MUSCATINE, Iowa — It's the time of year that is filled with political change.
"This is our speck on the globe, and we want to make it the best looking speck there is," Salvation Army of Muscatine County Lt. Greg Bock said of Muscatine.
Bock, who is active in the community and interacts with several community organizations through his work, said one issue that is most important to him in this year's mayoral election - housing.
"There’s always somebody that needs a place to stay," Bock said.
There are four mayoral candidates on the Tuesday, Nov. 2 ballot in Muscatine. They include incumbent Diana Broderson and three new candidates, Jim Edgmond, Chad Bishop and Brad Bark.
The three challengers have not run for office before. All four candidates, though, agree that housing is an issue the city needs to address.
"Housing has been an issue in Muscatine for quite some time," Broderson said.
Broderson has been mayor of Muscatine since 2016. During her time in office, she created a housing task force that has helped address the housing need in the city, "making sure we have all levels of housing from low-income to higher-socioeconomic to retirees and apartment complexes," Broderson said.
Jim Edgmond's solution includes finding more opportunities for the people who work in Muscatine to live there, too.
"I think housing, quality housing, market-rate housing would be a great way to start to do that," Edgmond said.
Edgmond retired a year ago after working for six years as a city engineer in Muscatine. He has lived there for more than three decades of his life.
"We are kind of at this situation where there isn’t a lot of housing in our community," Chad Bishop said.
Bishop said he sees the housing need as a positive, too.
"I think it’s a great complement to our great businesses and industry here to provide such great jobs that people are willing to travel that 30-45 minutes each way," Bishop said.
Brad Bark has lived in Muscatine for more than a decade.
"Housing is definitely the forefront of why I want to run," Bark said.
Bark said also wants to see Muscatine's population grow.
"We’ve been hovering around 23,000, 24,000, 25,000," Bark said. "It’d be nice to start to increase that as soon as possible by trying to bring some attractive amenities to Muscatine."
The four candidates are united around a change in Muscatine.
You can see sample ballots for Muscatine and other cities and municipalities by clicking here.