A Prescriptive Post-Mortem for Iowa

Published 12/30/2018 in the Telegraph Herald

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“A well-informed electorate is a prerequisite for Democracy” – Thomas Jefferson

We have a vested interest in the health of our state.  We work, educate our children, and participate in community life.  We pay taxes to support public schools, infrastructure, public safety, and medical care for our poorer and elderly citizens.  We expect elected officials to act with integrity and legislate in a manner that is consistent with our values.

Historically, one dependable way for citizens to learn about a candidate’s commitments is through a televised debate, moderated by a respected third-party.  The final debate for the 2018 gubernatorial race was at 8 a.m. on Oct. 21.

Yes, the closing argument ̶  the crescendo in over a year’s worth of campaigning for our state’s top elected position ̶   was held at 8 a.m. on a Sunday.  It wasn’t even on broadcast television outside the Davenport and Cedar Rapids markets. So much for Jefferson’s well-informed electorate.

I travel this state a lot, and I talk to many citizens.  I present to student groups, listen to parents, drink coffee with grandparents, speak in churches, Rotary Clubs, and other civic organizations, meet with educators, work with business leaders, visit families, and serve on non-profit and for-profit boards.

After 23 years of engaged leadership, I have a school-of-hard-knocks sense of what the citizens of this state expect to hear from their elected officials.  So, until we devise a way to televise a debate where these ideas can be discussed in a well-moderated way, I will go out on a limb and list them. 

Our citizens want their governor to:

1. Care about Education:  We know that our public education system is outdated.  Many of our best teachers are worn out and discouraged. Poor teachers do more damage than good.  An education system that was once the envy of the nation lacks vision and achievement.  We need strategic leadership and smart investment to reward great teachers, attract the best teachers, support leading-edge learning, which will then attract families from around the country to our communities.

2. Invest in Brain Health: Brain health disorders from dyslexia to depression, opiate to alcohol addiction are the most significant of public health threats to our state.  Like other diseases, early diagnosis and treatment derail disorders from metastasizing into more aggressive pathologies.  Lead Iowa into being the state that models early identification and even discovers a cure for Alzheimer’s.

3. Facilitate Economic Growth: If Iowa becomes No. 1 in the nation for the best teachers and students, and is looked to as an international leader for innovation and learning outcomes, sustained economic growth will follow.  All employers, yet-to-come or Iowa-based, need employees who can communicate and have an admirable work ethic.

4. Care for our Vulnerable Citizens:  We don’t want our leaders wasting tax dollars, but neither do we want the most vulnerable among us wasting away.  Fix Medicaid and pay providers;

5. Invest in No. 1, while leading creatively in No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4: If we do that, we don’t need to worry about losing our children to other states and their better opportunities.

If I am wrong about these prescriptions, then please debate these topics ̶  preferably during prime-time.  When we prepare for the next election cycle, let’s have a well-respected third party organization identify three dates, times, and places. Let them set ground rules that are fair and ensure voters get the information we need. And, as voters, let’s insist that question-shy candidates never again be given the opportunity to leave us out of the conversation.

It should be a prerequisite for our Iowa democracy.