Jennifer Durst hopes to promote transparency, communication

WASHINGTON — For eagle-eyed attendees, Jennifer Durst has become a fairly consistent sight at Washington City Council meetings in the last few years. Ever since she made comments criticizing public communication efforts surrounding a parking code overhaul in 2022, the resident of North Marion Avenue has sat in on most regular meetings, quietly observing from the back of the room.

Durst said the monthslong dialogue surrounding those changes sparked her interest in municipal politics, an interest that naturally grew into her current candidacy for a vacant at-large council seat in the upcoming Aug. 6 special election.

“It’s kind of disappointing when you go to a council meeting … there are not a lot of people that go,” she said. “The board packets are out there, but it seems there are a lot of people who don’t understand that … it’s just been an eye-opener.”

One of Durst’s key takeaways from all those meetings: the city needs better communication. Whoever wins the upcoming election, she said she wanted to see council members get more engaged with wider swaths of the community, and information easier for residents to find.

Whether through a more intuitive city website, more frequent attempts to communicate to residents, or heightened outreach efforts by individual council members, Durst said she hoped to see the city’s decision-making body work to better inform the public.

At a meeting in May, two council members — Elaine Moore and Illa Earnest — voted in favor of appointing someone to the still vacant at-large seat. While that motion ultimately failed, the two encouraged applicants to get experience on municipal boards before seeking high-level offices, saying a handful of the local government’s advisory boards were short on members.

The recommendation came as a surprise to Durst, who said she had no idea any boards or commissions in town had openings.

“If they’re begging people to be part of it, who are they begging?” she said. “If I want to join one, what do you do? You’ve got to give that information to people … it needs to be out there, somehow we need to communicate that to people.”

The candidate does plan to apply for a vacant board position, she said, if she doesn’t win the upcoming election.

Otherwise, Durst said her goals if elected would include infrastructure improvements and long-term, strategic planning for future municipal projects. While she praises the city’s progress on big-ticket items like Wellness Park improvements, a hotel development agreement and efforts to install a stoplight at the high-traffic intersection of Washington Street and 12th Avenue, she said attention and openness were needed on less flashy agenda items, too. The list includes roads, sewer lines, and basic upkeep efforts.

As for her own approach to the council seat, Durst said she was an “analytical” decision-maker. While she admits that she inevitably approaches most choices with an opinion already in mind, the candidate said she always sought data to help guide her.

The mindset has helped her build a career in IT work, and, she argued, made her an ideal fit for the city’s top decision-making body.

“I ask a million questions, I have always been that way,” she said. “Every little bit of information you get helps to formulate an ultimate decision in the end. And if you don’t ask those questions, you’re not going to have that answer … that could be the one thing that tips it over to a good conclusion.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com