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Jack Hatch: Des Moines mayoral candidate

Austin Cannon
The Des Moines Register

Jack Hatch, a former state legislator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is running for Des Moines mayor. 

He is one of three candidates challenging Frank Cownie, the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history. The others are Joe Grandanette and Chase Holm

Hatch lives in Sherman Hill and heads Hatch Development group, which specializes in building mixed-income and affordable-housing projects in urban and rural communities throughout Iowa.

The election is Nov. 5. 

► RELATED:Cownie, Hatch trade jabs as Des Moines mayoral campaign enters final weeks

Jack Hatch

Age: 69 

Place of birth: Hartford, Connecticut 

Grew up: Farmington, Connecticut

Current home: Sherman Hill neighborhood, Des Moines

Education: Drake University, master's in public administration, 1973; bachelors of science, 1973; Farmington High School 

Work history: Hatch Development Group, principal

Political experience: Iowa Senate, 2003-2012; Iowa House of Representatives, 1985–1993, 2001–2003; former in-state director for U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.

Jack Hatch

Civic involvement: Hatch was chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Committee and worked on the Legislature’s comprehensive health care reform effort, including a commitment to health care coverage for all Iowa children. He sponsored the state’s efforts to expanded access to public and private health insurance and create prevention and chronic care management services. Since 2010, he’s been working to reform Iowa’s mental health delivery from a county-based system to a statewide system that's regionally managed and locally delivered.

In 2009, he was appointed chair of the White House Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform, which advised President Obama and Congress on policies set out in the Affordable Care Act. 

Religious affiliation: Christian

Website: www.JackHatchforMayor.com

Twitter: @Senator_Hatch

Facebook: @senatorjackhatch

List your top three priorities for the city and how you would address them.

Neighborhood infrastructure: While downtown development has skyrocketed, the rest of the city has felt neglected. We will reprioritize our street and infrastructure maintenance continuously until our roads, water drainage and the remaining infrastructure is equal to downtown Des Moines.

Affordable housing: While the city has provided financial incentives to commercial and industrial employers, more housing assistance to individual homeowners should be provided. This is why I have called for the creation of two new financial assistance funds that will provide direct support to improving existing housing stock and new building in vacant properties. This includes providing property tax abatement to all improvements for residential housing stock in the city. In addition, we should divert some of the commercial incentives to building new housing and improving existing housing throughout the neighborhoods.

Water quality: Instead of focusing on the legislative power grab to dismantle the Des Moines Water Works, we should direct our efforts toward ensuring the highest water quality for our residents. The city should take immediate action to organize a regional watershed planning authority to include all 31 counties, soil conservation districts, and cities and towns in the Raccoon River watershed basin to implement water quality strategies to reduce the amount of nitrates coming from agricultural runoff. Simultaneously, we should engage in discussions of considering a governance and distribution system that would service the entire metropolitan area.

Do you support efforts to create a regional water utility serving central Iowa?

Yes, only with a public vote of a negotiated agreement between regional stakeholders. This requires a more detailed discussion with all stakeholders. A regional water utility serving central Iowa that includes all municipalities in the metropolitan area is appropriate if it protects the capital investments that the ratepayers of Des Moines have already invested. It is for this reason that a referendum should be required in any new regional governance structure.