One of the questions posed to Osceola City Council candidates during a recent candidate forum was "What is your vision for improving the quality of life in Osceola?"
New candidate Chris Dorsey is running unopposed for Ward 1, now occupied by Bill Ogbourne. Incumbent Sarah Truitt and new candidate Dan Hooper are running for Ward 2. New candidates Amber Abraham, Dave Walkup and Paula McClaflin are running for Ward 3, which is currently held by Jim Kimball. Incumbent Dr. George Fotiadis is running unopposed and longtime incumbent Mayor Fred Diehl is running unopposed.
The elections are Nov. 8. Polling sites are as follows:
City of Osceola
1st Ward - Osceola City Hall
2nd Ward - Courthouse (first floor)
3rd Ward - United Methodist Church
City of Murray - Murray Community Center
City of Woodburn - Woodburn Legion Hall
Abraham
Abraham was born and raised in the community. She said as a child she had somewhat of a different vision of the community than she has now.
"Growing up I always fun things to do – this place is boring," she said. "There's days that I still think that and as an adult having teenagers in my home is definitely an experience and they want things to do." Abraham is currently the foster mother for two teenagers.
However, Abraham said Osceola is a good place to raise a family.
"I think we have a great community here. Do I think it needs to prosper? Yes. I think we need to look at options to keep things local, to have more family opportunities, to have more things for the kids to do," she said.
Fotiadis
Fotiadis said in order to have a viable community there needs to be good education, sufficient residence, jobs, health care and entertainment.
Many want to see a recycling facility come to Osceola and it may be an option the city will consider, he said.
"I will caution you," he said. "The business offers I've seen so far have required significant support from this government. My comment is that businesses that require government support heavily are not viable, stay away from them, that's one of the reasons I've made some of the decisions that I did," he said.
Hooper
Hooper said each candidate will have a different desire for quality of life.
''Quality of life in Osceola would mean to me everyone getting up in the morning thinking 'yesterday was a good day," he said.
The way to do that is to get all the local boards together to collaborate, he said.
"Quality of life is not tomorrow, it's yesterday. You had a good yesterday, it puts a strong feeling toward tomorrow," he said.
Diehl
Diehl said several years ago he moved away from Osceola and when he left was told "Go young man, there's nothing here in Osceola. When he returned they asked him "What in the world are you coming back here for?"
"So to me it should be attitude and pride," he said. "I think Osceola is a great place. It's the heart of southern Iowa. It's gonna grow. It's got Amtrak. It's got I-35, Highway 34 and 69. It's ready to go."
McClaflin
McClaflin said she'd like to see a new reservoir outside of town by Highway 34 and Interstate 35.
"So then people can boat on it. People will come to town and boat on it," she said. "They can buy houses on it. Maybe our business park will fill up with a marina. Maybe RV, recreation – all of the things that come along with having a lake right outside of town."
McClaflin currently drives to Des Moines to work out and said she'd like to see a REC Center built in Osceola, however, said it will take funds to build and said she'd like to see the different local entities to work together.
"We have one thing that most other communities don't have and it's kind of a sugar daddy – it's called a casino," she said.
Truitt
Truitt said although the town is small there are plenty of resources – some of which are not as widely known.
"We need to be making sure that people know what they are and make sure they (resources) are getting supported," she said.