Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com
I was a few weeks from college graduation, on my way to my first teaching job interview. I was driving a jacked-up, dented 1967 Ford. As I reached town, I started to coast feathering the gas pedal only when necessary. I didn’t want a bad muffler announcing my arrival.
I was wearing a borrowed tie and a too tight sport coat courtesy of the dreaded freshman 15, still lingering after three years. Sweat trickled down my back as I stepped out.
The principal asked questions about classroom management, curriculum and where I saw myself in five years. The questions were challenging, but I thought I handled most of them.
Then came the hardest question.
“If a group of teachers went downtown to a bar after school, would you go?”
I hesitated and stammered, “I’m not sure.”
He chuckled and said, “I wasn’t trying to trap you. I just wanted to know if you’d be social with your colleagues outside of work.” I’m pretty sure he was trying to trap me. I got the job anyway.
Like my interview, it’s time for voters to question the two finalists to be Iowa governor. The best way to conduct these interviews is through joint town halls with both candidates answering unscripted, uncensored questions from bipartisan audiences.
Political debates are fine, but they’re scripted and filtered through moderators who may or may not ask the questions on the minds of voters.
Here are some sample questions to get the interviewers thinking.
- What three problems would you tackle first? What steps would you take to solve each?
- The legislature approved a budget that spent more than $1 billion more than projected revenue. How would you close the spending gap?
- Do you only favor voluntary efforts to clean Iowa’s rivers, streams, and lakes or would you pass laws to protect water from nitrate run-off?
- Would you ban eminent domain for private company projects?
- Do you support banning books in schools and public libraries?
- Do you believe there are Iowa public school teachers indoctrinating students to hate America? If so, please give specific examples.
- Will you stop requiring mandatory vaccines for children enrolling in public schools?
- Would you advocate teacher-led prayers in public schools why or why not?
- Do you support mandatory Bible reading in public schools?
- Will you support expanding mandatory topics of collective bargaining for educators beyond base salary?
- Do you believe public schools have been underfunded? If so, how would you pay for increasing funding?
- Do you support requiring students to complete courses in the Center for Intellectual Freedom at Iowa universities?
- Do you support a law requiring private schools who accept vouchers to accept all students who apply?
- How would you balance family time with your job as governor? How often would you be out of state for personal reasons?
- Would you commit to working with the other political party to solve Iowa’s problems? If yes, give some examples of your bipartisanship of the past and examples of current problems that might be solved with bipartisan compromise?
- What are some steps to protect and enhance rural health care?
- Are you in favor of privatized Medicaid in Iowa?
- What current or past politician would you like to emulate?
- What steps would you take to identify and reduce Iowa’s cancer rate?
- What policies of the former governor do you agree or disagree with and why?
If a candidate won’t interview with voters, think carefully if he’s the best fit for the job.
Top photos of Democratic candidate for governor Rob Sand and Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn were originally published on their campaign Facebook pages.
6 Comments
Good column, thanks. But I don't think the suggested water question would work well.
Either Sand or Lahn will become governor. Writing in Aldo Leopold won’t work. And neither Sand nor Lahn is talking about regulating farm pollution.
Iowa is a red state where voters have let the Iowa Farm Bureau control environmental policies for decades, even when Iowa was purple. Even in Minnesota, which is far bluer than Iowa, farm pollution is not regulated. Big Ag has enormous power throughout the Corn Belt.
What Iowa voters need are water questions that can help them decide which candidate is more likely to actually improve Iowa water quality. One such question would be a version of “Do you favor full ongoing state funding of a statewide real-time comprehensive water-quality monitoring system?”
Yes, that question is more technical. But Big Ag and Iowa Republican legislators fought like crazy this year to NOT fund that kind of monitoring system. They know what the impact would be of everyone across Iowa finding out about high levels of nitrate in real time, not days or weeks later. Public water ignorance is Big Ag bliss.
There are other water questions that could also help voters tell Sand and Lahn apart. And to be very clear, I am a five-decade Iowa water-issues follower and fanatic who has looked at the water positions and proposals of both candidates. And I absolutely support Sand.
PrairieFan Sat 15 Aug 2:12 AM
Bruce Lear is right.
Those are questions the candidates must answer. But politicians are good at not answering questions – even direct, specific questions. And voters at town halls don’t get to follow up. I have cross examined enough witnesses to know that it takes a series of questions to get the real answer. I watch Iowa Press and am frustrated when the reporters don’t follow up on evasive answers.
I’m sure if Bruce had given evasive answers in his job interview, the interviewer would have pinned him down.
Wally Taylor Sat 15 Aug 10:03 AM
Water Quality
Your question is better about water quality. Big agriculture does have a big grip on farm states and it’s often a death grip.
Thanks for reading.
Bruce Lear Sat 15 Aug 12:46 PM
Getting a Specific Answer
The problem with town halls, as you correctly point out, is the lack of follow up. The person asking the question can push for an answer, but both the candidate and crowd have to be willing to let that happen. Any candidate who won’t take follow up questions, shouldn’t get the job.
Bruce Lear Sat 15 Aug 12:52 PM
Yes, follow-up questions are badly needed in Iowa!
Bruce and Wally are exactly right about them, and the lack of them.
PrairieFan Sat 15 Aug 5:31 PM
Here's another good question for Iowa candidates.
Would you support funding for statewide research on pesticide drift in Iowa?
Some of us Iowans guarantee the drift problem is bad here, partly because now we have some idea of how bad it is in Illinois, per the link below. Pesticide-drift Illinois research has been done, and it turns out the problem is statewide, with drift going onto schools, churches, children, etc. The Iowa Farm Bureau is undoubtedly hoping that kind of research won’t happen in Iowa.
PrairieFan Tue 18 Aug 1:01 PM