Official press release from John Carden, candidate for Mason City council –
We moved to Mason City to cherish it’s small town feel and raise our children in an environment that was both safe and family oriented. Since then, we have met wonderful people and fell in love with the progress, albeit sometimes slow, that the city has embraced and strove towards. We now have bicycle lanes and trails.
We enjoyed Ragbrai coming through our town, bringing with it an economic boost and future return visitors. I have seen first hand, several new small business and ventures in Mason City and especially downtown. We have adopted the blue zone project and promoted healthy living. And, the list goes on…proudly.
I decided to run for the vacant seat for two reasons: 1) Our city sits at the halfway point between two of the more progressive cities in the nation, Des Moines and Minneapolis. Both have continued to grow and transform to fit the needs of their citizens and businesses. In the Midwest we proudly have 100 of the fortune 500 companies located here. Many of those companies have offices right here in Mason City. I would like to be proactive in bringing sustainable, responsible businesses to our city. Businesses who, most importantly, will understand how faithfully we fight to keep our quality of life, quality of environment and our community.
There are plenty of businesses who fit this mold. We need to reach out to them and say “hey, come see what Mason City has to offer.” 2) We need to grow with the future generation in mind. If we wish to keep our children close, we need to give them an environment in which they can prosper. We need to entice them to learn a skill or go to college and come back, invest here, and raise a family. It is, after all, a great place to just that.
