On Election Day, Des Moines voters will choose a new mayor for the first time in two decades.
The candidates include two current city council members. Business owner Connie Boesen has served on the council as an at-large member representing the whole city since 2018. Environmental law attorney Josh Mandelbaum also joined the council in 2018 representing Ward 3.
Also running are cosmetologist and community activist Denver Foote and musician Christopher Von Arx.
In a recent debate on KCCI, Mandelbaum said the city should be more vocal on issues like abortion. Last year, the council voted not to move forward with a resolution he offered aimed at resisting restrictions like the so-called heartbeat bill passed by the Iowa legislature in July.
“And if we had passed that when I first proposed it, we would have registered against the six-week abortion ban that was passed in that special session and we would have used our voice there,” Mandelbaum said.
Boesen said she supports abortion rights, but believes policy on the issue is outside the city’s scope.
“I am 100% supportive of the woman’s choice and that the decision really needs to be between the woman and her doctor,” Boesen said. “Some of the things that were being proposed we did not believe belonged at the city council table nor that we could impact.”
In a statement released Friday, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa said the vote by the other members against pursuing a resolution “shut down the effort to act within the city’s authority to protect abortion rights.”
“Municipal governments ought to use any means available to defend the rights of their residents and staff,” the group said.
The council members both listed affordable housing, infrastructure and emergency mental health services among the city’s top needs.
Boesen, who was endorsed last week by outgoing mayor Frank Cownie, said the city should invest more in improving the police department’s mental health crisis response.
“Many of the calls they’re taking on the mental health area are time consuming and we really need to get people the help they need and not take them to jail because that’s the only alternative,” Boesen said.
Mandelbaum said any additional funding put toward law enforcement should focus on the mental health aspect.
“We need more mental health and social workers responding to public safety calls,” Mandelbaum said. “There are communities in this country that are responding to almost 20% of their public safety calls with mental health workers and social workers. We’ve made improvements there but we’re not even responding to 1% of the calls for service we get.”
The Des Moines mayor serves on the city council as its presiding officer and the city’s top elected representative, while day-to-day business is overseen by the appointed city manager.
The winner of the Des Moines mayor’s race will take over for Cownie, who is ending his time as the city’s longest serving mayor after five terms in office.
