Community members gathered at The Java House Friday morning to talk with Ross Nusser, candidate for Iowa City City Council, in preparation for the special election slated for March 4.
Nusser advanced to the special election against Oliver Weilein as a result of a primary election held on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The primary election, originally intended to narrow three candidates to two, was inconsequential for both Nusser and Weilein, as the third candidate Sharon DeGraw withdrew from the race in January.
Attendees had the opportunity to talk to Nusser in a casual environment and voice their opinions on the issues most important to them. Many openly supported Nusser in his campaign efforts and were already knowledgeable about his plans.
Community member and former longtime UI faculty member Tom Rocklin shared his support for Nusser and all the work he’s done in the non-profit sector. Successful Living, a non-profit organization providing support to adults living with chronic mental illness, is an organization for which Nusser has served on the board of directors for nearly 14 years.
“I appreciate all the hard work Ross has already done in the community, serving on the boards of some very important organizations, and I want to see what he can do as a city council [member],” he said.
Nusser listed mental health, behavioral health, and affordable housing as the three most important issues in his campaign.
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“There are three [issues] that all kind of tie into each other, and they all play into my history,” he said.
Nusser said his experience on the board of directors for The Housing Fellowship, a non-profit affordable housing initiative, has helped develop his plans if he were to be elected.
“Iowa City currently has $15 million that’s able to be deployed toward affordable housing,” Nusser explained. “There are real steps we can take to support real nonprofits who already have the infrastructure programming available to support these affordable housing interests.”
For community member Tom Siekmann, professionalism and open-mindedness are of utmost importance for a city council member.
“It’s not a part-time thing. To me, it is that they are professional and open to discussion,” he said when asked about what qualities he finds to be most important this election. “I think it’s very important in today’s world, that if we have our differences, we discuss them but we don’t get disagreeable with each other.”
Iowa City resident Laura Westemeyer said she attended the event to check in with Nusser and thank him for his campaign.
“I wanted to hear how things are going in his campaign, and also just thank him for the balance that he’s going to bring to the community,” she said.
Westemeyer listed her biggest issues for the election as fiscal responsibility, balance, and historical preservation.
Westemeyer has been an advocate for historical preservation in the past, voicing her frustration over the city’s code during a disagreement with The Historic Preservation Commission of Iowa City in 2024.
“I think it’s just we got to have common sense rules, and we have to think of things from all perspectives,” she said.