Tuesday is Election Day in Iowa for school board and municipal officials, with voting running for 13 hours through 8 p.m.
That means the ballot was a lot shorter than in an even-numbered year that has contests for state and federal positions.
But people were turning out in Sioux City, where voters will determine three members of both the Sioux City School Board and also Sioux City Council.
As of noon, 225 people had voted at North Middle School, then another dozen voted over the next few minutes. People told Siouxland Public Media News they had varying opinions on whether the makeup of the school board and city council was more top of mind for them.
Since no incumbents are running for the Sioux City Council, there is guaranteed turnover in all three positions. All three incumbents on the Sioux City School Board are running, but with four other candidates on the ballot, there also could be complete or partial turnover.
Bob Phillips of Sioux City, along with Jocelyn Woods, who also voted at North Middle, said they were most interested in the school board outcomes.
Woods said the quality of school board members is important, since they have oversight in the education that is delivered to students, who total 14,500 pupils.
Kate Ferrell, of Sioux City, said she was equally invested in the outcomes of the school board and city council races.
A woman who declined to provide her name said she is happy about the guaranteed turnover on the city council, saying, “We’ve got a lot that we need to do with the city,” while declining to be more specific.
The seven candidates for the Sioux City School Board include incumbents, Jan George, Bobby Michaelson and Dan Greenwell, plus A.J. Cecil Starlin, Cyndi Hanson, Jebadiah Hibbs, and Christian Supiot-Perez.
There Sioux City Council candidates are Craig Berenstein, Rick Bertrand, Ike Rayford, Marty Pottebaum, John Den Beste, and Paul Koskovich.
Also on the ballot are a host of bond issue measures, including for school facilities in the Sergeant Bluff-Luton School District, plus also Emmetsburg, Lawton-Bronson, Westwood of Sloan, Iowa, and in the Hinton district in Plymouth County.
