Elaine Moore promises to prioritize

Between her youth in a frugal household and a 20-something year stint working for Hills Bank, Elaine Moore has built a life around her ability to prioritize. She believes it’s one of her greatest strengths as a candidate for mayor of Washington.

“It’s just like in your own financing, you have to look at your budget … I grew up very conservatively, there are wants and needs. Needs are priority, wants you save for,” she said. “I’ve been in the corporate world for a lot of years, so I believe I have the most experience when it comes to budgeting, when it comes to planning.”

Asked what, exactly, Washington needs at the moment, her list is quite specific.

The first item is replacement or extensive repair of the egg sewer, a section of the city’s wastewater system running from east of the square down to the water treatment plant, named for its shape and built from brick and mortar in the 1880s. General consensus is that the system’s continued operation is both a miracle of civil engineering, and a disaster waiting to happen.

Next on the list is an inventory of — and plan to replace — the city’s lead water service lines. It’s an ambitious ask given the material’s widespread use up until the ‘80s, but it has a strict, unambiguous deadline. The Iowa DNR expects a lead line inventory from every city in the state by October of this year, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce a due date for lead pipe replacements some time soon.

Both of the above matters will require city spending, and thus depend on action from the city’s voting council members. But Moore said that kind of movement would depend on Washington’s next mayor keeping attention on the issues.

“The mayor’s role is to keep the council focused,” she said. “We must keep this in front, and again, allow the council to decide what is the best. But if it falls back, and we do not hear about the egg sewer, as we haven’t in the past 10-15 years, then there’s a problem. Somebody needs to keep that in the forefront.”

It will also require the expertise of longtime city staff. Moore said her management style involved empowering such employees.

“I think if you empower employees to talk to you, and you feel approachable, and they feel like a valued member, they feel like they have made a change, they’ve made a difference,” she said. “They know best if something is working or not working … this is a team.”

The at-large city council member’s involvement in Washington extends beyond her municipal duties. Moore is a member of the PAWS & More animal shelter board, president of the Kiwanis AM’ers, and treasurer of the Washington County Enrichment Foundation.

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Moore was the first to call for Former Mayor Jaron Rosien’s resignation, strongly advocating for it at the first city council meeting after charges were announced in early 2023, a month before Rosien had entered a not guilty plea in the case.

Even when others on the council eventually signed a letter asking Rosien to step down a year later, they cited his time away from municipal affairs and uncertainty about his future, rather than the accusations against him. Moore’s rationale, however, has not changed.

She continues to stand by it, and objects to characterizations of her gunning for the mayor’s job early on.

“You don’t have those charges filed if there isn’t something seriously wrong,” Moore said. “Whether this is deemed criminal or immoral, I don’t know, it’s not up to me. But is it fair to our city, to have a mayor who has been charged with a felony? … I don’t feel like I overstepped my bounds.”

Moore is, in most meetings, the first council member to comment on at least one agenda item. The elected official is quick on the draw when it comes to making and seconding motions, and she’s usually ready to give her two cents on matters of controversy, so much so that some community members worry about her jumping to conclusions.

People in that camp, she says, are entitled to their opinion but “have no idea how much time” she puts into premeeting deliberation.

As for her choice to speak out against the former mayor, Moore said she settled on her position only after discussing the matter with constituents and city staff, and pouring over documents from the court case.

“I’m very direct. And if I’m wrong, I will admit I’m wrong, but I don’t jump to conclusions,” she said. “Can I do better? Absolutely. I do not criticize or degrade people for their opinions, no matter what it is. We live in a free society, they can say whatever they want.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com