Three candidates compete for Riverside City Council

Two incumbents are running for two city council seats in Riverside’s city elections this November. With no opposition on the ballot, Councilpersons Tom Sexton and Kevin Mills both seem likely to secure four more years in city government.

There will still be a contested election in town, however. Although, former Councilperson Jeanine Redlinger resigned in early June, her term was not scheduled for re-election for two more years. The race to fill that seat for the remainder of the term is therefore separate from the rest of the city council, despite votes happening on the same day.

Three candidates are vying for that two-year position: Larry Simon, Phillip Richman and Kevin Kiene.

Why they’re running:

Simon: “You really can’t be complaining if you’re not involved in the process, it’s better to be part of the solution than part of the problem. And I think there’s a few things that need to be tweaked, things that need to be followed through on.”

Richman: “I’ve been going to the meetings off and on for several years now. I’ve always kind of thought about running, I just decided to go ahead and do it.”

Kiene: “I’ve been on the council for nearly 18 years total before, and I just decided I wanted to try it for a two-year term … One thing about running is it gets in your blood, and I just like to contribute to the city and contribute my experience.”

Why they chose the half term:

Simon: “There’s a two-year opening instead of committing four, in case things (aren’t) what I believed or things didn’t work out, I didn’t want to be letting anybody down. That was my reasoning.”

Richman: “I had no idea who else was even running, and it turned out everybody went in for the two year term except for the ones already up there … I figured a two-year term, I could kind of get used to it, and if I really enjoy it, I’ll run for four. It was almost like flipping a coin, because I actually went back and forth.”

Kiene: “I didn’t want to go a full four years at this time. I just wanted to try the two-year at this time and then maybe decide to go four years later … I guess there’s no particular reason.”

What are their priorities:

Simon: “We’ve got a lot of things that were good deals, they’ve voted on them and passed them, but there’s a lot of stuff that has not been implemented. We have a lot of things on our books, our ordinances, that are not being followed through on … you can’t pick and choose what you’re going to follow and when you’re going to follow it.”

“There’s also the street projects that we have done. I know they’ve got a new engineer and I’m looking forward to seeing how that works out. The last several street projects they’ve done have got some major issues, and if it was something done at your house or my house and it wasn’t done right, we wouldn’t keep paying to try and fix it.”

Richman: “A lot of their policies, they’re kind of hit and miss on enforcing them, I would likely to see more consistency actually in everything they do, not just city policies. So everybody kind of knows where they’re coming from. It just seems like there’s some cases where something might get enforced for somebody but not get enforced over here.”

“The biggest thing for me is improving the downtown, the streets. Getting the curb and gutter work on the streets and getting the community center done, those are my two main ones. They’ve kind of got everything in motion for the north development so that’s in progress now, it’s just a matter of keeping it going.”

Kiene: “I want to continue with the infrastructure work we’re doing, rebuilding streets and water and sewer, I definitely want to do that. That’s another reason I decided to run, I’m a retired plumber so I understand a lot of the construction and water works and sewer works of the projects. I just want to see the city continue to grow, I don’t want to see it grow too fast, just a nice, steady growth rate.”

“As far as the community center, I’d like to keep pursuing that, but I want to make sure the people in the community are on board with what we decide to do, if anything, and make sure it’s something we can afford and can continue to afford in the future.”

What sets them apart:

Simon: “My heart’s in the right place. I want to be more than happy to talk to anybody, I want to be accessible, and I want to listen … I would hope people would vote for me because they would believe that I would do the best for the city of Riverside and for the citizens, that’s my whole goal here. To give back to a town I was raised in.”

Richman: “I’ve always tried to be low key and easy to get along with. It doesn’t always work, but I try to. In the past some of those council meetings got really riled up, and I just want to see things keep going … I’m also involved with the museum here, so I want them to keep going with the whole Trek thing because that brings people to town … I like having one Trek person up there on the council.”

Kiene: “Of the three of us that are running, I have the most knowledge and I think I could contribute quite a bit from my knowledge. We just need the city to keep moving forward.”

Anything else they’d like the community to know:

Simon: “I would love for them to vote for me, but regardless of which way they vote or how people feel, I would ask that they do get out and vote. That’s one of our great privileges in our country and I would hope that they would exercise that right.”

Richman: “I’m one of those people who a lot of people probably know my face, but a lot of people don’t know who I am, so from now to Election Day I’m going to be out and about!”

Kiene: “I’ve also been a member of the Riverside Fire Department, Washington County Special Deputies, RACC, and I served on the Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board, and I’m currently Chairman of the Riverside Planning and Zoning Committee. I guess I just want to stress my experience.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com