The stage is set for the November 2nd School Elections with regard to the Griswold Community School District. The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports there are a total of four candidates for the Griswold School Board. All are four are incumbents and unopposed.

Director 3: Scott Peterson

Director 4: Donald K. Smith

At Large:

Robert D. Peterson

Aaron Houser

In addition, patrons of the Griswold School District will act on approving Public Measure DH (as described below):

SUMMARY: To adopt a Revenue Purpose Statement specifying the use of revenues the Griswold Community School District will receive from the State of Iowa Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund. “In the Griswold Community School District, the following Revenue Purpose Statement which specifies the use of revenues the Griswold Community School District will receive from the State of Iowa Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund shall be adopted….

• To provide funds to acquire or install information technology infrastructure (including improving buildings or sites for the purpose of accessing broadband digital telecommunications) and school safety and security infrastructure.
• To provide funds to build and furnish a new school building or buildings; to build and furnish addition(s) to school buildings in the District; to remodel, reconstruct, repair, expand, and improve the school buildings in the District; to purchase and improve grounds; for demolition work; to furnish and equip district facilities.
• To provide funds for the purchase, lease or lease-purchase of buildings, equipment (including transportation and recreation equipment), or technology and to repair transportation equipment for transporting students as authorized by law, to implement energy conservation measures, sharing or rental of facilities including a joint infrastructure project for the purposes of offering classes under district-to-community college programs as authorized in Iowa Code Section 423F.3(3)(c), procuring or acquisition of libraries, or opening roads to schoolhouses or buildings.
• To provide funds to purchase land as part of start-up costs for new student construction program or if the sale of the previous student construction was insufficient to purchase land, and to purchase construction materials and supplies for a student-constructed building or shed intended to be retained by and used by the District.
• To provide funds to make payments to a municipality or other entity as required under Iowa Code Section 403.19(2).
• To provide funds for demolition, cleanup, and other costs if such costs are necessitated by, and incurred within two years of, a disaster.
• To provide funds to establish and maintain public recreation places and playgrounds; provide for supervision and instruction for recreational activities; or for community education purposes.
• To provide funds for the payment of principal and interest or retirement of general obligation bonds issued for school infrastructure purposes, energy improvement loans, loan agreements authorized by Iowa Code Section 297.36, sales, service and use tax revenue bonds issued under Iowa Code Section 423E.5 or Iowa Code Section 423F.4.
• To provide funds for property tax relief; and
• To provide funds for other authorized expenditures and purposes as now or hereafter permitted by law and designated by the Griswold
• Community School District.

It being understood that if this proposition should fail to be approved by the voters, such failure shall not be construed to terminate or restrict authority previously granted by the voters to expend receipts from the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund. If approved, this Revenue Purpose Statement shall remain in effect until replaced or amended by the Griswold Community School District.”

“If a majority of eligible electors voting on the question fail to approve this Revenue Purpose Statement, then upon expiration of the current Revenue Purpose Statement, revenues received by the School District from the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education fund shall be expended in the following order:

• The payment of bonds for which SAVE Revenue has been pledged;
• Reduction of bond levies under Iowa Code Sections 298.18 and 298.18A and all other debt levies;
• Reduction of the regular and voter-approved physical plant and equipment levy under Iowa Code Section 298.2;
• Reduction of the public educational and recreational levy under Iowa Code Section 300.2;
• For any authorized infrastructure purpose of the school district as defined in Iowa Code Section 423F.3(6); and
• For the payment of principal and interest on bonds issued under Iowa Code Sections 423E.5 and 423F.4.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents has approved a Master of Midwifery program for the University of Iowa. U-I Associate provost, Amanda Thein, presented the plan. “The development of the M-M program is part of the Iowa Maternal Health Innovation Program. This is a five-year program of the Iowa Department of Public Health to improve obstetric care in the state,” Thein says. She says this has been a program supported by lawmakers. “There’s an unmet need for more maternity care providers in the state of Iowa — especially in rural areas,” Thein says. “Additionally, the maternal mortality rate in the state of Iowa has increased in recent years.”

Thein says this will be the first of its kind in the state. “No other nurse midwifery programs exist in Iowa. The program will attract applicants from Iowa — as well as surrounding states that don’t have programs of their own — such as Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota,” she says. Thein says there will be plenty of jobs for graduates of the program. “Currently, midwifery education programs are not keeping up with retirements in the field. The U-S Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates a 26 percent increase in employment opportunities for certified nurse midwives between 2018 and 2028,” according to Thein.

The program will be funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration for the first five years, and then be funded through tuition and fees after that. The proposal was approved by the Board of Regents at their meeting in Ames Thursday.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Residents of Griswold will have a public measure on the ballot in November, in addition to electing their Mayor and City Council representatives. The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports Public Measure DG asks voters to approve a change in the one-percent (1%) local sales and services tax, effective July 1, 2022.

PROPOSED USES OF THE TAX:

If the change is approved, revenues from the sales and services tax shall be allocated as follows:

1.           0% for property tax relief

The specific purpose for which the revenues shall otherwise be expended is:

1.       100% for Any Legal Purpose

CURRENT USES OF THE TAX:

Revenues from the sales and services tax are currently allocated as follows:

1.        15% for Property Tax Relief

The specific purposes for which the revenues are otherwise expended are:

1.        30% for Capital Improvements
2.       30% for Community Betterment
3.       25% for Community Protection

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports there is a three-way race for two seats on the Atlantic School Board. Voters in the district will choose November second between from one or both of the two incumbents, and one challenger. Incumbents Josh McLaren and Kristy Pellett hope to hold their seat on the Board, while Amanda Berg, of Atlantic, hopes to unseat one of those two board members.  There are no public measures for patrons of the Atlantic School District to vote on.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office, Friday (today), released the names of persons who have filed nomination papers to run for the CAM School Board during the November 2nd elections (I=Incumbent):

CAM School Board Member – South

• Todd McKee, of Massena
• Gary Dinkla (I), of Massena

CAM School Board Member – North

• Charles L. Kinzie (I), of Anita

CAM School Board Member – At Large

• Christopher Spieker, of Massena
• Cara Murphy, of Anita

And, patrons of the CAM School District will have two Public Measures to vote on, in November:

Public Measure DI:

Shall the Board of Directors of the CAM Community School District in the Counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, and Cass, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $30,500,000 to provide funds to construct, furnish and equip additions to and to remodel, repair, improve, furnish and equip the existing South Elementary/Middle School building and Senior High building and improve the sites, to transition to a single Elementary site in Massena and a single Junior/Senior High site in Anita; and to improve athletic complexes and sites?

Public Measure DJ:

Shall the Board of Directors of the CAM Community School District in the Counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, and Cass, State of Iowa, be authorized to levy annually a tax exceeding Two Dollars and Seventy Cents ($2.70) per Thousand Dollars ($1,000), but not exceeding Four Dollars and Five Cents ($4.05) per Thousand Dollars ($1,000) of the assessed value of the taxable property within said school corporation to pay the principal of and interest on bonded indebtedness of said school corporation, it being understood that the approval of this proposition shall not limit the source of payment of the bonds and interest, but shall only operate to restrict the amount of bonds which may be issued?

(Radio Iowa) – Kossuth County’s Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution declaring the county a Second Amendment Sanctuary. Kossuth County Sheriff Roger Fisher says it shows elected officials in the county support for the U.S. Constitution. “As an elected official, a sheriff, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the State of the Iowa and the United States, not the federal government,” he says, “so if there was ever an imposement coming upon Kossuth County from the federal government on the Second Amendment, I would not support it and that’s just because of the oath I took to uphold the Constitution.”

According to the Iowa Firearms Coalition, Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions at the county level do not supersede federal law, but would prevent county resources from being used to enforce gun restrictions that are at odds with the U.S. Constitution. Boards of Supervisors in Buchanan and Kossuth Counties adopted the policy statement this week. The coalition’s tally indicates Boards of Supervisors in 13 other Iowa counties have passed Sanctuary resolutions (and those other counties are Adams, Carroll, Chickasaw, Cedar, Clarke, Hardin Jasper, Madison, Mills, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Washington, and Wayne counties). Opponents say the resolutions are purely symbolic and carry no legal weight.