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ONLINE TUESDAY 1.09.2018 No. 75 Vol 216
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‘Thoughtful and thorough’
Former mayor Ann Campbell reflects on 40 years in politics BY K.RAMBO @iowastatedaily.com
Ann Campbell sat behind a large, reflective wooden desk in the Ames City Hall on Dec. 29, the same office she had sat in since Jan. 3, 2006, when she was first inaugurated as mayor. Campbell knew this would be one of the last times she was on that side of the desk.
Campbell left an empty office in City Hall on that frigid evening, with temperatures reaching several degrees below zero. Just down the hall from the mayor’s office is the City Council Chambers where Campbell served as a member for 16 years. As Campbell left, her political career of over 40 years came to an end, at least for now. Campbell said residents of Ames shouldn’t expect her to disappear. She joined the League of Women Voters of Ames and Story County in 1975, holding several
leadership positions throughout the years. Campbell was integral to fostering conversation between local law enforcement, schools and organizations that work with youth as the Juvenile Justice Chair. Campbell had a tremendous impact in the formation of one of the most well-known institutions in Ames, CyRide. Campbell was the first chairperson of what is now the Ames Transit Advisory Board where she was tasked with bringing stakeholders together to find a solution for public transit in a growing university town that lacked a key resource. While Campbell had engaged in some research on public transit for the League of Women Voters, she did not feel she was particularly educated on the topic. Nevertheless, she was tasked with a massive responsibility. “I wasn’t smart enough to be nervous,” Campbell said.
It was during her time on the Ames Transit Advisory Board in early 1981 where she met Bob Bourne, a transit consultant. “She was the person who got everyone together to talk about how a transit agency would look compared to a city department,” Bourne said. Bourne, who has known Campbell for more than 35 years, echoed what many in Ames have felt to be Campbell’s greatest strength: communication. More specifically, the ability to get others to communicate. “In the first couple years there, it was a very tenuous relationship between the city, the university and the students, because no one really knew what they were getting into,” Bourne said. “I think her key attribute was that she was able to get people to talk through whatever the issues were and then come to a consensus as to what was best for CyRide.” Bourne remembered that “conflicts were constant,” in questions of which groups should be paying for CyRide, and in some cases still exist, but said that Campbell displayed a tremendous ability to quell conflicts for the benefit of CyRide. He described Campbell as the “key element.” “She had a wonderful ability — or still has the ability — to get people to see the big picture and then how they fit into the big picture,” Bourne said. Bourne said he has been consistently impressed with Campbell’s ability to keep her energy level after so many years, when others may begin to
CAMPBELL
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K RAMBO/ IOWA STATE DAILY Ann Campbell served as the mayor of Ames for 12 years. Campbell was replaced by John Haila.
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