Supervisor seat is only contested race for county office

There’s only one contested race for local office in Tuesday’s primary election in Mills County.

Incumbent Republican Mills County Supervisor Richard Crouch of rural Malvern is being challenged by John Stacey of rural Glenwood.

Crouch, 71, is seeking his fifth term on the board of supervisors, while Stacey, 62, is making his first run at a courthouse position.

“I like helping the people of Mills County. We’ve started a lot of projects and I’d like to see them through,” said Crouch, a self-employed farmer. “We’re hoping in the next two – three years that we have everything set in place, particularly with communications and economic development.”

Stacey, a criminal justice professor for Purdue University Global, Oak Township trustee, Silver City Rescue Chief and Oak Township Assistant Fire Chief said emergency communications and EMS services would be high on his list of priorities if elected.

“I had a couple of people who I respect that are in the know in the county ask me if I would consider running,” Stacey said. “I think people in public safety need a voice. There’s a lot of things going on here. Our county’s growing. There’s a constant situation that goes on with it. I want to give these people a voice on the front line.  The more we support services like fire and

every time we enhance their services and their services increase, our insurance goes down.”

During his 16 years on the board, Crouch said keeping taxes and expenditures in check have been a priority and he’s proud of several achievements that have taken place during his time in office, including the implementation of zoning ordinances.

“I would say zoning has probably been one of the bigger achievements.  It’s something that needed to take place,” Crouch said. “You can’t have economic growth without it.  I remember sitting in a meeting several years ago at the Glenwood State Bank building with representatives of Tractor Supply. The gentleman, who was very nice and cordial, looked at me and said, ‘Richard, you have one of the greatest locations to build (a distribution warehouse) in, but you can’t tell me what’s going to be across the road from me. I’m sorry, we’re going across the river.’”

Crouch noted that the opening of an adult book store and dance club several years ago in the northwest corner of Mills County fueled passage of  a zoning ordinance.

Mental health is an area Crouch has devoted considerable time to as a supervisor. He’s been a part of several mental health / human services committees.

“Improvements are being made in Iowa when it comes to mental health services,” Crouch said. “We’re finally getting it better situated where people are starting to be taken better care of.”

Crouch said “experience” makes him the best candidate for the job.

“I know that’s an easy thing to say, but I feel I have the experience with the state,” he said. “I can go to the capitol and probably talk to 10-12 representatives and senators that I’ve known since they were supervisors. I get calls from state legislators wanting to know how a particular bill will impact a county.”

Crouch is a Glenwood High School graduate and took financial accounting classes at Iowa Western Community College.

He served in the Iowa National Guard. He and his wife,  Barb, have four children and one grandchild.

Stacey said in addition to public safety, roads, taxes and economic development would be among his other priorities. He said road maintenance in the county, particularly during winter months, is an issue of concern for many county residents.

“When the roads are slick and people can’t get around and if there’s some mandate from the county that says ‘We’re not  coming out unless we all come out together and we’re not coming out at night,’  let’s take a look at that,” Stacey said.

“I’m going to ask questions. I’m going to want to know why. If it cost $500 to send out that sand truck, how much did it cost that citizen that slid off the road and smashed his car?”

Stacey believes the county needs to do a better job of broadening its tax base and get more aggressive in pursuing economic development.

“We need to have a comprehensive plan and say this is where we’re going to do all this stuff and we need to start recruiting people to come to the county,” he said. “We’ve got to get somebody in there that can get people and businesses to come down here. Love’s and BP are a good start, but they need to be aggressive.”

Stacey said his background in emergency services and his time as a township trustee would prove to be beneficial if elected to the county board.

Stacey is a Bellevue, Neb., native and has earned a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and master of science degree in public administration from Bellevue University. He and his wife, Kathy, have lived in Mills County for five years.

There is one other supervisor candidate running in the primary – Jay Andersen on the Libertarian Party ticket. Andersen lists several county concerns and issues on his Facebook site, including a need for better government transparency, county salaries, building permit costs, county road maintenance, recycling and the need for a humane animal shelter in Mills County.

Andersen and his wife Julie, both natives of Shenandoah, have lived in Mills County since 2009.  He  studied at Iowa Western Community College where he obtained an associate of architectural engineering degree. From there, he went on to study structural engineering at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He earned his bachelor of science degree in design and master of architecture degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

There are no Democratic Party candidates on the ballot for county supervisor or other county courthouse offices up for election this year.

On the Republican ballot, county attorney Naeda Elliott, county treasurer Jill Ford and county recorder Lisa Tallman are all running unopposed in the primary.

On the state level, District 23 State Representative David Sieck is opposed by Tony Wernicke on the Republican Party ballot.

Chuck Larson is the lone Democrat on the ballot for District 23.

Several state and federal offices are up for election in 2018, including governor and U.S. House of Representatives.
Polling sites across the county will be open Tuesday, June 5, from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. Early voting is available up to Election Day at the Mills County Auditor’s Office in Glenwood.