for Iowa House District 28, first-term incumbent Greg Heartsill (R-Melcher-Dallas) and Megan Suhr (D-Knoxville) also took part in Thursday’s forum. See their responses in the Oct. 23 edition of the Prairie City News.

An earlier version of this story reported Kelley and Payton are vying for Iowa House District 41. Kelley currently represents, and Payton is challenging him for, Iowa House Distirct 29.