Rick Sanders

1. ISU students face staggering debt when they graduate. What do you think is the best way to help?

I think the best way to help is to make sure that the state is actually attributing the funds that we need at Iowa State University so that the tuition doesn’t have to keep going up and up and up. If you look at the percentage of Iowa State’s budget that comes from the state versus what comes from tuition, the tuition piece of it has risen steadily over the years, and that’s a direct result of the fact that state funding … has not kept pace with the cost of education.

2. Students are having difficulty finding jobs after graduation. What will you do to stimulate job growth?

Economic development is one of the key roles that the Board of Supervisors should be [playing] here in Story County. The supervisors need to step in and do a better job of really assisting the economic development committee and make sure that we’re bringing the kind of jobs to Story County that will be hiring our college graduates. We’ve got such a wealth of great talent here, and we’ve got nowhere else for them to go except pack the car and leave Story County. We’ve got to see if we can change that.

3. Iowa State is committed to green energy, but what can you do to help us make the university and the state more green?

Well, this is one of the areas that Story County has really done a wonderful job. Story County was one of the first in the state and even nationally to go to geothermal for our new buildings. I think Story County needs to continue to lead the way and lead by example. We need to make sure that we’re making the appropriate decisions in terms of green energy. We’re doing the things we need to do to bring the wind power and the solar power and those kinds of technologies right here to Central Iowa.

4. What are the most important differences between you and your opponent(s) this election?

I’d say one big one between me and my opponents … is my private business background — the fact that I have actually had to build and then manage budgets. Whatever you need in a governmental world is relative to living out in the business world, and I’ve spent the last 20 years out in the professional world, and I think that I’ll make decisions and ask questions just from that perspective rather than from the perspective of “this is what government is and this is what it always will be.”

5. What do you hope to accomplish once elected?

[We have] got to get the budget back under control. We’ve got to stop budgeting to spend excessive amounts of money that is more than we’re bringing in. We’ve got to work hard on economic development, and we’ve got to do it in a way that brings government back to the people. We’ve got to be more transparent, more accountable; we’ve got to make sure that more people understand what we’re doing and how we’re doing it at government. So those three issues: the budget, economic development and full and complete transparency at government. Those are the three that are going to be driving me every day if I get elected.

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Paul Toot

1. ISU students face staggering debt when they graduate. What do you think is the best way to help?

[There] is not much that a county candidate can do about that, but I think it’s important that the legislature and the state try to keep the tuition [from increasing]. It’s like every year they have a tuition increase, and they just keep passing the cost off to the students. [There are] different programs that are available for students [and] different creative ways to try to get tuition funding, but I think it’s the most important thing for the state to try to keep the tuition increase to a minimum.

2. Students are having difficulty finding jobs after graduation. What will you do to stimulate job growth?

As a member of the Board of Supervisors, it’s difficult for the county to take a lead role in economic development, but it’s important that the county have a supporting role for … the economic commissioner [and] any other economic development efforts that are underway in the county. I think it’s important for the members of the board to be active on those commissions [and also] help graduates from Iowa State to at least stay in Iowa when they graduate. With more technology, it’s more important that students have a reason to stay after they graduate and not flee the state in an effort for a better job or a job in their own field.

3. Iowa State is committed to green energy, but what can you do to help us make the university and the state more green?

I know that the county has done a good job in maintaining [that] all of the major government buildings that the county owns are geothermal buildings. And I know that the county was fundamental in getting the wind farm that’s up and running in the Northeast part of the county. It’s going to be important for the county to try to make sure that the education opportunities are up there for people to learn about going green, and once they go green to stay green, so I think the county can have a role in that. They can’t pass legislation to get back incentives for companies that are green companies and so forth, but they can certainly support those efforts by the legislature.

4. What are the most important differences between you and your opponent(s) this election?

The important difference between those other candidates and myself is that I’m a lifelong resident of Story County. I’ve worked for county governments, [and] I understand how county government works. I’ve got a very keen interest in county government. My family lives here, my extended family for the most part lives here in Story County and has decided to make this their home. I’ve got a deep interest in maintaining Story County’s leadership role in the state as the mental health programs that we offer here in Story County are second to none; our green initiative is probably second to none in the state as far as in any county government. Having worked for 30 years as a deputy sheriff … I was in the patrol division in the sheriff’s office and had daily contact and interaction with people in Story County, so I’ve got a base to draw from, and I understand the people in Story County.

5. What do you hope to accomplish once elected?

[What] I hope to accomplish is get Story County back on track as far as the relationship between the Board of Supervisors and some of the other elected officials, and especially some of the other communities in the county. I want to make sure the county stays in line. We don’t want to raise taxes unnecessarily. I want to make sure the county’s budget [maintains a] balance, which has been the goal for quite a while.

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Lucy Martin

1. ISU students face staggering debt when they graduate. What do you think is the best way to help?

I don’t have any direct way to help that. The legislature needs to fund the university and their regents properly. My husband is a professor, I’m happy to continue to tell them that that’s what they need to do, and that helps Ames and that helps Story County in general. That’s a problem nationally.

2. Students are having difficulty finding jobs after graduation. What will you do to stimulate job growth?

Economic development is one of the main [issues] for the Story County Board of Supervisors, and we don’t directly create jobs, but I think we have to take a more active role in the county to make sure to keep the jobs that we have here and to track development, especially along the I-35 border, the Lincoln Highway corridor and work with our communities. In general, Iowa seems to hemorrhage its young people — we need to get them to stay here, and we also need to get people to come back, and economic development is one way to do that. I think the board’s role is to work with all our communities to make sure that we promote regional development and that it’s not [an] “us versus them” mentality with the different communities fighting amongst themselves; that we all understand that any [progress] helps us all.

3. Iowa State is committed to green energy, but what can you do to help us make the university and the state more green?

I think Story County has done [well] to promote a lot of green energy. Many of our buildings have installed geothermal. We have our new wind farm. I think Story County is known throughout the state, maybe even nationally, for its investment in green technologies. Iowa State should do the same … we still have a coal burning physical plant there, and I’m not sure what the age of that is or if the infrastructure is going to be replaced anytime soon.

4. What are the most important differences between you and your opponent(s) this election?

I’m the most qualified candidate. I have the best experience, the most relevant experience, the more relevant education experience. I have a master’s [degree] in public administration. My six year’s experience with Story County [is] all relevant. I’ve worked with evaluations, budgets, taxes … I have great working relations with officials.

I think those set me apart from the other candidates. I think I’m the best candidate for the elections Nov. 2.

5. What do you hope to accomplish once elected?

The first order of business is to upgrade the budget process. I think we need more clarity.

[We need to] institute a clear budget process [and] long-term forecasting. [We need to] look into the future instead of going year-by-year. There’s going to be a big wave of retirees, [and we need to] see that we handle that properly. Big changes are coming up, and I want to anticipate those.

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Jason Covey is a Republican candidate for the Story County Board of Supervisors. He is currently a senior in political science at Iowa State. Covey was unable to be reached for an interview.