Posted on

Norris: ‘We can do a lot better’

  • John Norris speaks to a group of 16 at a campaign event.

  • John Norris answers questions during an event at 101 Main St. in Charles City Sunday night. Press photos by Thomas Nelson.

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Iowa gubernatorial candidate John Norris came to Charles City Sunday evening as part of his campaign to reach out to rural communities.

Norris is no stranger to politics. He was an aide to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, was the chief of staff for Gov. Tom Vilsack, was chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party and worked in various positions for the Obama administration.

“I think Iowa could be doing a lot better than we’re doing,” Norris said in an interview prior to his event. “We’ve lost in state government a connection to our values.”

Special interests and a budget deficit have depleted Iowa’s prestige, Norris said.

“We can do a lot better,” he said.

Rural Iowa’s health care needs haven’t been met,  leaving mental health service needs in a dire situation, Norris said.

“This privatization of medicaid has made it much more difficult to get services, particularly in rural Iowa,” Norris said. “We all know how critical it is to have good schools and good hospitals for communities.”

Getting more people to come to Iowa and getting people to stay in Iowa were major points of discussion during the Sunday night event.

Charles City Mayor James Erb and Dean Andrews, who has expressed interest in running for mayor, both spoke with Norris about how necessary it is to bring people to Charles City, and the difficulties that accompany bringing people.

“Rural communities, like Charles City, are looking for workers,” Norris said. “With decent wages we can get good investment in housing.”

Rural Iowa is Norris’ passion, he said.

“I grew up on farm and used to have a business in rural Iowa,” Norris said. “A lot of attention needs to be paid to development in rural Iowa.

“I don’t change my message in Des Moines,” Norris said. “We have to have a government that empowers and engages rural Iowans to meet their needs.”

Norris is looking at ways to diversify Iowa’s agriculture economy, he said.

“We certainly are always going to be an agriculturally dominate state,” Norris said. “We’ve got some real issues to deal with to repopulate rural Iowa.”

Iowa needs to look at more ways to get younger people into farming, with alternative ways to make a living off the land, Norris said.

“Nothing’s free,” Norris said during the event.

While Norris was taking questions he presented an idea to give students who stay in Iowa a tax credit to help them pay off their student loans.

“We value strong rural communities,” Norris said. “I just don’t see a reflection of that in our current state government.”

The campaign event was held at 101 Main St. Sunday evening. Sixteen people were present to take part in the event and ask the candidate questions.

Norris is one of several people seeking the Democratic nomination to run for governor in 2018.

 

Social Share

LATEST NEWS