City of Ames Mayor John Haila announced May 21 he will be running for his second term this fall.

In his first term, Haila collaborated with the student council to accomplish a number of green initiatives, including the installation of a solar farm as well as completing a greenhouse gas inventory.

“One thing I am passionate about that we’re working on is mental health issues,” Haila said. “We had a mental health resilience and recovery forum we held about a week and a half ago; we had nine different panelists and a public speaker, and we’re going to be hosting some mental health first aid training this summer with a mental health expo that coincides with suicide prevention month in September, too.” 

Mayor Haila also had to deal with some large obstacles in the midst of his first term, with the pandemic striking and throwing all the plans he and the City Council had made up in the air.

“In March, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” Haila said. “[It came down to] planning, communication and working together with our partners.” 

In his second term, Haila would continue to bring awareness to the mental health issues that underlie much of the Ames community’s problems, as well as continuing a whole slew of projects such as Ames Plan 2040 and a climate action plan that’s intended to take 18 months to complete. 

Haila emphasized the importance of building relationships and communication with colleagues in city government and otherwise. 

“One thing that I really enjoy is building relationships and working together with teams,” Haila said. As an example of the relationship strengthening he wants to encourage, Haila referred to the decision he and the City Council made to increase the number of meetings with the Iowa State Student Government from one to two times a year.

Currently, no other candidates have come forward to challenge Haila, leaving him unopposed for the election, which takes place Nov. 2.