Newton City Council member announces bid for mayor

Randy Ervin, a longtime Newton native and member of the city council for the past four years, has announced he will be running for mayor. Newton is “on the verge of some great opportunities,” and Ervin said to be mayor would give him a chance to rise as a leader for the community.

The city council member’s term expires this year. According to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, the first day that candidates for regular city elections can file nomination papers to the county auditor’s office is Aug. 28, 2023. The last day to submit nomination papers is by 5 p.m. Sept. 21, 2023.

Ervin was first elected to the at-large seat on the Newton City Council in 2019. Prior to his retirement that same year, Ervin worked 30 years at UPS and held various managerial positions, according to his bio on the City of Newton’s website. Ervin is also a coach for the Newton High School varsity football team.

When Ervin was first interested in serving city government, he initially thought about running for mayor. The advice of a friend led him to run for the vacant at-large seat instead so that he could get some first-hand experience how city government works. Ervin ran for the seat and earned 64.97 percent of the vote.

“It has helped me tremendously,” he said. “I’ve been very involved with different organizations around town and tried to volunteer for as many different things as I could as a city councilperson so I could get into and see the inner workings of the city, the good and the bad. Now I think I can make difference as mayor.”

As a city council member, Ervin was the council representative at park board meetings and Newton Development Corporation meetings. He is also currently volunteering on the Newton RAGBRAI Committee and has served on other community boards, which he said have provided valuable learning experiences.

“Obviously, working on the committee to bring PGI to town gave me an opportunity to work a lot with city officials, as well as the community as a whole,” Ervin said, referring to Pyrotechnics Guild International Convention in 2022 that brought with it more than a week of fireworks shows to Iowa Speedway.

Newton and Jasper County, he said, are coming to a crossroads. Polk County is continuing to grow eastward, which Ervin said is resulting in a lot of growth in a lot of Jasper County communities. At the same time, Ervin anticipates the city will grow, too. But it has to grow in the right way, he said.

Ervin is also worried about impending budget discussions.

“There’s really one of two ways to look at it. We can look at ways to cut our budget, or we can look at ways of growing our city,” Ervin said. “I would personally would rather look at ways to grow our city and stay a popular, small town or, as Evelyn George always tells me, ‘a small town with big city amenities.’”

As Newton grows, Ervin stressed it needs to maintain its identity while at the same time “be welcome to new ideas and to new people to live here.”

In a press release announcing his run for mayor, Ervin said he grew up around the Aurora Heights neighborhood and graduated from Newton High School in 1979. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Simpson College. He also coached Little League and served as a past elder and church president of Our Savior Lutheran Church.

Ervin has been married to his wife, Mary, for 35 years. They have three children — Chelsea, Jacob and Miranda — and two grandchildren.

“One of my reasons for wanting to run for mayor of Newton is my grandkids,” Ervin said. “I want them to enjoy the city and be proud, like I am, of Newton as their hometown.”

Ervin said he’s been called a lot a titles. Husband, dad, coach, uncle, friend, Christian brother and Erv.

“Now with your help I would add the title of mayor of Newton.”