Ed Noyes is running to be Fairfield’s next Mayor

The Southeast Iowa Union sent questionnaires to all the candidates running for seats on the Fairfield City Council and Fairfield Community School Board.

Today we are profiling Fairfield’s Mayoral race between incumbent Connie Boyer and challenger Ed Noyes. Whoever is elected will assume office in January, and serve for two years.

Here are Noyes’s responses to questions submitted by The Southeast Iowa Union:

1. Can you tell us about yourself and the experience you bring to the table that would be relevant to the mayor's position?

I grew up on a small farm in Nebraska on homesteaded land, still owned by our family. I was the first lawyer after generations of farmers and agriculture related professions. I learned to work from my father, who not only was fulltime at Fruehauf in Omaha, but truck gardened six acres of land, while managing a 400-tree apple orchard.

After completing my law degree while attending the University of Iowa, I had a vision of Fairfield’s growth. Before moving here, in December of 1984, I convinced 140 existing Fairfield businesses to formally offer a gift or discount to anyone who moved to Fairfield within six months. This was called “The Irresistible Package.”

In 1990, I was inspired to produce and host one of the first cable access TV shows in Iowa, called “Community Empowerment, Rediscovering our Unlimited Resources.” At that time, I saw the power of a truly self-governed community.

I was a leader in the annual International Community Service Day Projects that were held for four consecutive years in Fairfield, where we re-enlivened the “Spirit of Barn Raising” and brought hundreds of volunteers together to complete a major community improvement project.

In 2002, I ran for Attorney General of Iowa and co-authored “Restoring the Heart of America, a Return to Government by the People.”

For 10 consecutive years, I was inspired to offer an annual “Men and Boys Canoe Adventure” held on Fathers Day weekend. The original inspiration was to provide a positive male role model for young men, being raised by single mothers. This event grew to 85 men and boys, and was hailed by many as the high point of their year.

All of this was while I was growing a law practice and renovating historical properties, including fully restoring the First Christian Church in Fairfield.

I have spent decades studying and incorporating the Power of Intention (Dr. Wayne Dyer); The Power of the Mastermind (Napolean Hill, Think and Grow Rich) and leadership technologies such as Alpha Leadership Training. I have learned to utilize the truth that “whatever what one holds in one’s mind, with firm intent and faith will manifest.”

2. What do you hope to accomplish if voters elect you mayor of Fairfield?

2) I am inspired for Fairfield to become the most magnificent small town in America. I firmly believe in this vision and am devoted to its realization.

We have significant challenges in our community that must be addressed if we are to move forward powerfully to a new, empowered future.

We must:

a) Demonstrate a positive, loving and joy filled future to our young people.

b) Take bold action to solve the pressing need for quality, lower cost housing.

c) Complete the beautification of the entire downtown as a source of pride and invitation for tourism.

d) Creatively take action to make Fairfield a highly desirable tourism destination, that brings prosperity to everyone in our community.

e) Ensure absolute food security and abundance as a top priority.

f) Bring back yearly music festivals and celebrations!

3. What do you see as the Mayor's responsibilities?

Hold an inspired vision of a magnificent future that unites our community knowing that together we can accomplish anything. The Mayor must hold a context that encourages the citizens to come forth with their most inspiring ideas, and work to actualize those ideas.

4. In Fairfield, the Mayor is not a voting member of the city council, but they lead the council meetings. Although you would not be able to vote on resolutions and ordinances, would you try to direct or influence the matters that come before the city council?

The Mayor must ensure that the City Council does not blindly “rubber-stamp” what is placed before them. Thomas Jefferson said “information is the currency of democracy.” The Mayor must insist upon vibrant debate, not only amongst the city council but from the encouraged input of the citizens. By doing so, we can enable the wisest decisions for the community.

5. What do you see as Fairfield's biggest challenges, and how should the city address them?

Our most urgent challenge is to instill a love of learning and a passion for living back to our children.

The lowering of standards through “common-core” policies has destroyed the quality of education in America. We must take back our schools and we can do so by recognizing that every child is entirely unique. Our emphasis must be upon “releasing their inner superhero” and realizing their inherent potential.

We can enable this by encouraging everyone to be part of a comprehensive Community Mentorship Program. This will gives adults (especially seniors) the opportunity to share their lifetime of knowledge.

This will help the children see the broad array of possibilities for their lives, know that they are loved, and recognized for their unique contribution.

Also, of vital importance is to solve our housing shortage, while reducing property taxes (Iowa is 10th highest in the country) and welcoming hundreds of vibrant young people to join our community.

How can we increase the tax base and reduce taxes? By making our community irresistible to idealistic young people who want to raise their families here and to own their own home. By doing so, we effectively reduce the individual level of taxes per household ownership.

Also, there is already an influx of retiring seniors, and we can expand that trend by providing high-quality, yet lower cost, senior living environments.

It is unfortunate that our downtown has increasing vacancies which reflects poorly on our community. Fortunately, we can once again make having a location in downtown Fairfield highly sought out.

We can do this by creatively taking action to make Fairfield a highly desirable tourism destination. Our amazing new low-cost, yet elegant, eco-villages will bring many to see how this can be accomplished. I also see an excellent potential for “healing tourism,” for individuals who would prefer natural healing technologies. Fairfield already has hundreds of amazing healers, as well as a world class Ayurvedic studies program at the University.

We can also bring back Fairfest-style music festivals and celebrations. Our art scene is already phenomenal and should be further showcased.

6. How do you think Fairfield is doing compared to other cities in Southeast Iowa or compared to cities of comparable size? In what areas are we doing well? Are there areas where we can do better?

Our community has been very fortunate to have several highly successful businesses that provide excellent employment opportunities. We need to encourage many new businesses, including cutting edge technologies and services.

We have dramatically improved the beauty of our downtown. Now, we must complete the beautification of the entire downtown as a source of pride and invitation for tourism.

We can join other Iowa small towns, (ex. Pella), that benefit from substantial tourism. I believe Fairfield has a phenomenal potential to become a highly desirable tourism destination that brings prosperity to everyone in our community.

I am very impressed with our incredible Farmers Market, and the efforts that have already been made to achieve food security. I would greatly encourage expanding the number of local gardens and orchards, and implementing a functioning system to capture and utilize the harvest.

Thank you for your contribution to our community! Full position papers on all of these subjects can be see at campaignforfairfield.com.

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