This election season, five members of the Grinnell are running for positions on the City Council.
Candidates include Sarah Smith for the open at-large seat, John D. Cox and incumbent Lee David Staroska for Ward 1, incumbent Rachel Bly for Ward 3 and incumbent Shane Hart for Ward 4.
The Scarlet & Black reached out to the candidate with questions about their background and why they are running for the Grinnell City Council. The following are the candidates’ responses. Responses may have been lightly edited for clarity.
Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Grinnell is divided into 4 wards, which determine where a resident votes. Wards 1 and 2 vote at Elks Lodge, Ward 3 votes at Drake Library and Ward 4 votes at the 4H Building, County Fairgrounds.
John D. Cox
Running for: Councilmember 1st Ward
Grew up in: Indiana
Current occupation: Self-employed — Professional Emcee and DJ.
Educational background: High School — Eastern High 94-97, College — IUPUI 99-03, U of I —10-11
Political experience: This is my first time running for anything political, but I have participated in organized protests and attended political rallies.
Age: 47
Lee David Staroska (Incumbent)
Running for: Councilmember 1st Ward
Grew up in: I was born and raised in North Platte, Nebraska. I met my wife, Angie during High School. We were married in 1986, then moved to Grinnell in 1987.
Current occupation: I have been employed by Poweshiek Water Association since 2009. I currently hold the position of Water Distribution Operator and Safety Coordinator.
Educational background: Graduated from North Platte High School in 1985. Received a Welding Degree from Mid Plains Community College in 1987. Osha 30 Hour Course Certification. Water Distribution 2 Certified.
Political experience: I was recently nominated to fulfill a vacancy for City Council, representing the 1st Ward in Grinnell. This is my first position in city government. I was honored to represent the first ward for the rest of the term and would appreciate your vote in the November 4th election.
Age: 58
Sarah Smith
Running for: Councilmember at large
Current occupation: Director of Community and Government Relations, Grinnell College.
Grew up in: Grinnell, Iowa
Educational background: High School — Grinnell High School `94. College — B.A. Psychobiology `98.
Political experience: Ran for Iowa House in 2020 & 2022.
Age: 49
Rachel Bly (Incumbent)
Running for: Councilmember 3rd Ward
Grew up in: All over the United States (New York, Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, Iowa). Came to Grinnell to go to Grinnell College and ended up, after a brief time in DC, making this my home. I have lived here 30 years total (not counting my time as a student).
Current occupation: Assistant VP of Auxiliary Services, Grinnell College.
Educational background: BA in Political Science from Grinnell College. MPA from Drake University. Masters in Emergency Management from Park University.
Political experience: I have served on the Grinnell City Council since 2010. I also ran for the Statehouse in 2012 but was not successful. Although city council is a non-partisan race (as I believe it should be), I am also active in local Democratic party politics.
Age: 54
Shane Hart (Incumbent)
Running for: Councilmember 4th Ward
Grew up in: I grew up in Coon Rapids, IA, in west-central Iowa. I have called Grinnell home for the past 19 years.
Current occupation: I am the General Manager at Grinnell College Golf Course.
Educational background: I graduated high school from Coon Rapids-Bayard and obtained my B.A. in education from the University of Northern Iowa.
Political experience: I have served as the appointed councilman of the 4th ward since May 2025. Other than that, I have not served in a political role.
Age: 46
Why are you running for this position?
John D. Cox: I feel my #1 role is to listen. Also as helping strengthen the relationship between the City and the College. Both play such an important part in our community’s success. By keeping communication open and looking for ways to partner on shared goals, we can create real benefits for everyone who calls Grinnell home.
Lee David Staroska: Grinnell College is very important to our community – economically, culturally and socially. As a council member, I would work to maintain the partnership between the city and Grinnell College by encouraging open communication and collaboration. By working together, we can make Grinnell an even better place for the students, for the residents and for the businesses.
Sarah Smith: With my experience of working at Grinnell and focusing on partnership and collaborations, along with growing up here and now raising kids here will allow for me to focus on initiatives to make this community an even better place to live.
Rachel Bly: I believe it is important to make a difference by serving your community. I have learned an amazing array of things in my service on the city council so far and I look forward to learning more in the years to come. I want our community to grow and thrive and I want to do all I can to help with this.
Shane Hart: I view the city and college as 2 important pillars within our community, amongst others. This is often called the “Town and Gown Experience.”’ I am fortunate that through my profession, I am able to promote this collaborative ideology on a daily basis. My representation on the city council simply strengthens the bond between the institutions.
What are, in your opinion, the most relevant issues that affect Grinnell and how do you wish to improve upon them?
John D. Cox: Grinnell’s greatest challenge is lack of growth, rising cost of living and housing, and unity. The city faces housing and workforce pressures while striving to preserve its small-town character. Ongoing tensions between the college and the broader community — over priorities, development and id entity — highlight the need for collaboration to ensure Grinnell grows as one connected, inclusive community. We also lack options for engagement and entertainment for teens and twenty-something’s. I want to look into growing that to keep those age groups he re in town instead of looking outside of Grinnell. If focusing just on our ward, I really want to look a t improving 10th Ave. Students crossing to and from the Bear with both students and cars not paying enough attention. Speed humps and an actual crosswalk would go miles into improving that situation. Along with more lighting along there to keep everyone safer . The new Elementary going up at the end of 10th is only going to make it more congested from Broad to Penrose. We need to look at slowing vehicles down for all pedestrians in that area.
Lee David Staroska: First, economic growth — Keeping and supporting the businesses that we have and attracting new businesses. Second, infrastructure improvements — improving our streets and sidewalks, providing safe crosswalks for pedestrians, I would like to see crosswalks on 8th Avenue and 10th Avenue near the college for students to cross safely . I also support the improvements in our water infrastructure and providing more recreational opportunities for Grinnell and improving our parks. Third, maintaining adequate childcare for our working families.
Sarah Smith: I want to ensure that we are prepared to continue to fund police, fire, and ems departments with potential tax policy changes at the state level. I also want to ensure we hav e beautiful parks and connections to nature in Grinnell. I would like to see us work on implementing our new master parks plan o ver the next ten years.
Rachel Bly: We are in the process of building a new water plant, which will change the way we process our water and improve the taste and softness. I have long been a proponent of our rental inspection program as well as dealing with abandoned and neglected properties — I believe we need to ensure all housing in Grinnell is safe and well cared for. We are working right now on a housing study, which will also help us see where the gaps are in our housing stock. I think it is critical that we have a strong retail and downtown space as well as employers in our community that pay a living wage and treat employees well. Economic development work is an important part of this and the more we can do to attract good businesses and employees to the area, the stronger our community is. I also think that we n eed to use the Campbell Fund as a way to address not only the daily needs of our low-income citizens, but we need to continue to look creatively at ways that we can address poverty in our community on a larger scale.
Shane Hart: If you ask most Grinnellians what they are looking for in our t own, you will hear commonality in the words such as Clean, Vibrant, Healthy, and Safe (especially when pertaining to our children). So, w hen looking at our planning and associated expenses, ensuring that we are keeping these commonalities in mind.
