Listen to their interviews at the bottom of the page or read their answers transcribed below.
Introductions:
Gregory Guy: Okay, my background is I've been a resident for 41 years, and I do have an accounting degree I earned from the University of Iowa. I've been working in town mainly as business manager, finance director. I match up with a lot of things the treasurer does. One of the main things that why I'm running is I just retired at the end of August, so people know I'm going to be full-time. But the county has been a great place to raise my family. They gave a lot back to me 10 years ago. I had a house fire and a son die all in a week, and it was kind of tough. And the good spirit of Scott County came up and a lot of people helped me out. So that's one of the reasons I feel like I want to contribute back to the county.
Samuel Samara: Sure. So my background is more of a technical nature. Spent 30 years in the IT field. Over 20 of those years were spent with Scott County, so I have a good sound understanding of systems within the Treasurer's Office and the county as a whole. I'm also a part-time teacher for Eastern Iowa Community College District. I've been doing that for 26 years and still do that today. And my educational background likewise is in liberal arts and technologies. As a prior county worker, I felt like I had a lot more to give in, in that environment. I felt like I could support the office well with my prior understanding of, of the county government and various activities that, that go on within county government. Plus, understanding the technical side, there's a lot of technical needs when it comes to the treasurer's office. The systems that track the finances, the tax system, stuff like that. And so I want to make sure that we are secure from a cybersecurity perspective also.
And if elected, what are the main issues or topics you would like to address while in office?
Guy: Well, the main topics. First of all, we've got an excellent county, one of the best in Iowa. So I certainly don't want to rock the boat. I want to enhance that reputation. I want to make sure that the fellow teammates I'll have down there are taken care of and they have what they need to succeed. I know there's some headwinds coming. There's the move to the new location at Paul Revere Square. So I It might be done before I get in, but I'm sure there's some things that have to happen there. I know we use an appointment system and generally it's doing well. My concern is if there's an emergency, I wanna make sure those people are taken care of and maybe some of the older folks that are not as handy with a computer as others, maybe we have a time for them where we, in a morning or two where we could have some walk-ins, but I'd have to look at that. Yeah, it's a, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I look forward to it. Just want to keep giving the good service everybody's used to having.
Samara: So probably the biggest things— I had mentioned cybersecurity a moment ago, but for me, the biggest things are better customer service responsiveness to— I've heard from a lot of the people I've spoke to over the election cycle here that there's a need to have more flexibility. The scheduling system that they use right now is fairly rigid. Some people don't have much capability to, to work within that scheduling system. So my hope is to hope— put, put in a little bit more flexibility that should allow for walk-ins, to still gain access to the services as opposed to always having to schedule a meeting there. And then the other hope would be that we can be a little more flexible in the hours that we would be open. Right now it's, it's very rigid hours and that can be hard for working people to find time. Sometimes they have to take time off of work in order to gain access to the services of the Treasurer's Office. So I'm hoping that we can have the office open a little earlier a couple of days and a little later a couple of the days to help assist. So those are two big ones and then just the security of our systems.
And why should voters select you over your opponent?
Guy: Well, I think I have a better background with accounting and business. I know he's IT. I've worked with a lot of banks. I've worked doing DMV work, which is a third of what the treasurer does. So I thoroughly understand that. So I think I have a better background and I have more desire. I've knocked on 8,000 doors and got hundreds of signups, and I haven't seen my opponent with any. So at that, and I think... I just think that I've shown more desire. And would you rather have somebody in there that works hard or that doesn't work hard? And the MO on me is I show up to work every day, I work hard, I fix problems, I take care of people, I treat them right. I raised a good family. I want to bring those values and my character to the treasurer's office here in Scott County.
Samara: So again, going back to prior governmental experience, I, I know the majority of the players involved. I have interacted with the department numerous times, so I know a lot of the employees that are within the department. And how the department works. So I feel like I've got a good understanding of the inner workings of both the Treasurer's Department and the county in general. And that's important because it isn't just the Treasurer's Department that you're working for. You have to be able to work with other departments within the county too. So I think that's probably one of my strongest benefits here. And then as an IT professional, I was a manager for those 22 years, so I managed a staff of people. So I have good managerial skills both from my time at Scott County and then also the nearly 30 years I've been at the college, the leadership role that I have there with— within the classroom.
And is there anything else you would like to share with voters ahead of the November midterm elections?
Guy: Well, I just hope y'all get out and vote. Whether you vote for me or not, it's a pretty important election. So I would just encourage people to make sure that they get out there and do their civic duty and vote.
Samara: Anything else I would like to share? I, I think the only other thing I would share is we're at a point where we need change. I think we hear that a lot, but I think that we've been doing the same thing the same way for far too long. And there's a need to change things up a little bit, to take a fresh look at stuff. And I want to be a person that does that.
Early voting is underway in Iowa. Election Day is November 3. Links to the Auditor's website for more election information: Scott.
