Mark Doland & his family. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Hello! I am writing to introduce myself. I am Mark Doland and I am running for Tama County Supervisor and I ask for your vote. After the ballot initiative passed in the last general election, it created five seats on the board of supervisors. The areas that I seek to represent are the new precincts of Toledo and Garwin. 

I am a husband, father, and newly minted grandpa. I am married to Gwendy Doland (Thede). Together, we have a blended family of eight children and one grandchild. We live on a small acreage in rural Toledo that has been in the family for more than 90 years. When Gwendy’s father, Mike Thede, passed away in 2020, we remodeled his old home and moved our family from the Des Moines area. 

My career has focused in the areas of law enforcement, mental health/substance abuse counseling, minister, and politics over the past twenty-six years. I currently oversee pretrial and probation services for Meskwaki Nation. My experience in these areas make me uniquely qualified to serve as the Tama County Supervisor for my district and I am asking for your vote in the November 5th general election.

My vision for serving the people in our district is a robust plan to restore the area to a healthy and thriving community. I plan to do this by securing resources and services for those who are struggling with addiction and mental health diagnosis. I have been a part of implementing bold strategies to get people the help that they need as an alternative to the failed policies of the past. 

We are only as good as we treat our neighbors. Our jail system is filled with people who are in need of evidence based interventions that promote strategies for behavior change that lead to positive outcomes. In my daily work over the past twenty six years, I have led many in the micro and macro levels of behavioral and systems change. By offering alternatives to ineffective jail sentences, I am an advocate for innovative treatment options. 

By intervening and treating the underlying root causes of those suffering from mental health diagnosis and substance abuse disorders, we can become a healthy and thriving community. Everyone that I know has a family member that is either struggling or has been diagnosed with a mental health/substance use disorder.  

While other counties are resource-rich, we are lagging way behind in our services and treatment. I have the experience and a proven record with undeniable results and outcomes in the mental health and substance abuse field. I will do the same for my community as a Tama County Supervisor. 

I will focus on building partnerships with local entities. My district spans from Toledo to Garwin and has a very diverse population. Southcentral Tama County incorporates the largest population in the county, including the cities of Tama, Toledo, Montour, Garwin, and the Meskwaki Nation. It is in all of our interests to seek opportunities to strengthen our community by working together. 

I am a proponent to fully fund EMS as an essential service. I understand that there is an inherent value to life and those first responders are absolutely critical component to situations that are literally life or death. EMS saves lives and must be supported with all of the tools, equipment, and personnel to make their mission successful. There will be a ballot initiative to fund EMS services and I will be voting yes and asking all of my friends and family to support the initiative as well.

I have served on many economic development boards and hope to bring this experience to revitalize our business base and support our existing businesses. There are other small towns that are leading the way to becoming vibrant and thriving communities and we should be following their lead. There is no reason why we cannot build a community that attracts people by offering amenities that prospects are looking for. 

I ask for your vote and look forward to communicating with you more as the election season goes on. If you would like to visit, I welcome you to call me… My telephone number is 641-295-0135. I work Monday-Friday 8-4:30 so if you call and leave a message, usually I can call you back in a short amount of time. I would be open to answering any and all questions as well as sitting down with you and visiting. 

You can check out my Facebook page at Mark Doland for Tama County Supervisor. I still believe that what we see on the news isn’t what I see in our everyday interactions with our neighbors. I still believe in the American dream, and I believe that Tama County’s best days are still ahead of us. Please reach out and remember to vote in the November 5th general election for Mark Doland. 

Mark Doland

Toledo