· Recapping January 21 – 27, 2014
· Cities & Schedule for: January 28 – February 2, 2014
TO: Iowa Democratic Party Officials, Supporters, News Media
SCHEDULE: January 28th – February 2nd
After an aggressive trek across Eastern Iowa the Jonathan Narcisse for Governor campaign will shift its focus to Western Iowa beginning today.
On Tuesday (Jan 28) the campaign kicks off a three-day western Iowa trek starting in Mason City. From there it is onto Algona, Emmetsburg, Spencer, Storm Lake and Sioux City.
On Wednesday (Jan 29) the campaign will begin in Sioux City and then visit Council Bluffs, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Clarinda, Atlantic, Harlan, Denison and Carroll.
On Thursday (Jan 30), the Narcisse for Iowa Governor team will start in Fort Dodge and then onto Webster City, Boone, Perry, Adel, Winterset, Indianola and Carlisle.
The campaign will take a break for the weekend in order for Narcisse to participate in the celebration of his mother’s 80th birthday before returning to Eastern Iowa and Waterloo on February 3rd.
RECAPPING: January 20th – 27th Campaign Trail
Monday, January 20th
Narcisse launched his campaign in Cedar Rapids with a call for an unrelenting campaign to end poverty in Iowa. “We have the means now we must have the will,” stated Narcisse. Following the presentation Narcisse visited his Cedar Rapids office which will open in February.
Narcisse then stopped in Iowa City for an interview with the Iowa City Press Citizen, in Newton for an interview with the Newton Daily News and concluded the day in Des Moines with an interview on WHO 1040 AM’s Simon Conway.
Throughout the day Narcisse stressed his day one actions:
1. Empower a process to protect Iowa’s public pension systems especially following a recent ruling by a federal judge. “The men and women who ran into burning buildings, made our streets safe, taught our children, plowed our streets must know that we will honor our word to them. Our public pensions in Iowa must be honored, actuarially sound, sustainable and most of all be protected from a political class in Iowa that has raided, without replenishing, other funds such as the Senior Living Trust and the Tobacco Trust” stated Narcisse.
2. Order the head of the Division of Criminal Investigation to return with a plan in 30 days to begin forensic audits of state and local governments. “As a member of the Des Moines School Board we had a contractor who billed us for time that didn’t exist, who billed us for things like bottled water and cell phones. In other governments we have evidence of bid rigging, embezzlement and graft. Iowa’s taxpayers deserve efficient, honest and frugal government and this measure will not only shed light on past practices but it will put in place protections to restore integrity to governance in Iowa,” stated Narcisse.
3. Opt out of No Child Left Behind and Common Core. “Perhaps the single greatest failure of Iowa’s political leaders this past decade has been the failure to end our Public School System’s thralldom to No Child Left Behind. No Child Left Behind has wrought havoc and desolation on our public schools. It has perverted the delivery of education in Iowa and it has harmed our communities, our good schools, our dedicated and outstanding teachers, and, most of all, harmed the educating of our students. Common Core mandated curriculum and unfunded testing is on the horizon in Iowa, too. Iowans are more than capable of establishing their own standards. The only responsible thing for the next governor of Iowa to do is opt out of the Common Core, too,” stated Narcisse.
Tuesday, January 21stNarcisse started the day with interviews with the Marshalltown Times Republican and KFJB/KXIA News Director Chuck Schockley. From there he visited Grundy Center, Waterloo and Dubuque.
In Waterloo he met with the Courier, KWWL, KBOL and KBBG. Narcisse hosted various radio shows on KBBG for more than a decade. Narcisse also attended the Black Hawk County caucus where all the county’s precincts met at the union hall. Bruce Braley was the keynote speaker.
From Waterloo, Narcisse went to Dubuque where he experienced one of Iowa’s hidden treasures – Turkey and Dressing sandwiches at the party’s post caucus celebration at Happy’s Place. He demonstrated profound gubernatorial restraint limiting himself to only four of the treats.
Wednesday, January 22ndNarcisse started the day with an interview with the Dubuque Telegraph Herald and then spent the rest of the morning visiting past local allies he made there while conducting Statewide Education, Health and Justice hearings. Narcisse has also been the keynote speaker at several Dubuque gatherings such as the Martin Luther King Annual Celebrations and the NAACP Annual Banquet.
Narcisse concluded his Dubuque visit by stopping at Cremer’s Grocery Store. A video of his conversation with the owner of the local establishment is available here.
Narcisse then stopped visited Maquoketa, DeWitt and Davenport where he published for more than a decade. While in Davenport Narcisse was interviewed by the Quad City Times and secured his eastern Iowa staging location for distribution of campaign materials and to host key staff and volunteer meetings. Narcisse then stopped in Wapello and enjoyed wall-eye fish at Johnny B’s. He spoke with the owner and a waitress at the establishment about their concerns for Iowa. Narcisse then spent the rest of the evening in Burlington reconnecting with supporters there.
Thursday, January 23rd
Narcisse started the day with an interview with the Fort Madison Daily Democrat. He then stopped in Burlington where he was interviewed by the Burlington Hawkeye and the Mike Savage Show on FM KQ92 radio.
His next stop was in Fairfield where he was interviewed on KRUU’s Generation whY with Andrew Tint and then he met with past supporters and allies in the community.
He concluded the day with a stop in Oskaloosa where he was interviewed by the Osky News.
Friday, January 24th
Narcisse focused on campaign maintenance including hiring two additional staffers bringing his campaign paid staff to five. He also secured the services of Community CPA based in Des Moines to oversee all financial operations and campaign reporting under the direction of Dr. Billy W. Young, his campaign treasurer.
Saturday, January 25th
Narcisse visited supporters in Mahaska and Keokuk counties. He also toured a county bridge that was purported to cost several hundreds of thousands to replace by county officials, but ended up costing less than $25,000 to repair by the owner of the property the bridge is on. The owner paid for the repairs to avoid costly delays by the bridge being removed with no alternatives available. It took him a week to fix it and it is considered one of the best and safest bridges of its kind, in the county. Narcisse received a tour of the bridge from the property owner’s son-in-law.Monday, January 27th
Narcisse had a light schedule Monday visiting Pella, Oskaloosa and Knoxville before returning home for campaign staff meetings.
While on the trip he had interviews at the Pella Chronicle, the Oskaloosa Herald, KBOE 104.9 FM/740 AM in Oskaloosa and the Knoxville Journal Express.
What lesson can we learn from a penny?
