Both a former Story County supervisor and current supervisor candidate, Marty Chitty said being a supervisor means attending a lot of local meetings and getting to know your constituents.
“You have to find out who they are, what bothers them and what you can do on their behalf,” Chitty said.
Chitty was appointed to the board of supervisors in 2016 and elected to the post the following November. He’s also been president of the Nevada Community School Board for 18 years. Chitty believes his experience dealing with budget and personnel issues on the school board served him well as a supervisor, as both entities are subject to county and state code.
“That means you have to color inside the lines so you don’t get on TV,” Chitty said.
In his previous tenure as supervisor, Chitty was on a planning board, along with representatives from the City of Ames and Iowa State University, to fund, propose and build a new 911 system. Police and other first responders were communicating using iPhones at the time, Chitty said, and if they needed parts, they had to look on eBay.
“It was an old, rickety structure,” Chitty said. “We’re living in better times.”
Chitty also helped convert a former group home into an eight-bed crisis and subacute care facility in order to temporarily house those experiencing mental health crises who would otherwise “be sitting in an emergency room for no medical reason or in a jail for no criminal reason,” Chitty said.
Chitty criticized previous supervisors’ focus on developing options for low- and middle-income housing, however, saying that such measures are not the county’s purview and use tax dollars taken from those who earned them. That money could be better spent by helping young farmers buy property, Chitty said.
“I don’t see myself as a property developer,” he said. “That’s something for private industry and private dollars. Otherwise those are dollars you’re talking away from people who may need them much more than we do.”
Chitty considers himself a big supporter of Story County’s farmers, pointing out what he sees as the hypocrisy of those who oppose certain farming methods, such as “factory farming,” without really knowing much about them.
“Why do people oppose farming practices that are taught every year at Iowa State?” Chitty asked. “I’ve watched agriculture of all kinds prosper and suffer, and I’ve seen people oppose factory farming without being able to point to it or define what it is.”
Chitty declared himself “agnostic” on data centers, but stressed the importance of bringing in new businesses to spur economic development.
“We should be open for business,” Chitty said. “When you say no, businesses that would create jobs go to other communities instead.”
Chitty is hopeful that this year’s election will change things in Story County.
“It’s going to be a new board that’s going to have to find common cause and act accordingly,” Chitty said. “Different parts of the county, different worldviews and different values.”
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