Vice Chair of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission and University of Iowa instructor, Jason Glass, announced his candidacy to run in the Nov. 2 Iowa City City Council election.

Glass is seeking City Councilor Susan Mims’ vacant seat. Mims told The Daily Iowan in January that she won’t pursue reelection.

Glass, who has lived in Johnson County for 16 years and teaches at the UI Tippie College of Business, is a consultant for Glass People Solutions and a current member of the Iowa Army National Guard.

Since Glass was appointed to the Iowa City Human Rights Commission in January, Glass said he has been heavily involved in discussions around race and policing in Iowa City.

“I’ve built a lot of relationships with people, and have a kind of a nonpartisan rational approach to things,” Glass said. “We need more people like that in politics that are willing to listen and not just use bumper sticker talking points.”

Glass said every item on a city council agenda deserves proper attention, from wastewater treatment and maintenance to equity issues.

“I think sometimes at the local level, we lose sight of some of the things that don’t make headlines as far as making sure the city runs really well,” Glass said.

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Johnson County will receive about $29 million in COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan to provide aid after the pandemic.

The City Council will need to focus on the influx of money from the American Rescue Plan over the next year, Glass said. Glass said he wants to make sure the money is distributed to those who were left behind during the pandemic and benefit the community in the short and long term.

“One of the most critical decisions is what we do with that money,” Glass said.

With the Federal funding, Glass said Iowa City has an opportunity to really address some potentially systemic issues.

“Iowa City is facing a critical time given the debates about law enforcement and race, health, and financial impacts of the pandemic, and housing and food insecurity in a growing community,” Glass said in a campaign press release.

Following Megan Alter’s announcement to run for the at-large seat in the City Council election, Glass is the second candidate to run.

Glass said he plans to run for one of the two open at-large City Councilor seats in November, but will leave the door open to run for the single available District B seat.

Glass said he plans to officially announce the seat he is running for in August.

“If there’s a whole bunch of people that jump into one or the other, then that might change things,” Glass said. “The bottom line is that I have the option, but my plan at the moment is to run at large.”