SARAH MAXWELL STAFF WRITER
Bob Brunkhorst
Brunkhorst is a former Iowa state representative and senator who served 14 years before retiring in 2006. Brunkhorst said he is running for mayor because Waverly needs to look at the budgets and to keep on growing.
“We need new leadership to promote growth, budget issues and make sure there are transparencies. There are problems with making people feel welcome at the council meetings,” Brunkhorst said as things he wants to work on.
Brunkhorst said he plans to utilize resources from the state and county to promote growth within the community. He said he is a community activist and wants to promote recycling and the use of parks and recreation in the area.
He would also like to engage the college and the community, by encouraging the two to work together.
Brunkhorst said he would like to partner with the college at the student level. “We can have entrepreneurial programs partnering with Waverly to help grow small business,” Brunkhorst said.
Duane Liddle
Liddle is currently the city councilman at-large.
Liddle said he has the know how to run a business, deal with bids and has the necessary skill set that a mayor should have.
“We need to get better use of the money we spend. Whatever funds we can save by being more efficient and cutting out the waste is money we are going to need for flood controls in this town,” said Liddle.
Liddle is working to repair the damage from the floods a year ago and prevent future damage to the area by supporting plans for a better flood plan.
Last year Liddle filed for bankruptcy because he said he was swindled by a con artist. Because of that he said he is more perceptive to potential scams.
“What happened to me actually created another benefit for the people of Waverly for me to be a candidate,” Liddle said.
He said he believes there is a problem with the way “The “W” is run.
“Wartburg should be treated the same as all other groups in the area. There has to be a standard to be met by all sorts of groups,” Liddle said.
Brent Matthias
Matthias is the owner of Matthias Entertainment and Consulting and currently serves as vice president of the Waverly Telecommunications Board.
Matthias said he is running for mayor in order to give his time and talents back to the community.
“My years as a KWWL-TV reporter covering communities’ city council meetings gave me a sample section of which communities ran smoothly and which ones didn’t,” he said.
Matthias said he believes he can continue to improve the community and to move it from good to great by listening to the citizens of Waverly and helping shape the discussion held at city council meetings.
Matthias, a Wartburg graduate, said Warburg is one of the “key spokes in the wheel of Waverly and the city needs to always strive to have good relations with Wartburg.”
This would be accomplished by open communications with everyone connected to the college, he said.
Fred Ribich
Ribich is currently the city councilman for the fifth ward and serves as mayor pro tem.
Ribich said he is working to secure Waverly’s future by building on Waverly’s heritage and its community.
According to Ribich’s Web site, he wants to “maintain a local government that is service-oriented, quality-driven, open, responsive and decisive.”
He said he sees it would be his responsibility as mayor to preserve the assets of the community.
Ribich is a professor of psychology at Wartburg College. He also directs institutional research at the college.
He said that the relationship between the college and the city is mutually beneficial. Wartburg is woven into the fabric of the local economy, he said.
“We always need to remain open and responsive to how we benefit each other. There are 1800 students at Wartburg that are 1800 citizens of Waverly,” said Ribich.