There will be another contested race for Iowa Falls Mayor during this year’s city/school election.
Incumbent Mayor Mike Emerson will be challenged by former Mayor Gene Newgaard. Newgaard served in this role from 2013 to 2021 before being defeated by Emerson during the 2021 city/school election. Emerson was reelected in 2023 when he defeated two challengers; Dominick Rocky Damiano and Newgaard.
Newgaard tells RadioOnTheGo News after he was approached by some concerned residents about the future of the city, he decided to run again in 2025.
“We had some properties that were being in this particular neighborhood that the city inspector was working with in a program that she’s created. And they had been working on their neighborhood and had at least been told some of their concerns were not being treated with the respect that they deserved. Also had heard some concern expressed about some lawsuits that the city had been involved in, even though city insurance had paid the majority of the settlement. They were concerned and I said, ‘well, that could potentially increase the city’s insurance premiums, things like that.’ So I could understand their concern in that regard.”
Running for another term, Mayor Mike Emerson says the city’s success comes from staying clear of budget troubles.
“There’s nothing that I would say would be very controversial this time around on the horizon. I would just say that overall, Iowa Falls as a community is sitting pretty good. You you look at surrounding communities who may be having budget problems, that sort of thing. We’re doing great. We didn’t have to raise city taxes and we’re not in any budget shortfalls. And that comes from, you know, just making smart financial decisions, the council weighing those things very carefully and a city staff that watches those pennies and makes sure that we take a really close look at wants versus needs and we don’t live outside our means.”
This year’s election is November 4th.
