Gordon: Police need higher pay

By ANDREW MCGINN

a.mcginn@beeherald.com

Matt Gordon assumed the duties of Jefferson mayor at just the right time.

Two of the five city-owned buildings under renovation on or near the Square are rapidly nearing completion, the city peeling off generations of misguided cosmetic improvements to reveal the magnificent historic structures underneath.

In fact, by Feb. 1, Heartland Bank will occupy the building at 200 E. State St. dubbed “City View on State,” quite possibly the best $100 (the cost to buy the vacant building in 2016 from a bank in California) the city ever spent.

But at home, Gordon’s kids are at just the right age to be totally amazed by their dad’s new role.

Gordon and wife Meghan have four kids — ages 4 to 13 — who couldn’t help but joke that he’s now the “president of the town.”

“They think it’s funny,” Gordon, 40, said recently. “I’m just Dad.”

Gordon presided Tuesday night over his first city council meeting as mayor, the first time in more than a decade that Jefferson’s mayor has kids in school.

A mental health nurse at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll, Gordon won office in November over longtime incumbent Craig Berry by a mere 19 votes — not exactly a mandate, but enough to suggest that the community is warming to a new generation of leaders.

“I’m invested in Jefferson,” Gordon explained. “I have four kids in the schools. There’s so much good in this town, and I’m glad I’m here raising a family.”

A 1997 graduate of Jefferson-Scranton High School — a classmate, in fact, of Berry’s daughter, Allycia — Gordon decided to run for mayor after serving two years on the city council.

On Tuesday, the council authorized a special election for the remainder of his four-year term, citing interest in the position from at least two people. Sean Sebourn, who lost his race for council in November,  had waged a campaign to be appointed, but Pat Zmolek is also interested, according to Gordon.

Gordon said he sacrificed his voting position on the council — the mayor doesn’t vote — in order to assume a leadership role.

He’s most concerned by the recent rate of turnover within the Jefferson Police Department.

“If we lose one more (officer), we’ll have a 200 percent turnover rate in the last three years,” he said.

Jefferson in late 2018 approved a package of incentives for new cops — including a hiring bonus of $2,000 and up to $9,600 in student loan payments — but it hasn’t been enough to keep the Des Moines suburbs or even the Greene County Sheriff’s Office from poaching young, street-ready officers once they complete academy training, according to Gordon.

“We’re going to take a long, hard look at wages for our police department,” he said. “We’ve got to fix our retention problem. We’ve tried incentives.”

Gordon said that, at about $42,000, police pay locally is $10,000 to $12,000 below state average, making it all but impossible to compete with places like Carlisle on the southeast side of the Des Moines metro area. Despite being similar in size, he said, Carlisle officers start between $50,000 and $67,000.

“It’s kind of a dog-eat-dog world in policing right now,” Gordon said. “Always being under the public eye, it’s not as desirable a job as it was 10 years ago.”

Gordon also hopes to make city government more transparent, echoing a complaint that residents don’t find out about things until they happen. He would like to use social media more (the city of Jefferson has only had a Facebook page since October), and possibly even televise city council meetings.

“Not knowing,” he said, “is where a lot of the criticism comes from.”

The city’s effort to stabilize dilapidated buildings around the Square is a prime example, he said.

“The city’s not just going out and trying to buy every building we can,” Gordon explained.

The city, however, can get those buildings one step closer to private ownership for cheaper — money that can be spent either fixing up or tearing down. 

“You look at Sensibly Chic,” he said. “That building was on its last leg.”

The city, Gordon noted, fixed it up and got it into the hands of somebody who not only opened a business, but lives there.

“Our buildings are going to be standing strong a long time from now,” Gordon said, “because of the work we’re doing today.”

In looking ahead, Gordon wants what every mayor everywhere wants — an influx of new jobs with good pay and benefits — but he’s also satisfied with what he inherited on Jan. 1, when his duties commenced.

“The number of people that are willing to step up is amazing,” he said. “Look at Jefferson Matters: Main Street. That’s turned into an empire. It’s nice to see people take pride in the town.”