Shawna Anderson
Occupation: Salon owner/hairstylist
Email: shawna@shawnaforsupervisor.com
I’m a mother, grandmother, and small business owner in rural Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Long before I became a candidate, I was showing up. Since 2021, I’ve attended nearly every Board of Supervisors meeting in person as a resident because I care about this county and believe good decisions start with listening, learning, and understanding how local government affects the people who live here. I listen to neighbors with different views, learn from them, and work toward practical decisions that make life better for everyone who calls this county home.
I don't know how to choose two most important issues, as all issues are important, so I will touch on two important issues that are intertwined for the purpose of this survey. The lack of population growth and the lack of affordable housing.. We must stop calling $600,000 hones affordable. Pottawattamie County cannot grow our tax base if families cannot afford to move or stay here. Investing in housing in our smaller communities that are attractive to people to bring economic growth to those communities, while keeping pricing in line with the median income of our residents will help both with our lack of housing and with growing our population. Continuing to invest in our parks and recreation opportunities that help to bring families here, and help to keep our children here into adulthood also helps us to continue to grow, in order to lower taxes for us all. This also has a ripple effect of more money being spent in our towns, more students in our schools, more entrepreneurs to invest here, and more community to lean on and learn from. |
What should be done to strengthen business climate, grow the workforce, and encourage economic and population growth?
Housing and supporting the education of the young adults we have here will show businesses that we have and can keep a workforce here for them. Roughly 60% of our population (according to the most recent census) is of working age. Unfortunately in Pottawattamie County, a lot of our working population goes across the river to work for higher wages. While that isn't something the county can change, we can and should be working with our state legislators to raise wages in Iowa so that we can keep our younger people here. When they go over into Omaha for higher wages, especially as young people for their first jobs, they tend to make friends and start to plant their roots where they can earn more, leaving Iowa behind, and that means taking the dollars they spend at our businesses, and possible future tax dollars with them.
We have a strong culture here in Pottawattamie County. Small towns that all have worked so hard in recent years to have more events that bring communities together. Those things are what people miss as our lives have gotten so busy. As life has become more electronic, people are yearning to know their village. Things like farmer's markets, Sauerkraut Fest, Carter Lake Days, The Carson Rodeo, all the fun races and bike rides, events to celebrate the trails and parks.....so many things make Pottawattamie County unique and a wonderful place to be, and we need to advertise that more to both our residents, and possible future businesses.
Services cost money. There is no way around that. I don't think anyone wants to call 911 and not get an answer, or find alternate routes because we can't maintain roads or bridges. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to maintain wastewater treatment. Taxes pay for the things we don't tend to think of much until they aren't there. I believe we as a county need to look at where we can cut spending. Unnecessary lawsuits are a good start, along with not paying employees a 6 figure salary for 11 months after resignation. We also need to look at ways to reduce costs. Why not use solar lights instead of spending more money to wire lighting to the outside of the building and also pay for the electricity? When we have work done, let's make sure the contract has a guarantee so we aren't paying a second time to have it done again because the contractors didn't account for water runoff? Why are we paying for labor for windows to be replaced when the windows failed? As a homeowner, I would make sure the manufacturer knew that if their defective product needs replaced, they can send the workers with the replacement to do the work, why is this any different when it comes to our tax dollars? As a board member, I will take the time to fight for our contractors and manufacturers of county facilities to fix their mistakes on their dime, not yours, saving taxpayer dollars in the long run. |
What would you like voters to know about you, beyond your positions on the issues?
One of my strengths is communication. I can work with anyone for the greater good. As chair of CCPC, when we were faced with finding solutions for blocked rail crossings, we took it all the way to the legislature and won funding for all of Iowa by working with two local representatives, from both parties. I care about the county employees immensely. They are the reason we don't need to think about so many details of our daily lives. Because of them, we have what we need to live our best lives. I believe they deserve to be treated as such. I bring new ideas, a fresh perspective, transparency, and a willingness to listen and learn.