Former Rep. Heaton bids farewell to constituents

The reason Dave Heaton was passionate about owning the Iris Restaurant in Mt. Pleasant for 42 years is the same reason he was passionate about being a representative in the Legislature: serving people.

The former representative of Iowa House District 84 didn't plan on carrying the title for 24 years. Each election cycle, he decided whether or not to run again, and each election cycle, he felt like he needed to return to the legislature and continue his work.

The Iowa House District 84 includes Henry, Jefferson, Lee and Washington counties.

'I never really looked down the road and thought about how long I wanted to do this,” Heaton said. 'It seemed like my work was never-ending, and I had challenges each year that I felt like I needed to return to.”

The election on Nov. 6, 2018, was the first in over two decades in which Heaton didn't run. After 24 years, his work as representative comes to a close.

'You just keep moving forward and try to make improvements in people's lives and it's a blur sometimes - all the things you've done and are involved in,” Heaton said. 'I want to tell the people thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve. That's the most important part.”

The Iris Restaurant

Heaton's passion for people was evident in the way he ran the Iris Restaurant. Heaton worked at the restaurant while going to college at Iowa Wesleyan University, where he graduated from in 1964. When he had the opportunity to buy the Iris Restaurant, he didn't hesitate.

'I enjoyed people, serving people, good food, good service and a clean atmosphere,” Heaton said.

For 14 years, Heaton and his wife ran the restaurant as a partnership - she during the week while he was working in the Legislature and he on the weekends. They finally sold it 10 years ago, and Heaton was able to focus more on the Legislature, he said.

Heaton ran for office because he felt like it was important that people at home were connected to their local government through representation. He felt like he could be that person.

Running for office is 'like running around with no clothes on,” Heaton said.

'My job is to be that connection between government and my constituents, and that means that transparency is absolutely, totally important,” Heaton said. 'You have to ask them to vote for you, which in the restaurant business, we didn't do.”

Heaton's first bid for a seat in government wasn't so successful, however. He ran for state senate and lost to former Gov. Tom Vilsack.

When Heaton had the opportunity to run for the House two years later, he leapt at the chance.

'I didn't really like to lose,” Heaton said. 'I felt that I could do a good job at the Legislature representing the constituents of my district. As soon as I had the opportunity, I took it.”

Finding his niche

One of the first issues Heaton dealt with in the Legislature was agriculture. He was involved in writing regulations on livestock confinement, helped create the concept of a limited liability company (LLC) for agriculture in Iowa and assisted in facilitating the establishment of West Liberty Foods.

Heaton also sat on the transportation committee when four-lane highways were built intersecting in Mt. Pleasant.

Agriculture, transportation and overall economic development - this is what was important to moving the cities in Iowa House District 84 forward, and those were the areas of work Heaton engaged in, he said.

In Heaton's fifth year in the Legislature, he became co-chairman of the Health and Human Services Appropriation Committee, working with the Department of Human Services, the Department of Aging, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs. For the next 20 years, Heaton traveled through the system, visiting mental health institutes and resource centers across the state and becoming familiar with nonprofit providers who deliver services to the disabled.

'When I got into health and human services, it was like I was on a mission,” Heaton said. 'I was out to make life as good as possible for those who were without, whether it be disability, income or whatever, always keeping in mind that whatever you do, it must be sustainable.”

2019 Legislative

session

It would be exciting to be a part of the Health and Human Services Committee this upcoming legislative session, Heaton said.

The committee has a full plate this year, providing funding for the adult mental health bill passed last year that will support the chronically mentally ill. They also will be moving forward with the children's mental health committee to build a children's mental health system.

Heaton said that representatives have to remember that no one can do anything alone in the Legislature.

'You have to find consensus and a majority of the committee to accomplish anything. That's a big lesson,” Heaton said. 'People go there and say, ‘Well, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that.' It doesn't work that way. It's an art of persuasion and compromise.

'That's what they're missing today,” Heaton continued. 'I've never found anything that was really worthwhile that moved our society forward that didn't involve compromise.”

Accolades of achievement

Heaton recently received two lifetime achievement awards for the strides he made on the Health and Human Services Committee.

Heaton was honored by the Iowa Commission on Aging with the 2018 Betty Grandquist Lifetime Achievement Award on June 12.

Heaton also received a lifetime achievement award from the Epilepsy Foundation Iowa in March.

'Rep. Heaton has been a friend and supporter of individuals living with epilepsy for over 10 years in the Iowa Legislature and is very deserving of special recognition from the Epilepsy Foundation,” Kim Novy, board member of Epilepsy Foundation Iowa, said to the News in March.

'He has actively worked to strengthen our public health system, ensure access to care for patients, and has funded support to individuals living with epilepsy,” Novy continued. 'We have admired his tenacity over the years and will miss his leadership in the Iowa House.”

Maybe the most touching 'achievement” for Heaton, however, was a retirement letter he received from a constituent in December.

'You have been my hero for people with disabilities and will always have a place in my heart for all you've done for this cause,” wrote the constituent. 'Our entire family thanks you for your tireless work and accomplishment to help those that had no voice.”

The future of Iowa House District 84

Heaton represented the constituents of his district first, regardless of what his party was voting for.

'I always went along the way of saying ‘do no harm,'” Heaton said. 'I think trying to find the balance in an issue is the most important thing a legislator can do, and then voting.

'You represent your district. Once in a while, you kind of have to step out,” Heaton continued.

While Heaton said he is going through a 'stage of pangs” in retirement, he is confident the representatives who come after him will 'rise to the occasion” and 'do a good job,” he said.

Joe Mitchell won the House seat and will debut as the Iowa House District 84 representative in January.

Heaton is not stepping down from his work entirely. He is on the state board of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) and is serving on the board of directors for Hope Haven in Burlington.