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GCP276 - Meet Iowa Senate Candidate Joe Stutting · Grow Clinton Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: How do you ever catch a student up or get to know a student if they're only in your school building for a few months at a time?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: You're listening to the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Grow Clinton is a 501c6 nonprofit economic community development and tourism organization based in Clinton, Iowa.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: For more information, visit growclinton.com.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Again, that's growclinton.com.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now, back to the show.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: What's happening, all you amazing people out there in Podcast Land?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the One, the Only.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: You love it, you know where to find it, folks.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: The Grow Clinton Podcast brought to you by Grow Clinton, economic development, community development, and tourism nonprofit organization based in the east side of the great state of Iowa, right along the mighty Mississippi River.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: As always, I am your host for today's episode, Andy Sokolovich, president and CEO of Grow Clinton.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Joined in the studio, as always, by Jenny Home, our director of member in community relations.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Jenny, what's it happening?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: I can't believe how close we're getting to the holidays and I don't even want to.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: Why are you doing this right now?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's like when I go to the store.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: I know sound.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: No bueno.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean, I don't dislike the holiday, obviously, but it just reminds me of all the things I must accomplish.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: And why do we do that to ourselves?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Why did you bring it up, Jenny?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's ridiculous.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's ridiculous.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Need a new co-host.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: Matt, I'm sorry.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're you're right.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: It does come on quick.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: And speaking of quick, the weather is changing.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's cool out today, yeah.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yesterday, uh almost 80, the day before, 86, we topped out.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: The record, wasn't it?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: This weekend?
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Saturday?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: I have 55.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I do want to remind everybody.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: What a weather.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: I do want to remind everybody to register for the eighth annual Bacon and Brew Festival happening this coming Saturday, the 17th of October, from 3 to 7 down a beautiful riverfront here in Clinton.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: We'll be at the Riverview Band Shell.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: You can taste bacon-inspired treats as well as some beer for some local breweries and things like that.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're going to have some amazing music, live music by the Trippin' Billy's, who kind of are a regional rock star.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: They are a Dave Matthews tribute band.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So be sure if you have not received your tickets, roclinton.com forward slash bacon.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's that easy, folks.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: Perfect weather for it, too.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sweat a weather.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Sweat a weather.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I played that for my four-year-old daughter the other day.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now she just goes around going sweat a weather.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Sweat a weather.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Sponsors, Jenny, Citizens First Bank.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: This mic check courtesy of Citizens First Bank, making your finances and our audio on the podcast crystal clear.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: They sponsor these brand new microphones in the Gro Clinton Podcast Studio.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: The bank that's always in tune with our community.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: You can find them at gocfb.bank.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Banking as it should be with Citizens First Bank, a member F D I Craft Printware, Sully Sports.
• 2:38
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• 2:40
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• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's S-U-L-L-Y-S Sports.com, or you can check out their physical location on 19th Avenue Northwest here in Clinton.
• 2:58
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• 3:03
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• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of S's people put in here.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Jeez Louise, Sully Shirt Club.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I do it$24.99 a month.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: I get an exclusive members-only t-shirt every single month.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Jenny usually has to pick it up for me.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Jenny.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's all right.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you get 10% off everything in the store.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: So SullySports.com.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Miles Communication, the original sponsor of the Grow Clinton podcast, hooking us up with Wicked Fast high-speed internet to ensure this broadcast is crisp, clear, and consistent.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Miles offers television and telephone services as well to meet your home or company's communication needs.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: If they're not in your neck of the woods, they're on their way.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: More information, milestelephone.com.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Lionel B sell, where they produce high density, low-density polyethylene plastic resins used to create a variety of products, including household and industrial bottles, pressure pipe, you name it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: If it's made of plastic, chances are pretty good those resins came from Clintown.
• 3:52
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• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Solutions for a better tomorrow.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Good show today, Jenny.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Another candidate that we need to hear from.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Candidates for Iowa Senate District 35.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Joe studying.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Joe, thank you for joining us on the podcast.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you for having me.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Joe, respect for putting your name on the ballot, my friend.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Anybody who does that has already overcome a huge obstacle just by being recognized as a candidate.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: But what has inspired you to run for state senate?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, my whole career has been moving in this direction, a superintendent, which I've been for 21 years in public education.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: And where was that?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: I was uh eight years up in uh Door County, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then for the last 13 years, I've been the North Scott uh um uh superintendent of schools.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, I was a teacher, a coach, a principal, you know, I've done all of the positions in education, but my most of my career now has been spent as a superintendent of schools.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I tell people this I've never uh viewed my position as strictly about education.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's also about economic development.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: When I was up in Sturgeon Bay, I was on the city council, I was on their economic development uh corporation uh board.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I view schools as one of the cornerstones of how we grow communities.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it's through leadership and through relationships in which we do that.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, at North Scott, just some examples, you know, the city of Eldridge and the North Scott School District went and put a why, built a why together.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful building.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I tell people we love having a swim team and we're starting a swim program, but that's not why we built the why.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: We built the why because we want to grow the North Scott School District.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: And we know amenities, things that families want, like great school systems, YMCAs, bike trails, all those things are important.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why we invested$7 million as a school district in a community, and it went to the voters uh through the Pearl to make sure our voters wanted it.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we ran that and our voters wanted it too.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so I've always viewed this position as how do I bring people together?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: How does the school connect with our communities, our community leaders, uh, um, our businesses to help grow?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the last project that we did, uh, we put in a uh$22 million facility we call the Regional Innovation Center.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that was all about skilled labor, skilled labor that we desperately need right here in eastern Iowa, not only Scott County, Clinton County, and Jackson County.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so that has everything from vet tech, uh health services, EMT, diesel mechanics, construction, electric, plumbing, the whole works.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, is that specific to the North Scott School District or is that in partnership with the community colleges?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: So, in order to get that done, it's in partnership with many people.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and it's available to all kids in eastern Iowa.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we don't call it the North Scott Regional Innovation Center.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: We call it the Regional Innovation Center because any student within driving distance can have access to those programs.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: So, in your seat as you know, an educator, what do you see in the future as being, you know what's going to happen in education?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: What does it need?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, well, um uh uh uh one is we have to continue to to focus on the workforce and what we need to be producing because we don't even know what the future looks like.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: Schools have to be willing to change.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: We've spent the last uh 13 years since I've been in North Scott rebuilding programs we used to have in the 70s and 80s, and that's that hands-on.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's producing that skilled labor we desperately need to fill right here in eastern Iowa.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: I think AI is gonna have a huge impact on that.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, of what does that mean for future jobs and how do we use that?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: How do we use that to enhance education and not replace education?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and so there, I think there's gonna be a lot of challenges, like we always do.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Financially, there's always challenges uh um in education.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: There has been since I've been in education, and there will continue to be that.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: And we wanna continue to have a great education system here in Iowa, look at improving that because it's a cornerstone to growing Iowa, which is what one of my cornerstones of why I'm running is we have to grow Iowa, grow our businesses, and grow our people.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Joe, let's talk a little bit about your campaign priorities.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, according to your website, Joe Studding, that's two Ts, S-T-U-T-T-I-N-G.com.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: You identify several priorities, uh, specifically for your Iowa Senate campaign.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: The first one being cutting taxes and curbing wasteful government spending.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to build on that a little bit?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think the base that we've done for the last 10 years with the Republicans in charge has really set us up good for the our income tax, our corporate tax, and now some property tax that will be phasing over the next four years.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: We need to continue to look at that.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: But because we've done that, we we've brought down our revenue and uh and we've known that we're gonna bring our revenue down as we build on our economy to replace the dollars that we're losing in collecting taxes.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think we've seen that over the last couple uh um uh cycles of the revenue estimating committee.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: We need to see that grow more.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Because in order to maintain those bases, you need more people in the state of Iowa.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: What's one of the things holding us back and holding our industries back?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: It isn't necessarily they don't want to come here.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's sometimes we don't have the workforce to bring them in.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: I was speaking with the Amazon manager and he was talking about Amazon coming into the quad cities.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: And he said if it would have been a traditional fat or a contritional warehouse, they would have never been able to come because we didn't have the workforce.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: It had to be an automated warehouse in order to be able to build in this area.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so that means, what does that mean?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: We have to, we have to uh grow our population.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: We can't continue to allow areas like the Bettendorfs, Waukees, and Ankenys to grow at the expense of rural Iowa, grow at the expense of Clinton County.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: And we're down over 10,000 people in in what over 20 years.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: We can't continue that path if we want to still see the ADMs invest, which they're investing, it's great to see uh a number of our manufacturers investing in our area.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: We also have to invest in our area and growing our people.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: So do you think that um in rural Iowa it's so important?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: What is the shrinking population the biggest problem we have?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: Or what's what is the biggest challenge you think we have here?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think it has been the shrinking population over time, but that shrinking population has also deteriorated the amenities that small towns uh and even larger communities like Clinton need.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: As you as you shrink and and you struggle, you fall behind in keeping up on buildings, keeping up on infrastructure, being able to invest in the things that families want.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I think about where is the the the least expensive place for families to get started?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's in our small communities like the Lomores.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I live in Princeton, Iowa, it's the Princetons, it's the Follett's.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: The problem with those areas, they don't have money to invest in the amenities in order to get young families to say, I can live there and then drive into where I need to drive into.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we have to really look at that.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and we have to look at the areas that have that need to be revitalized.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Clinton's a good example.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: When I when I graduated in 1987 and I went to school in the 80s, Fifth Avenue was where you went to shop.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: We did all with clients, three stories of clothes, you know, your shoe shopping, JCPenney, Sears.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: That we went there.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: We went to the movie theater there, and now that's not there.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and and and so how do we help revitalize those areas?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: How do we get those people back?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: How do we make sure people choose to live in Clinton, not and not only just work in Clinton?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I had a meeting with ADM and we had this whole conversation.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: As they invest and they invest in the workforce, one of the things we need to do is make sure we all partners say is we got to get Clinton to a place where they choose to live.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you live in the quad cities and you work in Clinton, you don't spend your money as often in Clinton.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: We need people spending their money all around Eastern Iowa, right?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: We need strong Eastern Iowa.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: I always say about public education, we need every school system to be strong.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: We can't afford weak school systems at all.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: It isn't good to have one weak school system so that another one can be stronger.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: No, we need everybody to be strong at what they do.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's the same way with our economy.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So speaking of schools, I mean, another priority you have listed on your website is improving Iowa's public schools and career training.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: You kind of touched on this a little bit, specifically with the regional career center that you have available and that is open to all students in eastern Iowa, providing top-notch education on a lot of skills that are in high demand.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: But what about the public school system in general?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, when we when we look at the public schools, you know, I hear this a lot on uh on the campaign trail about how we used to be number one and now we're we're not number one.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, it's easy to try to take a look at the education system and not that we can't do a better job, right?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think we're heading in the right direction on having a more state focused on ELA reading curriculum, on math curriculum, and things like that.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: I think you're gonna see our scores go up as a result of a more state focus.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: But I think there's also a lot of issues that we just ignore.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: So for example, in 1987, we were about uh 20% frame reduced kids in the state of Iowa.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're at 40% on average.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: There's more challenges when you bring when you have uh more students living uh in a poverty situation.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: We have a higher uh minority population, higher ELL population.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: So we have more challenges today than we ever did.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: And those are the challenges that we need to start meeting, uh, not only as a school district, but really as a society.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: I think one of the one of the factors that I've seen over my years is the kids that we really struggle with are the ones that have such mobility in housing.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it is not unusual to see an elementary student have to go to five different elementaries in a two-year time period.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: How do you ever catch a student up or get to know a student if they're only in your school building for a few months at a time?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, especially when educators all have a different style of teaching.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: And you don't even get to know them to create.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're we're doing great jobs on creating individualized plans and providing uh extra support for kids in in all education systems.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: But when they're coming and going, by about the time you're implementing a plan to help a student, they're off to another school.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: Now that school's got to learn all about the student to figure out what plan.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, so I think there's there, I, you know, not again, not that education can't do better.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think the state of Iowa has a lot of regulations put on to us uh that that we have to really start thinking about is this it's good stuff, but is it helping us get teachers to be better?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: For example, mandatory trainings.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: In a year, there's probably now over five plus hours of mandatory trainings.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Many of which is unfunded.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh oh, it's well, it's all part of our funding, right?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's just part of what we have to do.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we already have a limited amount of time we have in education.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's you know, our calendar hasn't changed in many, many years.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say decades is probably longer.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Decades we operate.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yep, we're operating on the same.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: And many schools are operating on less minutes now than they have before due to financial reasons.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh um and so when you have mandates like bloodborne pathogens, and that's a federal one.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have to do that every single year.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I understand during the 80s and the AIDS epidemic and hepatitis about it, you know, yearly until we all got used to how do you handle blood incidences?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure we need to do that every single year.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's a it's a minimum of a half hour.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: And we have many trainings like that are from the state, and and the state's got a task force looking, and I hope they really look at that and say, well, how much time can we take away from training teachers to do a better job to doing mandatory trainings, which are important, but you have to balance that out.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a number of mandates like that.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think we have to look at is this mandate still doing what it needs to do?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: It is, or is it now taking away from the annual training for someone to retain that knowledge, or is that knowledge already there and it could be every other year?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: I get it.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Defending what you describe as conservative small town values.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, for me, uh it is uh, you know, I'm a Republican for a reason.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: I believe in our individual liberties, right?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: I believe that we have individual liberties and governments should be watching out for those and not overstepping our individual liberties.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I believe in local control.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: That's the one, you know, uh obviously I've been in education, so I know what it's like having school boards with less local control than they've ever had.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, schools are much different than city councils and uh boards of supervisors who have still a lot of control.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I worry when people want the state to make a decision and uh to take away local control, now you're removing the closest people to making that decision.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we need to be really careful about that.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think we I think we need to continue to protect our individual liberties.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think at the state level, we need to protect local control and smaller government.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Regulations uh um can be not only getting in the way of progress, they also become extremely expensive.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I uh have done many building projects uh in my career, and it's amazing how expensive a new building code can cost you.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, just for example, we're putting uh we're we're bidding out right now to do uh orchestra rooms.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: We have orchestra for 17 years, but we don't truly have a high school orchestra room, and so we're looking at getting that taken care of.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, now you have to have a storm shelter put into any school, police department, or or that.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's an extra$400,000 expense to this project.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: If the whole, the whole addition would have had to be, it would have been a million dollar extra.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I, you know, I wonder, I, you know, not that I don't want safe buildings.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: I ask, when was the last time a student and I were in the United States was killed during a by a tornado during the school day?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know 100% that answer, but I'm not aware of that happening.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Now, schools have been hit, right?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: In the evenings, and it's always a potential.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: Our, you know, uh North Scott's uh four acres under one roof, and most of them don't have windows and are internal.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think it's a really safe, uh, safe building to begin with.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: But there's an example of a code that's costing the taxpayers to put on a two-room addition an extra$400,000.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: And there are lots of codes like that.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's lots of codes like that throughout, not just building codes throughout lots of different business codes that cost business to do more money, which in the end costs consumers.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so we should be looking for those things protecting us on.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: It does.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Joe, this has been a great conversation.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, last bullet according to your website is ensuring Iowa remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: You alluded to many of the things that we can do to ensure that those values continue to remain, especially in our rural areas and small towns.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: What else do you have in mind and what priorities would you have if elected to the Senate?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think, you know, when we think about, and we've talked a lot about how how do we make Iowa a place that does all of those things.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, a strong education system, you know, we need to build back our education system.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: We don't need to be 27, we don't need to be kidd be beat by Nebraska.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think that always gets brought up, right?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh nobody wants that.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and that's going to take a lot of partners to do that too.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I alluded to that.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh when we want to rebuild to get people to want to live in Iowa, we need to, we need to toot our horn.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you guys do a phenomenal job uh uh in promoting Clinton.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh um and I've really appreciated learning about all the different things, uh, you know, the trolls and and that's been brought up.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh I took my mom and mother-in-law both around the trolls on Mother's Day and saw it was amazing and saw the number of out of people uh um from outside of the Clinton County area that were there that day that I knew all the way from when I was teaching in Columbus Junction, uh, you know, running across former teachers and stuff.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was very interesting.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I think we got to I think we got to promote all the positive things, but we got to help communities have those amenities to do it.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I've talked about that in rural Iowa.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: What a better place to raise a family in a small town uh that we have.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: But we need to make sure those towns have the amenities and and and and that can be anywhere from just simple businesses, whether it's a Dollar General, a gas station, but it's good sidewalks, it's walkability, it's bike paths.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: Our small towns do not have a spending issue.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, our small towns, what they have is a lack of tax revenue and the about and the money to be able to do it.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: So that means it's a partnership.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's a partnership with the state, it's a partnership with the with the counties and the cities.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, a lot of our grants at the state level require matching dollars.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Well, guess who doesn't have matching dollars?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: Small communities.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, like in Princeton, uh we would we'd love to repair a bunch of roads.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have money to repair one road.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's just and that's a simple thing.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's a simple amenity, right?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh to be on a good road.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: And we're lucky, we do have a dollar general and a Casey's and a couple of restaurants in Princeton.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, um, but not all of our communities have that opportunity.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so when a young family can afford a starter home in those communities, they first got to judge is, well, do I have the things that will make it the where I want to be able to live?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: And we need to help look at really doing that.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to be a place where people want to live, work, uh, and be educated.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: No, I agree with you, sir.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that Clinton so often suffers from is we are too small to be big, too big to be small.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning that when we apply for some of these grants that are available through the state, the especially the rural set-asides, it's populations of 20,000 or less.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: We hover right around 25, and we've been able to kind of stop the bleed from a population loss standpoint.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: However, our goal is not to reduce our population by 5,000, so we have access to programming.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the state program should be looked, should look at not only population existing today, but also the decline.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you're declining, your goal is not to reach a lower number.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Your goal is to sustain, if not grow your population.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I feel like the those programs should be a little bit more equitable.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, I'm a common sense type of guy.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I I I know you have to have rules and regulations.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: I've been in education a long time, knowing that, you know, consistency helps, but I'm also common sense.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh very few things are truly.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Just black and white.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And when you do that, then you have winners and losers.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, that's a really good example is yes, I understand why you created 20,000, but does it always is our 20,000 the same as a growing 20,000?
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, a bond rant, or you get out to the the Des Moines metro area where communities used to be really small, now are hitting school-wise, they're getting bigger than we are.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: They used to be uh years ago, 1A schools, right?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that's so there, so there's a difference of it, that 20,000 versus a declining 20,000.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I agree.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: And and again, I'm a common sense type of guy.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think we got to look at our programs, apply common sense.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: And in the end, I think our our goal is, and and we've set it up for the last 10 years, is it's to grow Iowa.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's to attract businesses and population.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: We got to quit shoveling, shuffling the deck uh uh in in growing areas, not growing Iowa.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: Our goal from the state level has to be how are we growing Iowa and how does this program help with that?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: Do you see a big change in how we're gonna grow population in the past?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we've done a lot of industry and things like that, but what do you see in the future as a possibility in uh growing our population?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, I think there's there's some housing things that we have to start thinking about, not only in Iowa, but this country.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, affording a house today and a more each day is really hard.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, are we getting back to, I remember when my mom and dad in the 1970s built the first house, uh, and thank God because of industry growth, right?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Kimplex and Alcoa.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: My dad started helping build Kimplex and went to Alcoa and gotten a position, but it was a government program when he had 16, 17% interest rate that spurred how homeownership.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna be getting back to that.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard for a young person uh to uh um get started in a house.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so what kind of programs can we do?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: And how I'm a big believer in how do you work in partnerships, state, cities, counties, and private.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've done a lot of private partnerships.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we had over$500,000 of private investment in our regional innovation center.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I think you have to look at those type of things uh um to be able to do it.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think we got to get aggressive.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think first of all, you got you set the goal of what you're trying to grow.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then, okay, how are we tracking that?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: And what how is this program impacting that?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: And we have lots of programs.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'd be I I I I'm not uh I would never uh want anybody to think I know every single program that the state currently has.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: But you said something very important.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: How do we track the success of those programs?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: And at what point do we realize that they're not successful and sunset them and try something else?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: Correct, correct.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and um I'm I'm hoping this week is the revenue uh conference this week.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm hoping those numbers come in really good and show that we're collecting more revenue.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's a really good sign.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: But what we do know over the next uh over this next session, we have to see uh uh economic growth.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we plan for this, we plan to use the rainy day fund, but we also plan for growth.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: So let's set that growth.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: But it can't just be uh businesses and jobs.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: Those are huge.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: But if you don't have people, if those people aren't paying Iowa income tax, it really isn't helping you.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh um that's why I say shuffling the deck is great for a city, but it's not great for the state of Iowa.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I mean, I always my jaw drops when I hear the economic figures regarding tours in the state of Iowa.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: You wouldn't think of Iowa as a big tourism state, but it's billions of dollars that gets that gets siphoned into this community every single or into the state every single year from people that are choosing Iowa as a place to visit.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And the goal always is how do we capture those visitors and turn them into residents?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where the program really needs to focus, especially when you talk about home ownership.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously everybody remembers 2008 when the housing market crashed.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was a victim of that.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: I had just bought a home in 2007.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Interest rates were attractive and they were offering some amazing mortgage programs.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I hooked lighting sinker, bought a house that honestly I could not afford because the interest rates were nice and because we qualified for the money, and I was in the military at the time, but then 2008 comes and boom, next thing you know, all the houses in my development are covered in Tyvek paper, not being completed.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: And my house uh just was devalued overnight by like$50,000.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then I try to get out of that house because I get reassigned to a new location and good luck.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's a lot, there's programs that are starting to come out because if you think about what people pay for rent, I mean, let's talk about a whole nother issue is there are a lot of young people paying as much in rent as they would a house payment, but they can't afford the 20% down.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: So you look at areas like Charleston that said, you know what, they can afford their their payment.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: We got to do something about the 20%.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think those are there are different things that we can we can look at doing.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: I I tell you, in the future, the United States and and Iowa has to think about birth rate.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and what are the things that we're doing to promote birth rate.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, because if you think if I think about the number one thing that's causing education financially to be the biggest issue, yes, 2% are tough, right?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh um that's not uh keeping up with inflation, things like that.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: But it's compound with declining enrollment.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: My budget in as a school district is based off of enrollment.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: If I gain 10% kids and I get 2%, I got 12% new money.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: I you're not hearing me complain about money ever.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and so again, if we can solve the birth rate, if we can get more kids living in Iowa, get a higher birth rate, we solve a lot of our problems.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it's long term.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: I do feel like the compounding issue regarding the ability to keep our youth in our communities has proven to be a huge problem.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: And we have yet to develop a solution.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're not going to have a mountain range.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have a coastal location along the Atlantic or the Pacific.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: We are Iowa and we're unique.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: What is our unique selling proposition?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: What are we using to attract people here and how can we retain our youth?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I hear one more time about somebody that left the state to go off and seek post-secondary and just never returned, um, that stinks because that is lost revenue.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: That is somebody who we spent 18 years educating and raising and investing in now to go somewhere else.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm all for people going out and getting lived experiences, but at the end of the day, we want them to come back.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: And what are we doing to attract them?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we still get a lot that come back when they start having kids.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Our problem is they're not starting to have kids or they're waiting into their 30s, and then, you know, you own a house, you're traveling all the time.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: Now you're now you're debating on whether to have a kid or continue this lifestyle, right?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh it's a it's an issue for us.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: Daycare costs, I was just trying to airplaze it.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: Well, how how do you feel?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: Do you see daycare as a big problem?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I hear about it all the time as a problem.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: We run a daycare uh in Princeton, Iowa as a school district, and we don't have enough people to really truly justify that daycare.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um our before and after school programs uh this year are full, but for a few years we're not full.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: But I do know many working families struggle trying to find that day care, that daycare uh for it.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, i if I go back, it isn't just an education issue though, about young people.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: Think about uh here in Clinton.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Why is there not a birthing unit?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's because there are not enough births, right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's one of the reasons.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: For years.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and so you if you think about our older population, and as we get older here in Iowa, we need young people to be taking the jobs that they're no longer, we're no longer filling, that our retirees aren't filling, and the new industries that are needed to help support that, that, that retiree population.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so there are so many things we can solve by growing our population.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: I know we identify dentists and dental hygienists.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Attorneys is a big one I have a huge concern about.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think the Iowa Bar Association just put out a report not too long ago talking about we are basically a legal profession desert regarding attorneys.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, these young individuals are graduating law school, they're passing the bar, they're getting licensed, but where are they?
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And why aren't they doing their practice here in Iowa?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that's, I mean, we look at our county, and I'd say a lion's share of our attorneys are very, very, very close to retirement, if not within the next couple of months.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't have a lot of young faces looking to fill those practices.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that only that not only impacts obviously the availability of attorneys in the area for residents, but for us as an economic development organization, I need an attorney to help with land closing and resolutions and restrictive covenants and all of these things.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it's it's it's a concern.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: There's not very many professions right now.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: We would go, oh, yeah, we have a solid uh workforce coming up.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: There's not many at all.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you ask my son, professional YouTubers are gonna be everywhere.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's all you're gonna do is be on YouTube and make money over features.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Joe, uh, in closing, give us a summary minute, minute and a half, your pitch when you're knocking on doors.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: Why should somebody cast their ballot and vote for you for state senate in district 35?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, I'm this is a very interesting district for me since I grew up in Clinton County.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm the superintendent of the North Scott School District, and my parents grew up in Jackson County.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: Studies are from Makokoda.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I couldn't have drawn a better district for connections for that.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: My background is so unique.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I um went grew up in Comanche, I was married right out of high school, was in the Iowa National Guard, I wrestled four years, was an all-American, I worked at Pela Windows, I grew up in a blue-collar town, and I worked in a factory myself.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: I've been in farm communities uh as a principal teacher, uh, and I've been in uh suburban type areas as a superintendent.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I think about my vast experiences that I have and the representation that I can give uh right here to Clinton County in eastern Iowa, I'm I'm the perfect candidate uh for that.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I have uh always enjoyed having uh the opportunity and the leadership to bring people together to get things done.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: I've always believed you leave a place better than you found it, and I think I've done that every place I've been.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think if you ask North Scott people, they were probably hoping I wasn't uh leaving the North Scott School District because it's better today than when I found it.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I I'm praying the next person does the same thing and I can do the same thing at the state level.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent, Joe.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate your time.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: Best of luck to you in the election.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you having me.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Jenny, it's Wednesday.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Woohoo.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're getting closer to the weekend.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: What do you got going on the rest of the week?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, just my usual, trying to get out to see members, contact members, you know, in any way I can.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: And you've been doing a great job.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: We've seen an influx of membership and interest in joining the organization.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think finally people are seeing what Grow Clinton's all about.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they want to be involved and they want to offer advice.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we don't claim to be the subject matter experts on everything here at Grow Clinton.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: We're always looking for new opportunities to learn from others.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: So kudos to you for getting out there and making our existing members feel welcomed and comfortable and also reaching out to those people that are prospectives.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm I believe in every in what we do.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we do we want to develop, we want to help people, and we want to be sure that they're successful.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I encourage all of everyone to reach out to me if you need anything.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_03: Grow Clinton, like you always say, is potholes to smoke stacks and we want to help.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you guys heard it here first.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: Potholes to smoke stacks.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta talk to your brother-in-law, get that trademarked.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, or at least copyright.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: All right, all right, everybody.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: So this is episode 276 of the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, if you're not subscribed, please do so.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Wherever you get your podcast, just search Grow a Clinton Podcast.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: Hit that subscribe button.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: Never miss an episode.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Until we talk again, folks.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: Stay classy.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: See ya.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Grow Clinton podcast.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to subscribe and follow us on all your socials.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: See ya.