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Not quite president: Batty grateful for time on city council
Mt. Pleasant City Councilman Jeff Batty resigns
MT. PLEASANT — City Councilman Jeff Batty resigned from the Mt. Pleasant City Council last week in anticipation of his retirement from teaching and moving closer to family at the end of this school year.
After serving six years on the Mt. Pleasant City Council, Batty says he turned in his resignation because he plans to retire after 31 years of teaching in Iowa on May 31. While he is excited that his retirement means he will be able to move closer to his family, including his granddaughter, he will miss Mt. Pleasant.
“It's really hard for me, because I love Mt. Pleasant,” Batty said. “I've built my life here. We've lived actually in Mt. Pleasant for 24 years now. So, we've really built deep roots. I've taught thousands of kids that have gone through the school. So, when I go out, like I go out to Hy-Vee, I'll see five people I know and stop and talk to them. And I'll go to Walmart and see kids I've taught. So, it's really, really a community.”
“It’s been neat being on the city council and I’ve got lots of friends in the community,” he continued. “So, leaving that part is hard, but the part that’s not hard is going to see my granddaughter.”
According to Batty, his time spent on the city council came from this love for the Mt. Pleasant community and his lifelong love of political science.
“I was a poli-sci major way back when,” Batty shared. “And my dream when I was a kid was to be president. I didn’t make president, but I did make city council. So, at least I won an election.”
Batty graduated from Iowa State University with his first Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science in 1987 and his second in History in 1988. He later earned his Master of Arts in Education from Viterbo University in 2006.
After graduation, his career took him all the way to Alaska to teach for two years before returning to Iowa where he taught Social Studies at Winfield-Mt. Union for seven years. He later landed his position teaching at Mt. Pleasant Community High School. Currently, Batty teaches Economics and Government to juniors and seniors, but in the past, he has also taught World Events and Religions, Ancient Civilizations, and U.S. History.
His interests in political science and teaching have overlapped in the last few years as he served on the city council thanks to a tradition requiring MPCHS students attend a public meeting and write an essay about it.
“That’s something that goes back way before me,” Batty said. “That’s been a Mt. Pleasant tradition going all the way back for sure into the 1980s.”
Batty appreciates the different perspectives he reads in these student essays.
“It’s been really interesting with their commentaries to see what they thought of it over the years when I am on the other side,” Batty said.
During his last city council meeting, Batty said one student wrote an essay from her perspective in the back of the room when the council had to address the issue of a dog removal.
“She is sitting in the back of the room, I’m sitting up front,” he said. “SO, she’s seeing it from a very different point of view and that was very interesting to me.”
While is city council days are behind him, Batty encourages others interested in serving on the council to keep in mind different perspectives in a similar way. He encourages them to stay in touch with people and try to address their concerns while still balancing the needs of government.
According to Batty, the city council will not fill his seat until the end of May because they want to allow time for interested people to attend a meeting and gauge their interest before they apply.
“They’re going to let anybody who’s interested apply for the position,” Batty said. “So, I like how they’re doing it. I think it opens it up for people who are interested.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
