SOLON- The newest member of the Solon City Council sees himself as an average Joe.
At a Wednesday, Feb. 4, meeting, council members voted to appoint Dale Snipes to the seat vacated by Ron Herdliska, who resigned the post Jan. 1.
Snipes, 57, will serve out the remaining year of Herdliska’s term, but has already indicated he will seek election in November.
With the decision, the council is back to its full complement of five members.
In the last 12 months, four of the six elected city positions have been vacated and filled by appointment, beginning with previous Mayor Cami Rasmussen’s decision to seek the job of city administrator last spring. Council member Steve Stange ascended to the mayor’s post by appointment in May, and Steve Duncan was subsequently tapped to fill Stange’s void.
Both Stange and Duncan stood for election in November 2014 and retained their seats.
Later in November, however, council member Brad Kunkel announced he would step down from his position effective Dec. 1. Mark Prentice was appointed Jan. 7 to fill the vacancy created by Kunkel, who moved outside the city limits.
Herdliska’s departure was announced the same night Prentice was sworn in.
Snipes, along with Kristina Bevans, had applied for the council seat opened by Kunkel, and both were subsequently considered when Herdliska left.
“It was a difficult decision,” said council member Mark Krall, who made the motion to appoint Snipes. “I’m glad we had a lot of people that were interested in the position.”
Snipes was approved on a 3-0 vote, and was seated at the council table after being sworn in by Mayor Stange.
“I was really pleased with the willingness for new people to step up without having to seek people out,” said Stange, who commended Bevans for her preparation and encouraged her to consider running for office in November.
Snipes has been a resident of Solon since 2006.
Born in St. Louis, but raised in downtown Detroit, he spent most of his life in Missouri and Arkansas before coming to Iowa in 2004. A former coffee company salesman, he began a career in over-the-road trucking in the late 1980s and is currently employed by United Natural Foods in Iowa City.
Snipes has three children from his first marriage, but his wife passed away in 1997, and he met his current wife Heather, a native of Solon, while working for Heartland Express. They married in 2004, bringing three more stepchildren into Snipes’ family.
A self-described “political geek,” Snipes said he has followed the actions of the city government through newspaper articles and meeting minutes, but only when his job situation changed did he have time to consider getting involved.
“I just didn’t have the schedule to dedicate the time that it needs,” he said.
Like Prentice, Snipes comes to the council with no previous experience on boards and commissions, and admitted there will be a bit of a learning curve.
“The thing I’d really like to see is continued growth for Solon, whether it be commercial or residential,” he said. “As long as it’s done in a moderate way- as long as we have the facilities, the capabilities of taking that growth on and matching city services with the growth.”
He also indicated support for improving the infrastructure in the older portions of the town.
“I really enjoy this community a lot,” Snipes said. “It’s a very welcoming community.” Solon has a great location between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, good roads, good schools and a middle-of-the-road pace, he said.
“People are just regular folks,” he said of the town’s residents. “They get up, they go to work in the morning and I like being part of that.
“That’s kind of where I’m at, just an average Joe getting up and going to work,” he concluded.