Meet the candidates: Lisa Ossian

[Editor’s note: The Southeast Iowa Union sent questionnaires to the local candidates running for seats in the Iowa Legislature that are up for election on Nov. 5. This is the questionnaire of Independent Lisa Ossian, who is running against Republican Adrian Dickey to represent Iowa Senate District 44, which includes all of Jefferson, Keokuk, and Van Buren counties, plus the eastern half of Mahaska County and the southwest corner of Henry County.]

1. What issue do you feel most knowledgeable about? What's something about that issue that the average person might not know?

I feel most knowledgeable about public schools, especially at community colleges, since I have taught college course for thirty years at three institutions—Southwestern Community College, Des Moines Area Community College, and Indian Hills Community College. I earned a Ph.D. from Iowa State University in agricultural education and rural studies. I have been an ISEA member since 2001 and was elected to the NEA national board for a three year term.

Part of our NEA responsibilities was speaking to our Iowa Congressional members about educational issues and funding. Community colleges have always operated on very lean budgets, receiving the least amount per student from the Iowa legislature, but community colleges have also always returned a great investment on this tax payer funding.

2. Can you tell us about your sources of information? When you want to learn about a political issue, where do you go to learn about it?

I have always relied on professional published sources for my news information, particularly the Des Moines Register and The New York Times. In fact, I have sometimes learned even more about Iowa’s issues in government and agriculture through The New York Times. I taught journalism for two years at SWCC, attending conferences with my students, and I very much believe in the professional standards of journalism.

3. Are there any issues that you have changed your mind about? And if so, what caused you to change your mind?

I am beginning to change my mind about the benefits of medical cannabis. Having survived cancer in 2020, I am much more aware of the variety of options Americans should have for the healthcare.

4. Do you think your political party should compromise more with the other political party?

I believe both parties need to have more honest conversations with each other’s members, reaching consensus and compromise on issues that matter to Iowans. I am running as “no party” on the ballot (per Iowa code and approved by Attorney General Bird and Secretary of State Pate on September 3rd) to focus more on the talents and commitment of the candidate—working for endorsements and votes, rather than simply relying on a party label.

Hurling lies and insults at each other is no way for professionals to act. The Republican Party of Iowa paid for a mailer recently--lying when calling me a liar--that I had somehow “pushed through crushing property hikes that cost our families hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

First, that would be impossible for me to do as only one member of a seven member city council. And two, most importantly, some taxes and levies went up in Mahaska county as well as most rural counties in Iowa due to state and county tax policies set by elected Republicans. As stated in our city budget memo in January 2024, “The impact associated with property tax reform legislation [state legislature] continues to place a strain on available resources with the city’s operating budget that pays for services such as police, fire, library, street lighting, parks maintenance etc.”

Also, commercial property city tax actually went down in Oskaloosa during the last two years. Public safety such as our fire and law enforcement and health issues such as sewage systems must be funded for cities to properly function.

5. States often copy the policies in other states. Are there policies in other states that you wish Iowa would copy? Are there policies in Iowa that you see other states copying because of their success?

I believe Iowans need to create their own unique and responsive policies, but I do think more poverty-informed policies—assisting with food, housing, employment, and childcare—could be developed with other state’s successful policies in mind.

However, I am very concerned with the private school voucher issue being portrayed as “choice” when there is very little, if any, oversight or data or financial records supporting these very expensive programs that have proved disastrous in other states.

6. If you are elected or re-elected in November, what do you hope to accomplish in this next legislative session?

If I am elected in November I will remember that I am one of fifty senators in the Iowa Senate. My Uncle Conrad Ossian served in the Iowa Legislature from 1957 to 1969 as a farmer from southwest Iowa, and his Legislative memorial stated that “one of his real interests was in associating with the members of the House and Senate” and that “the state has lost an honored citizen and faithful and useful public servant.”

I, too, want to be an honored and useful public servant. I hope to accomplish respectable funding for all levels of our public education, from pre-school through graduate school, including adult literacy. I also want to restore reproductive freedom—options through better healthcare—for Iowa’s girls and women. And I hope to assist the more vulnerable citizens in our state through better housing, education, and employment options.

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