Challengers Seek To Unseat West Des Moines Council Incumbents

WEST DES MOINES, IA — Two of the four elected positions in West Des Moines are uncontested this year, with Mayor Steven Gaer and Ward 1 Councilman Kevin Trevillyan seeking reelection without opposition.
For one of two at-large seats on the council, current city council member Rick Messerschmidt is being challenged by Renee Hardman. And in Ward 3, incumbent Russ Trimble faces a challenge from Nadir Mehta.

Candidates will participate in a forum from 6 to 7:30 tonight and sponsored by the Historic Valley Junction Foundation. It will be held at the Polk County West Side Community Center, 136 Sixth St.

The election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find your polling place here.

Here’s a look at the candidates in the contested races.

At-large: Hardman and Messerschmidt

Both candidates have a background in banking that they say gives them experience with fiscal responsibility and fiduciary matters. Rick Messerschmidt retired from First Bank in West Des Moines, where he had served as president and CEO and executive vice president; Renee Hardman was an executive officer and senior vice president of human resources with Bankers Trust for 23 years.

Hardman is a small business owner who has said her campaign interests are the development of affordable housing, local control of the West Des Moines Water Works, expanding community engagement, and intelligent business growth for the community.

The most pressing need in West Des Moines, she told Patch, is "to ensure that with a growing community, the council needs to ensure that we can still maintain proper support of our city infrastructure — police officers, firefighters, public works, EMS — in light of not receiving the 'backfill' promised by the state. While West Des Moines may be better poised to handle this $2.9 million retrenchment of revenues, it will still require that we be innovative, strategic, and forward thinking in how we deal with this situation."

She said a successful term on the council for her would include forming more strategic partnerships with the school district; ensuring residents feel they have been heard and respected, even when the sides disagree; engaging citizens in key decisions affecting West Des Moines; and seeing small businesses thrive and receiving support with innovative programs and services.

"The people of West Des Moines deserve council members who are available to residents and businesses, focused on responding to the needs of the community, and committed to community service," Hardman said when she announced her candidacy. "My experience as a human relations professional, business person, and community activist brings a new level of expertise and engagement to the council."

Hardman has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an MBA from Drake University. She said she has a "get it done attitude" and is "likely the only candidate that has had a leadership role in over 20 nonprofit organizations in Iowa." Her range of experience includes serving on the Des Moines University Board of Trustees and its audit committee, an Advisory Board Member for the Governor and Billie D. Ray Center, a member of the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame. She has received a volunteer award from the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, Des Moines University Diversity Champion Award, Connie Wimer Spirit Award and YMCA’s Women of Achievement Award.

Messerschmidt said the major difference between him and his opponent is experience in the community. Since returning to West Des Moines in 1980, he has 35 years of working with various school and city committees. He was Citizen of the Year in 2002 and chaired the referendum committee for aquatic facilities that passed overwhelmingly. He was interim mayor of West Des Moines in 2007 and later served on the park board for five years before being elected to the at-large city council seat in 2013.

He said priorities for his campaign include addressing shortages in housing and lack of price choices; a significant shortage of skilled workers for the city's employers; continuing to make West Des Moines a better place to live with more quality of life amenities — "attractions that will help people to move here and live;" and maintaining strong financial performance as well as highly rated and ranked public safety departments.

He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota and he recently retired as executive vice president of First Bank, where he had worked since 1980 and formerly served as President & CEO. "As a lifetime banker, you cannot be successful and take care of your customers without trust," he told Patch. "Trust is the core of relationships, personally as well as (in) business."

He said West Des Moines is "well acknowledged as one of the best financially managed cities not only in the state of Iowa, but the country." It is one of only three cities in Iowa with a AAA bond rating, which he said "speaks loudly for how well our city performs financially and has done so for years."

Messerschmidt recently completed a six-year term as treasurer for the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, is past chairman of the West Des Moines Historical Society and a former board member of the West Des Moines Community Schools Foundation for Educational Excellence.

He said he is the right candidate for the position because he seeks active collaboration with local schools, citizens, the West Des Moines Chamber and small businesses and he has actively worked with neighborhood associations.

Hardman said she is a "transformation leader" who would challenge the status quo and represent and fight for all residents in the community.

Ward 3: Mehta and Trimble

Nadir Mehta is making is first run at elected office with the hope of bringing more diversity to the city council, which he said does not reflect the community and the 60 languages spoken in schools in West Des Moines. He told Patch his opponent "relies heavily on current awards given to the city by financial publications" and doesn't focus on quality of life for all citizens and "is not focusing efforts (on) improving basic services provided for everyone."

Mehta said old infrastructure is a concern in Ward 3, which includes an area from Colt Drive south to Railroad Avenue and Knolls Court to 38th Street, then an area south of Railroad from South 60th to South 19th streets and everything south of Mills Civic Parkway and Fuller Road.

"Our critical infrastructure is aging rapidly," he told Patch. "Reliance on state and federal dollars will be reduced in the near future due to budget constraints."

Mehta, who is self-employed and specializes in the American Disability Act, was appointed Director of Administrative Services for Iowa under former Gov. Tom Vilsack. He said while 1 in 5 people in the country have some form of disability, "if we are to become a progressive city, we need to do more to attract talent-using persons with disabilities."

He also believes the city should seek new and innovative ways to promote business growth and he would like to see the 57 miles of trails and parks accessible to people with disabilities.

Trimble did not respond to emails or social media messages by Patch for this story and his voicemail was unable to accept messages. He told The Des Moines Register the biggest challenge in West Des Moines is ensuring our service levels keep up with our growth and that his priorities are to hold the line on property taxes and cut them again when it's responsible to do so; to maintain high-quality, efficient city services; and to enhance quality of life by making additional investments in parks and trails.

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Candidate Biographical Information

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At-Large Candidates

Renee Hardman, 56

Family: Furry four-legged friend Faith

Education: Bachelor's degree in psychology, Drake University; Masters In Business Administration, Drake

Career: Executive officer/senior vice president of human resources, Bankers Trust (23 years); president and owner of Hardman Consulting, an HR Consulting Firm

Elected offices: First time seeking office

Campaign: HardmanforCityCouncil.com

Rick R. Messerschmidt, 66

Family: Wife, Anita; two sons; six grandchildren

Education: Degree in Business Administration, University of South Dakota

Career: Retired banker with First Bank, West Des Moines

Elected offices: West Des Moines City Council, 2013

Campaign: www.rickforwdm.com

Ward 3 Candidates

Nadir Mehta, 62

Family: Wife, Iveth; daughter, Ellie

Education: Electrical engineering, Oklahoma State University; Master in Business Administration, Okalhoma City University

Career: Self-employed, specializing in American Disability Act, 30-plus years

Elected offices: None

Campaign: www.neighborsfornadir.com

Russ Trimble, 45

Family: Wife, Alana; four children at home

Education: Graduated from Drake University in 1994 with a major in International Relations and a minor in Spanish; Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Career: Legislative analyst for the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus since 2006.

Elected offices: West Des Moines City Council, 2010

Campaign: Russ Trimble West Des Moines City Council on Facebook

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