Connie Boyer seeks fourth term as Fairfield Mayor

Connie Boyer is seeking re-election as Fairfield Mayor on Nov. 4, a term that lasts two years.

The Southeast Iowa Union sent Boyer a questionnaire, and here are her responses.

Q: Can you tell us about your main accomplishments as mayor or in other roles you've had?

Fairfield recognitions: Helped Fairfield be a member of the Intelligent Community Forum and named a Top 7 Intelligent Community City worldwide 2025 (in competition for #1); be designated a “Main Street” City in Iowa 2025 that qualifies for grants to improve downtown; be ranked 35th of 550 micropolitan cities in the U.S. for young companies (2020); encouraged middle school students to write essays for the League of Cities If I Were a Mayor contest (A Fairfield student was awarded top State prize this last year); be chosen by Kading Properties as their next community build site; and be awarded today a $50k grant for Empower Rural Iowa Innovation Housing.

I have focused on risk management issues for our City – not flashy but necessary for operations continuity, to keep the City out of litigation and ensuring it acts in a timely manner related to contracts, leases, etc.. I implemented a Disaster Recovery Plan, Human Resources Training program, working with our Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Chief to establish a Certified Emergency Response Team trained and ready.

I have also implemented new ways to get City business information to citizens. Council work sessions are now scheduled before regularly scheduled meetings and can be attended, viewed live or watched later via Fairfield Media YouTube. Almost monthly, I or a Council or staff member hold informative interviews about City business on Werner Elmker’s Community Dialogues. I restarted recording ‘City Biz’ with Fairfield Media after each Council meeting for further explanation of what happened at each City Council meeting; and I go to the Ottumwa Radio station on a regular basis to report on city business with host Ellis Cojoe.

As a past president of the Fairfield Rotary Club, one of my most important contributions was encouraging the Board to have a vision and goal of our scholarship fund to be $100,000 and self-supporting. The fund now offers over twice the amount annually for local scholarships.

City Government: Helped maintain City’s fiscal responsibility, strong financial position, and excellent bond rating; develop accounting and tracking of Comprehensive Plan integrating Go Green and Strategic plans developed with extensive citizen input; written Disaster Recovery Plan; set up an annual employee training program and a city property divestment flow chart; updated utility billing software; and successful hiring of department vacancies and new City Administrator.

Economic Development/Housing/City Infrastructure: Housing and Hotel studies to identify citizen and community needs; supported North Campus Village to increase housing and tax base; worked with Grow Fairfield on in-fill housing (2 homes completed/3 more in process) and on the new Sunrise Subdivision (30 new homes in 1st phase); private/public partnership for construction of shell building now occupied by new business, and for new daycare center; 2 City owned EV charging stations; agreement with Alliant Energy for solar project; Fairfield Arts & Convention Center support for deferred maintenance items in building through Local Option Sales Tax Funds; airport improvements; numerous projects for City beautification, Library, Carnegie Museum; purchase of DOT land to house new improved fire station; updated water and sewer plants for improved operations and future growth; Highway 1 improvements (new roundabout, etc.), and many street-paving projects; installed new Diane Baumann Lane entrance to Lamson Woods for safety (saved City approximately $250,000); new Crow Creek bridge; upgrades to City indoor pool and locker rooms; Crow Creek bridge replacement;

Public Safety/Quality of Life: Relationship building with Fairfield Police Department and MIU; review and updates to dog ordinance; collaborated with citizens for cleanup of skate board facility, new picnic shelter and Community Garden at OB Nelson Park; facilitated “No Engine Braking” ordinance (passed 2023); recreational opportunities by Nady Land improvements, pickle ball courts and larger basketball court area at Heritage Park, new bathrooms at Chautauqua Park (donated by citizen estate); Arbor Committee grants for tree diversity; first sustainable member harvest at Lamson Woods to improve native species; served on Opioid Committee to help keep our children off ‘street’ and ‘gas-station’ drugs, alcohol and on Jefferson County Mental Health Alliance; continuing to progress with stability through some challenging times.

Community Communication/Teamwork/Service: In addition to community outreach programs (described above), I established and actively participated in public “Town Hall” meetings and forums to listen and get citizen feedback; reestablished active Fairfield Volunteer Center for community teamwork; spent numerous late evenings/weekends on phone/email connections with citizens about their concerns, suggestions, and needs for assistance. I have also served on Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Board, Fairfield Rotary Club (President 2 different terms), Fairfield Library Foundation, PEO, OES, and Chamber of Commerce Christmas Committee.

Q: What specifically is the mayor's role in running city council meetings?

Facilitating teamwork between council representatives, staff, and citizens through maintaining rules of order and respect in efficiently conducting City business according to local, state, and national laws for the benefit of citizens and the whole community.

Q: Where does the city need to improve most, and how can the mayor help make progress in this area?

The city needs to improve by actively working together as a community team to advance individual and community-wide progress. One priority is lower housing costs for residents to keep and maintain their homes and to give more of the 3000+ people who commute to work in Fairfield more options to move here. This includes the Additional Dwelling Unit plan, Tiny Home Village, Rural Housing Trust plan to help residents with maintenance projects, support for Habitat for Humanity, obtaining a Rural Innovation Grant from the State with Grow Fairfield and ISU Extension, receiving a ‘Thriving Communities’ designation, and expanding the ‘Keep Iowa Beautiful’ paint program.

The mayor helps progress in these areas through, first, maintaining high personal responsibility. honest, ethical behavior, transparency, openness, and accessibility with careful attention and listening to citizens, staff, and Council with balanced, respectful, rational, proactive service – not trying to control or make decisions for others but rather facilitating a rational space for decision-making and a positive, enthusiastic vision to grow and prosper. The mayor must also follow through with consistency in words and action. Second, we need to continue to improve communication systems, updating the city’s web site, and finding new ways to connect with citizens. We need to try to anticipate controversial topics and minimize those by working together through notification systems or personal communications. I have actively worked on different ways to get information to citizens, and City meetings are more transparent than ever.

Third, the City needs to continue working on financial efficiency as costs continue to rise, while also getting critical work done in Planning and Zoning, city workflow processes, code enforcement and follow through. The mayor needs to ensure we have the right positions for the most efficiency and this will be achieved with collaboration of staff and Council. The mayor needs to focus on building a task force to determine use of the current city hall, fire station building, and the under-utilized Roosevelt school. Also, the mayor needs to facilitate a new long-range strategic plan that coordinates with the Fairfield Forever, Grow Fairfield, Chamber of Commerce, and Resilient Action plans.

Q: What sets you apart from your opponents in this race?

I believe that if you watch and listen carefully, you will see the difference between your mayoral candidates.

I think the key is working in a collaborative direction that is positive and uplifting toward each other. We don’t always agree but, when discussion and voting are done and a collective decision is made, we join hands to get the job done as a powerful, unified team. I think it is important to give staff members freedom and responsibility to do their own jobs without micro-managing – which builds trust and more cooperation.

In Rotary, there is a test about what we think, say, and do: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good-will and better friendship?” I will continue doing my best to live these values in serving as mayor.

  Buy Photo