North Liberty: No Wards

North Liberty: No Wards

By more than three to one, North Liberty voters reject proposed change of government from at-large council to wards. Council members Gerry Kuhl and James Wozniak, whose terms would have been truncated two years early if the measure had passed, now stay on the council until 2009.

Kuhl and Wozniak, who both publicly opposed the measure, were elected in 2005 and both allied their campaigns with victorious write-in mayor candidate Dave Franker, ushering in an era of divided city government and hostile council meetings that included a recount and a challenge to the city's election code that lasted months.

Franker's term would also have been truncated if the government reorganization had passed, but on March 29, just days before the petition was filed, he resigned to take a job with the Linn County Attorney's Office. After Franker's resignation, the Yes campaign faded to the point where no Yes spokesperson could be found to participate in a League of Women Voter's forum. Turnout was 13.6 percent, compared to 19% in the regular 2005 city election and 25% in a 2002 special bond election.