By Zach Jensen,
Close to one dozen local and state candidates visited the Spectrum Network Monday in Decorah to help clients there learn about voting in the upcoming presidential election.
The event consisted of a panel of candidates introducing themselves to the clients for about 30 minutes, which was followed by 30 minutes of questions prepared by both Spectrum’s clients and staffers.
“We had little roundtables and talked about what was coming up, and the clients came up with the first half of the questions, but some of them that were Medicare-specific came from our staff,” said Spectrum day habilitation staffer Paul Wanless, who led Monday’s Q&A session.
Several questions focused on how the candidates handle differences among each other — the candidates generally agreed they may have philosophical differences but typically
cooperate when it’s time to get something done and maintain Iowa’s high quality of life.
Winneshiek County Auditor Ben Steines, who is running unopposed, joined the panel of candidates, and he answered questions about the election process from both Wanless and other candidates. Steines said his office can accommodate everyone’s needs — even if a voter needs help filling out a ballot or finding where they should vote on Election Day.
Through Wanless, Spectrum clients also asked question about how roads are improved, the stability of Medicaid funding and potential solutions for affordable housing shortages.
“It’s nice that everyone can see that even here on the local level, we can all disagree on some things, and we can still get along,” Wanless said. “That’s the beauty of local politics.”
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