Muscatine

Why should I vote for you Ryan?

Ahh, good question

It's good to hear that your interested in what I want to do for Muscatine. I'll probably have to repost this a few times. We'll start with my website: www.ryankopf.com. It's got some good information, but I'll get a little more detailed here for you.

Essentially, I believe there are a lot of things that the city of Muscatine wastes money on. A large percent of that is the administrative overhead taken simply to run the city (certain high up people's salaries). Granted, I'm trying not to make enemies, so I can't give too much detail. Further, I plan to install open source software on city government computers, so less money goes out of state to Microsoft's world HQ. (Linux, OpenOffice.org, etc). I do think upkeep of roads is essential to make any city look good, to its citizens and visitors, but I also think some of the bids we've gotten are a little... excessive. I'll also hold companies a bit more responsible (Woodlawn had a huge hole in it for weeks after someone did some work there). Afterwards, I'll make room in the budget (or try) for other important city services. More police officers is always a good idea. Not just more... better, happier ones. Ours have to work overtime constantly, and so when they pull you over after not seeing their family in 17 hours, they might not be very forgiving. I'm sure there are more things I'd like to work on, but that's a lot of it.

Some thoughts

Mr. Kopf,
Please understand I think it is great you are running for mayor. By doing so you are making the process work. By your running there is now going to be discussion of the issues, debate, an exchange of ideas, and education of the public. These things are what we need to make our political process work. However I have to ask if you really understand the office you are running for? All the goals you mentioned above have nothing to do with the office of mayor, as each of those goals would need approval of the city council. They are good goals, I am not disputing that, but you would not have the authority to put them in place. The administrative overhead of which you speak has already been cut. Mr. David Casstevens the financial director retired and was not replaced. The number two person took over those duties. The parks and rec director retired three years ago and again was not replaced. The number two person Rich Klimes just took over the duties. New people were not hired in, saving the city money. With all the cuts in services and problems we have now getting things done in the city, is cutting more people the answer? May I ask sir, where would you look to get more money out of the city budget for more police officers? Everything seems to be running at minimums now, I am curious where you would look to find more funds. Should we get rid of some public works people to make room for more officers? Then our roads and sewers would be in greater disrepair than we have presently. Should we cut the parks and rec personel. They are short staffed now, yet we continue to have some of the nicest parks in the state. Here is a possible suggestion, how about we have the mayor, city council and A.J. cutting grass at the parks a cemetarys saving money in the parks and rec dept. Our budget woes are not city irresponsibility as much as state budget cuts to the cities. Not just Muscatine, but all cities. It seems the state is the problem.

Again sir, meaning no disrespect, but have you considered your perception to the voters? Your youth screams of inexperience to the voters. The mayor needs to be someone who can talk and negotiate with corporate heads, state officials and have a grasp and understanding of how things work. How much experience do you have in city administration? I don?’t know if I would be comfortable with our mayor doing on the job training. If you look at the past history of mayors in this community most have had city council experience prior to being mayor. I think the constituents of Muscatine look for something like that in their mayor. I am not belittling you here, please understand, but perhaps you should consider a run for the city council (there are a number of seats available) and get some much needed city administrative experience under your belt. Let that be an educational experience that then could launch you into a future mayor, and even do we dare suggest, state representative, and then on to governor!

Again I applaud you ambitions, they are admirable, but perhaps taking it a step at a time might be a better way to reach your goals. Get some experience, show the people of Muscatine you deserve the position because you are an experienced leader and not just a kids with big ambitions. Good luck to you Sir.

Respectfully,

Jeff
jeffntina@machlink.com

Linux & Open Source

I need the details on the changes you propose before I could consider voting for you.

If you are afraid of makeing enemies, you don't belong in politics.

You will spend money training people to use new software and they will make mistakes while learning. I imagine the City uses some applications that won't run on Linux; so you'll have to spend money to replace those applications. How much do you estimate it will cost to convert to Linux and when will the savings be realized?

Have you spoken with the chief of police, or is your understanding of the police situation based on this chat board?

Again Ryan Kopf, why should I vote for you?