August is now behind us, school is back in session, and I’ve completed my first month as Chair of the Tama County Board of Supervisors. In August the Board approved an updated Employee Handbook. Department heads were invited to meet with our HR department over the last few months for ...
I heard it said recently that all taxpayers should want Government representation “closest to the people”. Question: Does your representation increase or decrease with Tama County divided into 3 Supervisor Districts versus 5 Supervisor Districts? Clearly your representation decreases and ...
As a family farmer raising two kids with my wife by Dysart, I follow state politics closely. I know firsthand how decisions made in Des Moines ripple down to our farms, our small businesses, and our kids' futures – from property taxes to ag policy to the health of our rural communities. ...
We live in a world that celebrates the idea that "all roads lead to heaven," but the teachings of Jesus being the only way to heaven remain counter-cultural. Today, many religions demand a grueling checklist of charitable deeds, rituals, or moral perfection to earn God's favor. Yet, the ...
Two hundred and fifty years ago, America was founded on the revolutionary idea that individuals are endowed with inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Americans are called to uphold this sacred inheritance to ensure our founding principles are carried from one ...
Our climate keeps heating up with dire effects, but our governmental leaders seem incapable of finding solutions to get us out of this mess that we have caused. One possible way out is to find new technologies that reduce the emission of carbon dioxide that is driving climate change. Almost ...
At the heart of agriculture is culture. What makes a culture? Community. At the heart of agribusiness is business. What makes a business? Money. These almost diametrically opposed ideas are at the struggle of farming. A community thrives with more people, and a business thrives when they are ...
As an educator who's spent years building a foundation for children, I believe that school choice is a foundational freedom that Iowans should have. Parents should be able to have more say over where their kids go to school and more say over where their tax dollars are spent. The Democrats ...
As State Auditor, I've been sounding the alarm on the unaccountable private school voucher program for years. Politicians who like to lie say it's because I'm against private schools. That's not true at all. What I am against is waste, fraud, and abuse of Iowa tax dollars, and the private ...
As I visited Clear Lake this weekend, I took a stroll through Ventura to my favorite ice cream shop. While seeing the sign for Ventura’s greatest basketball player, Lynne Lorenzen, who resided in Tama County for part of her youth before moving up to the Clear Lake area, the school district ...