ANNIKA WALL, MANAGING EDITOR
After the results of the Nov. 5 election, the city of Waverly has a new mayor in addition to two new faces on the city council that will take office on Jan. 2, 2020. Adam Hoffman, 39, won the mayoral bid over office incumbent Dean Soash, 1,397 to 1,249. Soash, 82 and a retired electrician, won the 2017 election then over incumbent Chuck Infelt.
“The only thing I have to say is the voters have spoken, and they’ll have to live with the decision for the next two years”
— Dean Soash, Mayor of Waverly
“The only thing I have to say is the voters have spoken, and they’ll have to live with the decision for the next two years,” Soash said in an interview with the Courier. Hoffman has worked in law enforcement as the Tripoli Chief of Police and currently works for Abels Funeral and Cremation Service as a family service counselor.
Hoffman’s main issue as a campaign point was Bremer Avenue decreased from four lanes to three. “I want to say thank you to all of my supporters for their efforts during this campaign,” Hoffman posted on Facebook after the election. “I look forward to representing you as your next mayor of Waverly.”
Incumbent city council members Mike Sherer, 77, and Edith Waldstein, 68, will not be returning for another term following the results of the election. Heather Beaufore, 40, and a registered nurse in the Waterloo Community School District, defeated Sherer, a freelance writer who covered city government, in Ward 4.
Matthew Schneider, 44 and owner of Waverly business Neighborhood Home, bested Waldstein, vice president for enrollment management at Wartburg College, for the at-large city council spot.
“It’s almost like we have two slates – the incumbents, and the other group that is fairly unified in thinking differently,” Sherer told the Courier. In Ward 2, Kris Glaser, 47 and director of finance at Cedar Valley Hospice, garnered 111 more votes than Mike Hangartner, 34, who works at Cambrex in Charles City.
Glasner was the preferred candidate of Dan McKenzie, 60, the Ward 2 incumbent council member who chose not to run. “We will all need to admit that we have a divided community and that is okay,” Schneider posted on Facebook following the victory. “We need to learn to listen, to understand and respect diversity of thought and opinion.”
All terms will begin on Jan. 2, 2020. The mayor position is a two-year term that expires Jan. 1, 2021, while the city council seats are four-year terms that will expire on Jan. 2, 2023.
For more information about Waverly’s city council, go to waverlyia.com.
Knight Wire 
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