Remaking Waterloo Iowa

David Martin: This is the good government show.

Quentin Hart: I think the big thing is, is trying to be relevant to the needs that we’re facing today. You know, for so long we’ve done things, done things the same way because that’s the way we’ve always done it. And every night, every night on the hour, it is red, white and blue because it honors our veterans. And this lighted bridge was part, what I call, Veterans Way.

Different people that we serve have different needs. And you want to make sure you’re responsive to those needs. Our city administration cannot solve every problem. We we can’t we can’t make people, do certain things, but people have the opportunity to go out, be engaged, and be change agents themselves. I work with very talented people every day that are working to improve the lives of people, and that’s not an easy job.

David Martin: You take a city that’s, well, it’s not at its peak. You elect a progressive mayor, and suddenly the city becomes an example of what good government is all about. That city is Waterloo, Iowa. And the mayor is Quentin Hart. Welcome to the Good government show. I’m Dave Martin. First, help us share the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and Blue Sky.

Please share a show with your friends from us right here where you’re listening, and join our Good Government Show community. Check out our website for the link. I recently attended the Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference. At the end of the conference, they announced the award winners for the league and they saved the biggest awards for last. So last but not least, the Iowa League of Cities voted Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart into the league’s Hall of Fame.

I’ve talked to Mayor Hart a few times over the years. Let me tell you, he’s an interesting, engaging guy. The conversation you’re about to hear, it took place in Washington in the Conference of Mayors legislative conference. He’s active there, also in Iowa. When they presented him with the award. Well, he didn’t know what to say. Actually, I’ve never seen him.

So, let’s say humbled. He was he was cited as being a visionary mayor. Among the projects mentioned was expanding digital access, investing in infrastructure and economic revitalization. Also supporting youth engagement and public safety. Upon receiving the award later, he said, quote, local government is where the problems get solved and neighbors come together. And he came together recently with about 1,004th graders on a city sponsored fun run through Waterloo.

That’s civic engagement. That’s youth engagement in a state of the city speech earlier this year. Mayor Hart mentioned Waterloo was named a Technology Community of the year. He also credited the city police force with a drop in crime, and said they continue to make progress in getting guns off the street. At the end of the last fiscal year, Mayor Hart’s of the nearly doubled last year construction permits to 304 million taking in.

That’s a lot of investment in this city. As Mayor Hart will tell you, it wasn’t always easy, but he got it done. And he says Waterloo is moving in the right direction. Coming up, Iowa League of Cities Hall of Fame recent inductee Quentin Hart.

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Welcome to the Good Government show. My guest is Quentin Hart, the mayor of Waterloo, Iowa. Welcome to the Show.

Quentin Hart: Good morning and thank you. Thank you for having me.

David Martin: Well thank you. We met, in Iowa, of all places. Right. And now we’re here in Washington, D.C., at the Conference of Mayors. How are things in Waterloo?

Quentin Hart: Things are. Things are well. Anytime things are quiet, they’re always, always good. So a lot of good things happening just at my state of the city on the 9th of January. So an opportunity to, talk about the challenges, but at the same time talk about the future.

David Martin: What is the state of the city?

Quentin Hart: The state of the city? Is good state, the city strong? Incredible. Investments in infrastructure. Overall, violent crimes are down, by 2020 plus percent.

David Martin: That’s a significant drop. How do you do that?

Quentin Hart: Well, of course.

David Martin: There we.

Quentin Hart: Go. Well, you know, I don’t have a city manager or a city administrator, so I have to go out on the streets. And I said, no, not really, but, you know, just, incredible police department, community partnerships, and, and just trying to make sure we continue to offer opportunity, to people within the community as well.

David Martin: Do you hire the police chief to see work? I do, I do.

Quentin Hart: Yeah.

David Martin: Good relationship.

Quentin Hart: Great relationship.

David Martin: How long you been working together?

Quentin Hart: For about a year. Okay. Close to a year now.

David Martin: So does it take you a long time to find the police chief?

Quentin Hart: Yeah. Of course. You know, you want to try to find a person that has, community mind, incredible forward thinking, and someone that, really has a heart and a passion for the community as well. And so, someone that can lead, lead, lead troops, right? Because, they’re like the military of the city, almost.

So you want to try to find the right person. And so, I’ve been in I’ve been mayor for nine years, 18 days, and 11 hours. And, I think that, for police chiefs, with me, that’s,

David Martin: Okay. That’s a challenge.

Quentin Hart: Yes it is. Yes. Because every.

David Martin: Every, every chief is different. Everyone looks at things differently.

Quentin Hart: You can not be more and more correct in that. Yes.

David Martin: But you better to drop the crime rate by 20%. I mean, that’s that’s significant. How did you do it?

Quentin Hart: Well it’s a shout out. You know, we we changed up. You get, police that more engage with the community as well. Technology is incredible. Also, and we just have some great community partners, that are working with our police officers, you know, making sure that they have what they need, as well, I think since I’ve been in office, their budget, the overall budget has probably increased by 25, 30%.

And I believe that if if we are one, we need to be fully staffed, for the first time in a long time. Our police department is fully staffed for years. You know, we we had series of things that happened where we weren’t fully staffed. So that gives the opportunity to people to be out more. But it also gives the opportunity to start to interact with our community.

Other than bad situations. You know, you get an opportunity with your cops to be in the neighborhood. So a neighborhood organizations have a contact within the police department that they can call that work specifically with their area. That’s working with our school, the school system, as well with our SROs. But I think we’ve increased our level of engagement with the community, in non response times.

That helps make the difference. And like I said, we have incredible community partners. People are stepping up. Something happens there letting us know. And technology is in a completely different area, than it was before. You know, we have, cameras that can help us to solve crimes where there may not be any witnesses to do that as well.

The county has implemented drug courts, right? Some people that are committing crimes have drug problems and addictions. And so how can we help them to get on a pathway of moving away from drugs, but not also putting nonviolent offenders in jail for a very long time? So it’s been a somewhat of a paradigm shift over the course of time.

We have changed our, ordinances and resolutions, you know, to make sure that we are policing to the needs of today. No chokeholds, holding off officers duty to hold each other responsible. And so our police have done a great job of changing how they police. But our citizens are stepping up, and we’re starting to build trust, better than we have, in the future.

And so.

David Martin: And you must have a police department people to work for.

Quentin Hart: Absolutely, absolutely. So, like I said, fully staffed, you know, several years ago, we had, it was a great out gration, where, you know, you get a new police chief, people, you know, leave. Just like with any, leadership position. And that afforded us the opportunity to lose longer term officers, but at the same time, bring in, younger, folks with not as much experience, but very relevant to how things are operating today.

David Martin: And less baggage.

Quentin Hart: I didn’t say that.

David Martin: But I did. But they they don’t. They’re they they’re not jaded. How’s that? Is that better?

Quentin Hart: Right, right.

David Martin: Right, right. We can take that other part out of you.

Quentin Hart: I know you said it. I didn’t say it, but,

David Martin: But is that true?

Quentin Hart: It is, it is. It is a different. It’s a different community today. I mean, you, you know, I want to one other area. Who would’ve thought, you know, 15, 20 years ago, that police officers would have to, work on mental health training, to be able to deal with our residents today because, our county jails, are filled with people, with mental health illness, and so we have worked to do crisis intervention training.

We partnered with a organization called elevate that would take, counselors out on some of our police calls so that we deal with the mental health issue versus it being, based upon pure criminal intent. And so those levels of engagement, trying to put more mental health professionals within our community, has helped as well.

David Martin: And it has a trickle down to positive effect. It’s less people in jail, less people arrested, less people in the system. You don’t make more criminals, non criminals. And there’s a cost savings all around.

Quentin Hart: Correct? Absolutely. And and it gets them the support that’s needed at that moment. You know, taking a person that’s having a mental health crisis and just putting them in jail, that doesn’t alleviate the crisis that they face, because when they get out, they’re dealing with the same situation and upset. And, you know, we we saying, you know, homelessness, homelessness on the rise throughout, our communities all across the country.

And we’ve seen it in Waterloo. So I just formed a, homeless task force, brought, bringing professionals together to develop, some, some quick strategies and some long term strategies to try to help, alleviate our homeless, unhoused, situation that we have within our community also. So that sounds like the I think the big thing is, is trying to be relevant to the needs that we’re facing today.

You know, for so long, we’ve done things, done things the same way because that’s the way we’ve always done it. Right. But what does it take? What does it take today to be able to govern, a community? What does it take today to be able to have, good policing? What does it take today, to be responsive to the needs of the people and so that’s what we’re trying to do.

We don’t always get it right, but that’s what we’re trying to do. And as long as you’re.

David Martin: Heading in the right.

Quentin Hart: Direction. Right, I believe so. Thank.

David Martin: I understand that you’ve done, some effective work in revitalizing your downtown. What have you done? How have you accomplished that?

Quentin Hart: Well, a little TLC.

David Martin: Okay. We’ll talk about Waterloo for just a minute. As I understand it, this is sort of. They’re an industrial city. Is a town. Fell on hard times. And and you’ve been sort of spearheading a sort of a revival of the downtown in the city is overall.

Quentin Hart: Absolutely. So, I would probably say, about 15 years ago, the city. Yeah, the casino came, to the city. And I know, community is getting better and casino that maybe oxymoron, but, but we formed, partnership with the casino and the creation of the Waterloo Development Corporation. And the development corporation receives proceeds from the casino, but they’re also working hand in hand with the city to revitalize the entire downtown.

And so first came the riverfront renaissance, where the walking trails that work that was done to the, the levee system, the removal of blighted buildings because, some of our businesses were like, hey, you guys need to do something about this blight, or we’re gonna we’re going to go somewhere else. Right? And so that partnership has been what has spearheaded, the renaissance that we’re seeing in our downtown.

We have a sportsplex. We have. Well, let me go back really quickly, because this is, something that happened probably about a year ago. Someone said, oh, my gosh, the only thing that you have in downtown Waterloo are bars, right? And then I was talking to the person. I said, well, we we have a newly renovated, convention center.

We have a young arena that has semi-pro, hockey. We have a sportsplex that is voted every year, the most healthiest place, within the city. And, and sometimes across the state, we have, apartments now. We have businesses. We have, a museum district. We have a governmental district, we have a sports district.

And so our downtown has really shifted from what it was. And it all was spearheaded with the incorporation of the Waterloo Development Corporation and then our Main Street director. I got to give her give her a shout out, Jessica Rucker, who’s doing incredible by making sure that the level of engagement with our businesses are there. Right? Yeah.

We like to do these festivals. We have. I gotta get you to come to our, Irish Fest. Okay. 40,000 people in downtown Waterloo the first weekend of August. And so, yes, it’s not just about the events we have, but it’s about the environment. And our Main Street director has taken a hands on approach to engaging with our local business.

We’ve taken a look at parking strategy. So it’s ever changing. The work that’s done in our downtown, but we’re so grateful for are so similar to what they support, but also the businesses that are, choosing to come to downtown Waterloo. It’s been incredible to see it and be there. I wish I can take all the credit.

David Martin: Go ahead, go ahead.

Quentin Hart: There we go.

David Martin: That sounds like a lot of good government, but a lot of change.

Quentin Hart: Yes, yes. And we can’t be we can’t be afraid of change. Right. I think historically our city you have mentioned, the 80s, but historically our city has had, mentality that, well, you know, why do we deserve to have, a bridge with lights on it? Why do we deserve to have.

David Martin: A you have a bridge of lights?

Quentin Hart: We do.

David Martin: We do. It’s why this place is so.

Quentin Hart: So, an iconic bridge within our city is the fourth Street pedestrian bridge. Okay. And, you lit it up, lit it up, lit it up. It is, it is. There is no no other bridges like this in the entire United States.

David Martin: You get the idea of to light up the bridge.

Quentin Hart: I got the idea from Secretary Pete Buttigieg for it. We were talking about things that they were doing, and, his hometown, and he talked about, well, we added lights to the river and they work with, the, the labor to do some of the work. And they work with philanthropic organizations. So, we work with our development corporation, and I asked them to develop, a lighting project, and we lights on our pedestrian bridge.

And every night, every night on the hour, it is red, white and blue because it honors our veterans. And this lighted bridge was part of what I call, Veterans Way. And it also led to the lighting of the bridge red, white and blue. But also outside of our convention center, we have the Sullivan Plaza memorial. As people may not know that the Sullivan brothers, the five brothers were from Waterloo, Iowa.

David Martin: Fighting. Sullivan brothers were five brothers that all perished.

Quentin Hart: Yeah. And then,

David Martin: In a battleship and World War two. Yeah. There five brothers. And that’s why brothers don’t serve together anymore.

Quentin Hart: Absolutely. And so outside of our convention center, we have a Sullivan Plaza memorial. But it’s not a sad memorial. It is, a lively tribute to the Sullivan family. But also on the other side of the memorial, you have people that have volunteered for a project. So it’s an incredible display, but it culminates with the lights at the bridge.

All right, so you got to come see it.

David Martin: You got to. Please. Yeah, I got to come see that for the for the Saint Patrick’s Day. But this is it is agreed. I’d say Patrick’s Day.

Quentin Hart: It is, it is, during, Black History Month, it’s, red, black and gray. Okay. Throughout the year, we’re able to celebrate a lot of different.

David Martin: So I’d like to go to the state building of Waterloo.

Quentin Hart: Yeah, but my better. It’s on a side, though.

David Martin: But down here. Okay, well, you know what you have to have you have to have Waterloo.

Quentin Hart: Pride 100% philanthropic okay. And labor.

David Martin: So how do you put all that together?

Quentin Hart: Relationships.

David Martin: That’s a lot of work.

Quentin Hart: It is, it is. But but it’s worth it. It’s it’s worth it. Right. Okay. And like I said, we can’t be afraid to try new things. Right? And I just finish a quick point. But historically, we have not wanted to. We didn’t want to spend the money either. But you cannot have quality of life. You cannot have good trail systems.

You cannot have, a sportsplex and those things that make people want to leave if you don’t partner and spend some money. And so, yeah, we we spent we spent some money, to do that.

David Martin: So one of your fellow, Iowa mayors said to me that you have solved the housing problem.

Quentin Hart: Oh.

David Martin: Yes, you’ve solved the housing problem, but apparently you’ve made some real strides in housing challenges in Waterloo. How did you do that?

Quentin Hart: Well, let me just say we are. I haven’t solved it. But but but one house at a time. You know, the city offers incentives for developers to to build houses, as well. We also have been very fortunate. The Iowa heartland, habitat for humanity is one of the most successful habitats in the entire United States.

With, Ali and all the work that she’s doing to partner with the city and different philanthropic organizations, but also, Hawkeye Community College, their sustainable construction program. They’re building houses right in the neighborhood. They’re taking students, and they’re helping train the next workforce, for sustainable construction. We were also just recently voted a thriving community, by the state of Iowa for some of our housing initiatives, which opens up the door to more state funding and support for major projects that we’re doing within the city.

We’re also not just building out and, and, Beverly Hills of our community. Right. We’re also making sure that we don’t forget about neighborhoods and whether that is, the restoration of old homes and giving incentive for developers or homeowners to take those homes, but also giving incentive for infill lots, within our community. And so we by no chance have this all figured out.

We’re working with a few successful things that we believe will help us. But it’s been a passion for me. I mean, one of the reasons I ran was dilapidated housing. It’s one of about 3 or 4 things. But what we’ve been able to do through those partnerships is to help create, what we call Elevate Housing, which is our number two strategic goal, within our community as well.

So very fortunate. I mean, we can have a show just on housing. Yes. But a few programs that we’ve been able to work, work with.

David Martin: Well, that that all sounds like, you know, good government. And it sounds like some forward thinking. Yes. Was it hard to get people on board with this?

Quentin Hart: No. You know, when you take a look and you drive through some of the neighborhoods within our community, and if you do a windshield. Look, you know, my heart goes out to some of the people that are in dire situations. I work with, I created a program, in 2006 or 7. I can’t remember the exact year it was called From the heart here to not HRT, and we were able to fix 300 houses for low income, elderly, physically disabled residents.

And when I walk into some of the houses and I see, you know, how people and the conditions they’re living in, I mean, it really it’s really heartfelt. And so, our philanthropic organizations, after we created our 2030 vision plan about two years ago, came together and we sat down and John Deere largest philanthropic gift went to Iowa heartland, habitat for humanity and housing initiatives.

And then came our Black Hawk County game, and then came our community foundation. Then came all of our foundations that said, hey, we want to help in this work, changing the community for the better. And so the three years prior to, 2021, I think from philanthropic, the city probably received maybe about $3 million over the last three and a half, four years since our strategic plan was completed, they’ve invested over $29 million.

Wow. And so those partnerships with people that are like mine that know we need change, they’ve been all on board. So we’ve been very grateful for their support.

David Martin: That’s very impressive, Mr. Mayor. And now in a minute, we’re going to get your, your philosophy on government. So start to think about your philosophy of government, okay?

Quentin Hart: Okay.

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Dot org slash podcasts. All right. This is the Good Government show questionnaire. We’re going to get to the heart of your real true philosophy of speed round. This is the speed round. Yes. Except the not that’s asked to find good government.

Quentin Hart: Good government is, one that is responsive to the needs of people. That’s continuously transforming itself. And it’s building a community, building community today for the cities of tomorrow. And so just trying to be that and equitable leadership, you know, different, different people that we serve have different needs. And you want to make sure you’re responsive to those needs.

And I know some people think that, yeah, being a mayor I’m way up here. I’m like king. But in actuality, good government is realizing that I serve 68,000 people, that every day could call me for a particular need, that I need to try to be responsible and help solve some of those issues. And challenges. And I need to be able to work to empower people.

Right? I can’t we can’t do everything ourselves as a city, but we can be a resource to help guide people to living out their vision in their dream, within our community. And so to me, it’s equitable leadership. It is understanding that I’m here to serve, not to be served, and being responsive to the multiple changes we see every day.

David Martin: How do you know if you’re doing a good job? How do you know if you’re delivering good government? How do you decide on your own without elections?

Quentin Hart: Well, I look at the greater good. You know, sometimes the decisions that you make, people may not understand them, like people may not understand. We need to invest 60, $70 million into our sewer plant. They think it needs to go somewhere else. But I know in the future that that is the right decision for the long term, growth of our community every year, every year I get on my knees, I pray, and I take a look and I reflect on the previous year, and I try to set goals that I try to meet every, every year.

And so just taking a look at the goals that I’m trying to reach, but also, making sure that I continue to just try to work, work every day. So I don’t know, they they’ve elected me a couple times. But, you know, you can you can be, you can be elected a few times and not do good work, but I just try to take a look at the goals I set each year.

And be responsive to the needs of people.

David Martin: How should your citizens hold you accountable?

Quentin Hart: You mean the ways they hold me accountable?

David Martin: Okay.

Quentin Hart: They call, they blog, they, you know, come to council meetings. But the best way, I think, I think with me, the best way, if there’s a problem or issue, I’m kind of old school. Let’s sit down and have a conversation about it. And we’re small enough as a community where we can sit and talk. And so I, I like doing that.

But everywhere I go, if I’m in a, bathroom at a basketball game, somebody comes up and tells me something. If I’m at a grocery store, but people have access to me, and I try to be one of the most accessible mayors, that the city has ever had by being out there amongst people.

David Martin: And if people don’t like what they’re seeing, if they don’t like what they’re getting, what should they do?

Quentin Hart: If they don’t like what they’re saying, I think first, all of us need to seek first to understand and be understood, because a lot of decisions are made and people hate those decisions, but they don’t know what’s actually behind the decision. You can communicate that, but let us let it. They let us know. Let us know their thoughts.

But but also like, I didn’t like, before I got elected, that, I seen too many houses that needed repair. So I went out, researched and created a program, to try to help to solve some of the issues and challenges ours. Our city administration cannot solve every problem. We we can’t we can’t make people, do certain things, but people have the opportunity to go out, be engaged, and be change agents themselves.

Right. And so people have come all the time. I wanted to do a nonprofit to help children. I want to help build houses. How can I do it? So that’s when I come here. And I can be a resource to help connect them to different people, to be able to help them fulfill their dreams or change the things that they see need to be change.

David Martin: Okay. Multiple times as, as, city mayor and prior to that city council. What would you like people to know about government that they probably don’t know?

Quentin Hart: That is a good question.

David Martin: I try.

Quentin Hart: You know, now, nowadays, the atmosphere, with government and community and the divisiveness between party is, you know, it’s a real nasty place at times. But, you know, really what I’ve met and these mayors at the Conference of Mayors, they are decent human beings that are trying to work on behalf of their communities. And sometimes people believe that there’s this shadow group, well, at least not in Waterloo, but there’s a shadow group, and they’re meeting to plot to to do something wrong to the citizens or to withhold something from the citizens.

In our case, that’s absolutely not true. There’s no deep state of Waterloo. No, no, we I work with very talented people every day that are working to improve the lives of people. And that’s not an easy job. And so knowing that they have an advocate, they have people that are working for them, every day putting their lives on the line, to do the best for the best for them.

I would like for them to know that that’s what we’re doing every day.

David Martin: Where do you get your news from? Where do you read about yourself? Oh.

Quentin Hart: Well, I stop I stopped reading the, the negative comments and the positive comments. But we have our city council meetings. I talk to citizens every day. Try to stay as engaged as I can. I go to social clubs, I go, I go out everywhere like I’m everywhere. But that’s where.

David Martin: That’s where I as young as it used to be. And sometimes it takes a toll.

Quentin Hart: Well, I may I it may be a step slower getting there.

David Martin: Okay. All right.

Quentin Hart: But, I like to be out in the community. I get emails, but, I’ll tell you one thing that I did just for mental health care. Yes. Is I stopped going to, taking a look at some of the, grotesque comments and those things that people do. I don’t engage in that stuff anymore. I used to I used to do that all the time.

Oh, I got it. I got to read it. I got to read this. But no, if people want to talk to me, come to City Hall, give me a call, shoot me an email. And let’s sit down and work out the problems.

David Martin: Is there a a local paper? A daily paper in there.

Quentin Hart: Is the wireless wireless Cedar Falls courier. So they have articles, right? Right. And so yes, I’ll read the article, but all those things I do, no I don’t. People talk about my children. No, I’m not doing that. All right.

David Martin: So who’s your political hero? Who inspires you? Who inspired you to do this?

Quentin Hart: Probably my mom and dad. I never wanted to be in elected office at all because I like, I like I like those, you know, because they weren’t working for us. All the things that I said that I want people to know about me is what I didn’t like about them. But, you know, really, my mom, you know, my mom worked at Allen Hospital.

I counted she walked across that street where we lived at about 19,000 times, during her career, my father worked at, John Deere. Very, very little family support when he came here and they met here. And so they gave me my inspiration, you know, they got up every day to, to make the best for us.

So. So this is my parents.

David Martin: Okay. All right. Good. You know, you said you didn’t envision a career in politics. Class president. What got you in? What got you involved?

Quentin Hart: Some of your class president. Well, kind of.

David Martin: No, no,

Quentin Hart: No, I had, gone to college, took a social problems class, and I’m like, I’m looking at all these problems in this class. I’m like, wait a second. That’s my. That’s in my home, right?

David Martin: Yeah. Are you born and raised in Waterloo?

Quentin Hart: Born and raised in Waterloo? So. So got out of college. Took the road less traveled pickups there and there, and then just got engaged, started volunteering, ran for. I ran for two offices, and I lost. Win anyway.

David Martin: Lose you did.

Quentin Hart: You just didn’t. You didn’t win. And then, got engaged because I felt like there was there was a lot of work that can be done if we’re able to bring our community together. It didn’t shouldn’t make a difference where you live or where you live, that for you to have some success in your neighborhood. So, I ended up ended up running.

So a lot of praying. And it ran for the. And here you.

David Martin: Are. All right. You’ve said this to me more than once. I have to come to Waterloo. If I come to Waterloo. Where are you taking me? What’s the. What’s the dish of Waterloo? What are we eating? Where are we going?

Quentin Hart: Oh, if I say one, then the other ones will be upset. Let me tell you where. Let me tell you where. Like when we used to have the caucuses where everyone would go and it’s called morgues. Diner and morgues. Diner is downtown Waterloo. Yes. And they have the biggest pancakes I know known to man. All right. And so you definitely got to start out with some breakfast at Moore’s than we have to bring you over to, to, Newton so you can get a a tenderloin.

That is, that is, too big for the bun. But we got a number of places. We have some a couple soul food places, but we had, you know, Latino places. So we have a little bit of everything for you, right? And Waterloo, believe it or not, I just really quickly wired 68,000 people, 17% African-American.

But our school district is 60%, minority Congolese, Haitian, Latino, huge Bosnian population. But you don’t think of diversity when you think of Iowa and Waterloo has it.

David Martin: I guess they do. I think this is just a northern Iowa dish. What is it? The stuffing sandwich. The stuffing sandwich? Yeah, it’s, Dressing. Yeah. This, like turkey dressing on bread. Yeah. I guess that’s not a Waterloo.

Quentin Hart: I mean, I’m, I’m thinking because where did, Is it. Oh, the mashed potatoes on bread. Yeah. You got me hungry. Now I’m eating it.

David Martin: All right. This is the good government show. We always try to bring it back to good government to end up, give me an example of a good government project that, you were able to get through.

Quentin Hart: Good government project. Years ago. We had, a lot of back ups and, neighborhoods, sewage, sanitation backups. And I was able to work in a nine year time span, to help reinvest more than 60, $70 million into our sewer infrastructure. And so those same people that were having backups and coming and talking at our council meeting are no longer dealing with some of those issues.

So it’s not sexy.

David Martin: No.

Quentin Hart: But it but nobody wants to have that in their home.

David Martin: Did anybody give you a hard time about trying to spend the money that way? Of course, of course.

Quentin Hart: We got a couple people to get up at every meeting. Don’t spend it, don’t spend it. And then when we have issues and they complain, but when we try to fix it, they complain.

David Martin: So all right, so those sewage backups. Yeah. Mayor Quentin Hart of Waterloo, Iowa, it is a pleasure talking with you and seeing you again. Thank you very much. And I will see you in Waterloo, right.

Quentin Hart: To.

David Martin: Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host leading Iowa good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Cavanaugh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talk to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

Join us right here. We listening now that’s leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa. Cities. Almost ten years as mayor. That’s a good run for any mayor talking about the police department. It’s good to hear the police are doing more community engagement. That’s good government talking about good government. A good mayor gets good government moving in the right direction.

And it can be a different way. When I heard Mayor Hart say this, we’re trying to be relevant to the needs of what we’re facing today, he said. You have to move on from, well, that’s the way we’ve always done it. You can’t be afraid of change, he said. That’s forward thinking. Good to see. In Waterloo. There’s a lot going on in that city and it’s really made progress under Mayor Hart.

So clearly he’s earned his recent honors, including induction into the Iowa League Hall of Fame. Funny how simply lighting up a pedestrian bridge, something that’s simple makes a big difference in a city. Okay, the Iowa Irish Fest, it’s on my list of Iowa things to do. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends and us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website.

Good government show.com for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government and action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe then share and like us and reviews. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.

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**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.