Cedar Rapids Mayoral Candidates' First Impression

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

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By Daren Sukhram

Story Created: Sep 17, 2009 at 4:33 PM CST

Story Updated: Sep 17, 2009 at 4:50 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - Time is now up for those wanting to run for city offices in Cedar Rapids, and two candidates for Mayor outlined their vision on Thursday.

Candidates for Mayor in Cedar Rapids will clash at least a half dozen times in debates before the November 3rd city election.

One event Thursday wasn't exactly a debate, but it did highlight some differences between two of the candidates.

Current council member Brian Fagan and former Iowa House Speaker Ron Corbett will cross paths frequently over the next six weeks. That's the time they have to sell their vision of city government.

In future events, these two candidates for mayor will find panels asking the questions, time keepers and other fixtures of a formal campaign debate.

Thursday, they got 10 minutes each to convince members of the First Avenue Uptown College District.

Corbett released some new ideas on fighting crime, and one he highlighted is putting juvenile offenders to work. "I think it's important that juveniles committing crimes in this community do community service," Corbett said.

Corbett also would like the city to set up a police substation office on the west side as well as the one under construction now on 1st Avenue Southeast.

Brian Fagan told listeners he wanted more attention paid to city streets and efforts to fix up neighborhoods. And he wants to guide the flood recovery. "Cedar Rapids is poised for extraordinary rejuvenation, that's why I'm running," Fagan said.

Perennial city candidate P.T. Larson is also running for mayor in Cedar Rapids. The organizers of this event say they learned about his candidacy too late. Otherwise, they would have invited him to participate as well.

Want to know who else is running for Cedar Rapids public office? Click here.

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