WATERLOO - Two local business leaders and a Waterloo real estate agent are vying to become the next at-large City Council member when voters head to the polls Tuesday.

There's Dave Buck, the president of Matt Parrott and Sons Co., who has praised the work of the current City Hall administration and wants to use his experience, as a councilman from 1988 through 1993, to attract affordable housing and high-paying jobs.

There's Steve Schmitt, the owner and president of Schmitt Telecom Partners, who also believes the city is "on the right path" but needs to focus more on reducing property taxes through efficiency and sharing services with other local governments.

And there's Michael Douglas, a real estate agent who lost a council bid in 2005, who has called for a "back to the basics" approach in a city government he believes is losing its way and failing to address development needs.

One will be chosen to fill the seat being vacated by Councilman Eric Gunderson, who is not seeking re-election. At-large council seats are elected by voters in every ward, but the highest vote-getter must receive more than 50 percent of the ballots cast to avoid tipping the election into a run-off election between the top two candidates.

"We've gotten away from the blue-collar lifestyle we used to have," Douglas said. "We need to have a blue-collar councilman for a blue-collar city - somebody who's out there worrying about community, neighborhoods, family, our elderly and our youth. I call it getting back to the basics. We're losing our kids.

"I work in the community, in the whole community," he added. "If you look in the newspapers you'll see I'm involved. Not just three months ago when I started knocking on doors. I was in neighborhoods yesterday, I'm in them today, and I'll be there tomorrow."

Schmitt, making his second bid for public office after a failed 2004 campaign for Black Hawk County supervisor, said he's built his campaign on conversations with residents.

"I'm going to do it from a grassroots standpoint; I'm knocking on doors and talking to the citizens to find out what their issues are," Schmitt said. "I'm not just going to assume that I know.

"I do think the city is doing a lot of good things, a lot of the right things" he added. "But I think my small business, common-sense approach to my personal life and my business life would be an added value to the City Council. I'd just like to see some more business approaches applied to local government."

And Schmitt said he believes his opponents have focused mostly on east-side community issues during the campaign.

"I'm not going to give anybody preferential treatment," he said. "I'm going to treat all parts of the city the same."

Meanwhile, Buck said "experience counts," noting his previous six years on the City Council came during rough economic times following the bankruptcy of Rath Packing Co., falling employment at Deere and Co., and a declining tax base.

"I'm really proud of what we did in those six years, when things were really, really tough," Buck said. "We approved the zoning for IBP (now Tyson Foods) despite all the horror stories we heard about hog heads floating down the river. They are a great addition to the community with good-paying union jobs."

Buck said he's eager now to serve during a period of growth, getting housing that workers in the new jobs can buy.

"I really want to work on affordable housing. I've seen so many people that live in Jesup or Dike or Waverly because they don't think they can afford to live in Waterloo," he said. "If we had an inventory of affordable houses to live in, that would really benefit the community. And it would benefit (the employees) too."

All three candidates offered slightly different views on the city's downtown redevelopment efforts, which include investing millions of dollars in public funds for a rubber bladder dam, a riverwalk and amphitheater, the Phelps Youth Pavilion and planned RiverLoop Exposition area.

"I support all those efforts," Buck said. "When we're trying to attract people to this community to work at places like Deere's, we need something for them to do after the whistle blows."

Buck, who serves on the Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau board, said the projects also will enhance a vibrant tourism industry.

"I don't think we ever thought that (Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center) would be a money maker, but it sure brings thousands of people into the community to spend money," he said. "That center is booked heavily way into the future, which is really exciting. We never used to have any conventions here, and then the city started spending the money to fix up the convention center."

Schmitt was enthusiastic about the downtown effort but qualified his support.

"I think they are good and worthwhile projects," he said. "My question is whether we are spending money in the most efficient manner."

And he said he would have preferred a Cedar River dredging operation over the dam.

"I think that bladder dam is a Band-Aid and a short-term solution to a long-term problem," he said. "The consensus is we need to dredge that river. That initially could be the most expensive, but if you look at it over 20 years it could be less costly … and get the best results."

Douglas said Riverfront Renaissance "is not a bad project" but does include some unnecessary elements.

"A lot of the money being spent downtown is great for the arts and theaters," he said. "But I think there are more pressing things, things that need to be cleaned up and done.

"I think that some of that money should have been spent across town," he said. "How come it always has to go to the west side? What about the east side?"

On city budget issues, Douglas said he supports property tax relief efforts, said he believes there are unnecessary expenses that could be trimmed, but declined to make promises.

"We need to have property tax relief," he said. "But I'm not going to tell you that I'm going to get your taxes lower. People that tell you that … just look at the past history. But if we get economic development happening in the city on all sides of town it will help."

Schmitt, meanwhile, has made city taxes his top priority.

"Waterloo can become more economically fit," he said. "We can do that primarily by reducing tax askings through shared services, which would then allow us to become more competitive with other communities that are out there competing for employers and jobs.

"I know some people think it can't be done," he said. "But I'm convinced we can."

Schmitt said his experience in business and on the county's Blue Ribbon Task Force, which looked for efficiency and ways to share services, would help.

"With the relationships I have from the task force and with the current City Council people … I have an ability to get people together and build a consensus," he said.

Buck said he doesn't believe the city's taxes are out of control, noting the city's share of the bill has remained steady or declined in recent years.

But he did spell out a five-point plan to keep taxes under control, which includes a hiring freeze on non-essential staff; working to merge services with other cities; no local preference requiring the city to spend more for products; cross-training workers so they can shift jobs as the workload shifts; and then looking for services that could either be eliminated, reduced or outsourced.

On other issues, Schmitt said he believes the city's public safety departments are now understaffed and need to be restored using savings realized through efficiency and consolidating services.

Douglas has a platform calling for improving public transportation with longer bus hours, working for a city-owned telecommunications utility and doing a better job of marketing the city to new businesses and residents.

"We talk about development," he said. "If we don't have a system for the big companies to come in and use, why would they come here. They go next door, which has that system."

Douglas also wants to clean up the former Chamberlain Manufacturing site on East Fourth Street and adopt an earlier youth curfew.

Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.

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DAVE BUCK

AGE: 65

OCCUPATION: president of Matt Parrott and Sons Co.

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science, Iowa State University; Master's degree, University of Iowa.

AFFILIATIONS: Waterloo City Council, 1988-93; Waterloo Leisure Services Commission, 2004-present, current chairman; Council liaison to Recreation Commission; Partners in Education at East High; mentor at Cunningham School for Excellence; Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau board; Downtown Rotary Club; Episcopal Church.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS

AGE: 53

OCCUPATION: Realtor.

EDUCATION: East Liverpool High School, Ohio; Brown Institute, Minneapolis, broadcasting and electronics; first-class engineer's license; Real Estate Broker's license.

AFFILIATION/BOARDS: Lincoln Multigenerational Multicultural Community Center, president; Waterloo Cedar Falls Board of Realtors, political action committee chair and equal rights committee; Waterloo Fair Housing Alliance; Gates Park Optimist Club; Highway 63 Commission; past chair of Board of Realtors public releation committee; past vice president of Highland Neighborhood Association; past coach of Cedar Valley Youth Football League and Leisure Services basketball; NAACP; All Nations Church.

STEVE SCHMITT

AGE: 58

OCCUPATION: Owner/President of Schmitt Telecom Partners.

EDUCATION: B.A. University of Northern Iowa.

AFFILIATIONS: chairman of the Black Hawk County Republican Central Committee; former president of the Downtown Rotary Club; former Jaycee; member of the Boy Scouts executive board; Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra board; Boys & Girls Club of Black Hawk County board; Sacred Heart Catholic Church, parish council; Black Hawk County Blue Ribbon Task Force; Birthright board; Waterloo Main Street board.