Fairfield forum features mayoral candidates, FMS bond info

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce held a candidate forum Wednesday, Oct. 15 that featured a contested mayoral race, an overview of the school district’s upcoming bond referendum for a new middle school, and a pitch from the city’s Ward 2 representative who no longer has an opponent.

In the first segment featured that evening in the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, incumbent Mayor Connie Boyer and challenger Doug Flournoy answered questions from Chamber Director Mendy McAdams. Then, Fairfield Schools Superintendent Zach Wigle explained why the school board has placed a referendum on the ballot requesting a $39.5 million bond to construct a new middle school on what is now the practice football field just south of the existing middle school.

The forum was going to feature a contested race for Ward 2 (northern part of town) between incumbent Paul Gandy and challenger Matthew Johnson. However, McAdams told the crowd that Johnson had recently announced that he no longer wished to run, though his name will still appear on the ballot. Gandy was given the opportunity to speak for a few minutes on why he should be re-elected.

During the mayoral forum, Flournoy and Boyer were asked about their Top 3 priorities. Flournoy said his first was community engagement, and how he’s willing to devote lots of time to listening to residents’ concerns when he sees them out and about. He also mentioned the importance of encouraging new housing and creating a city app for communication.

“To me, community engagement is not you looking for me, it’s me looking for you. I will be out in the community,” he said.

Boyer said housing initiatives are one of her top priorities, and spoke about a housing grant the city has applied for with Grow Fairfield and ISU Extension. She’d also like to see the council budget for a strategic plan next year, after having done so in 2021 on a small scale. Another big issue the city will have to tackle on the horizon is what to do about the old fire station building once the department moves into its new building under construction. She also mentioned city hall is experiencing some “growing pains,” and the city is dealing with an underutilized building in the former Roosevelt Elementary School that’s part of the Cambridge SportsPlex. She’d like to convene a task force to decide how to move forward on those buildings.

Flournoy and Boyer were asked about the Top 3 things they wished to change in the city. Boyer said she’d like to see better code enforcement, and is often asked about why the city doesn’t do more about overgrown lawns. She said she’d like the city to get serious about enforcing building codes, too. Lastly, she said Fairfield could use a better website, something the staff is working on along with an alert and notification system.

Flournoy said he’d like to see better downtown planning, particularly a comprehensive plan that included repairing sidewalks, a bathroom, and researching turning the roads into two-way traffic. He said another area he wants to focus on is maintenance of city property, and that he receives a lot of complaints about the cleanliness of the Cambridge SportsPlex, which is not professionally cleaned but rather cleaned by the staff. He also often fields questions about why businesses are not doing a better job of maintaining the sidewalks outside their entrances.

In his closing argument, Flournoy said he will commit to full transparency and engagement with the citizenry. He spoke about not only his service on the city council but also his previous tenure on the school board, plus his years of teaching at Indian Hills Community College and later a brief stint at Maharishi School. He said he has the skills necessary to reach all sorts of people in the community.

During her closing comments, Boyer listed a number of projects she is excited to continue if she is re-elected mayor. She mentioned working on rural innovation grants, and low- to moderate-income housing grants. She talked about how the city must figure out how to “do more with less” and that although tax increment financing has been a vital tool of development, the state legislature is likely to make changes to it, creating more challenges for the city’s budget. She talked about “quality of life” projects the city is considering such as the park and rec director’s desire for a splash pad, or some young people who have asked the city for a “pump track” for cycling or skateboards. Boyer also mentioned looking forward to helping the newly formed Main Street Fairfield work on a building restoration guide, and planning for a weeklong celebration of the nation’s 250 birthday in 2026.

After the forum, Flournoy told The Union he would have preferred more participation from the audience.

“I’m guessing that we had a low turnout because residents knew they couldn’t ask questions,” he said.

This will be the city of Fairfield’s first contested mayoral race since 2019 when Boyer was first elected to the office after defeating Michael Halley by two votes in a race so close it required a recount after it appeared Halley had won by a single vote on Election Night. Flournoy currently represents an at-large seat on the Fairfield City Council, and his seat is up for election this year. Bob Ferguson was the only candidate to throw his name into the ring to replace Flournoy on the council.

Rhonda Sanderson is also running for Fairfield mayor on Nov. 4, but she did not participate in Wednesday’s forum.

BOND REFERENDUM

After the mayoral forum, Wigle took the stage to deliver a PowerPoint presentation detailing the school district’s plan for a new middle school, if the bond referendum achieves 60 percent support. Last year, a referendum on a bond for a new middle school received 58 percent. Wigle said the school board incorporated feedback from residents to see what to change about the plan to finally push the vote tally over that 60 percent threshold. Those changes included reducing the scope of the project to make it cheaper, which the district did by lowering the total project cost from $56 million last year to $49 million this year, which was achieved by removing fourth grade from the plan.

When touching on why the board is seeking a new middle school, Wigle spoke about the drainage problems at the current building that are costly to repair, and the fact that it is not ADA-compliant.

“If this [bond] doesn’t pass, we’ll find a way to fix it, but it will be expensive,” Wigle said.

Wigle mentioned that the plan is to demolish the current middle school once the students have been moved into the new building. He also mentioned the district plans to save money by selling property it won’t need any more after a new building is built, such as the ACT Building. The new middle school would open in the fall of 2028.

PAUL GANDY

Though Gandy’s opponent had dropped out of the race, he was given a chance to speak toward the end of the forum. Gandy spoke about how he wants small-town life to be sustainable for generations to come, and that his attitude toward city government is “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

Gandy has served on the city’s housing task force since 2022, and said one of his priorities is responsibly expanding the city’s tax base. He said he wants to see continued economic growth, disciplined budget management, and upholding the democratic process. He encouraged the audience to stick with experienced leaders instead of “starting over.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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