February 19, 2015 One of the perks of this job is some of the extraordinary people that I get to work with on a daily basis. These dedicated folks are what drive me on a daily basis to spend time away from my home and family and come to Des Moines to take my small part in the decision making process that support these dedicated public servants. As chairman of the Justice Systems Budget Sub-committee in the House I have the unique opportunity to work side by side with the individuals who oversee our courts system, our public safety department, our corrections systems and the Iowa National Guard. John Baldwin recently retired as Director of the Department of Corrections. John dedicated nearly all of his working life to the corrections system in the state of Iowa. He started as a counselor at the Oakdale facility shortly after graduating from college. He has held various positions within DOC throughout the years and was appointed as Director during the Vilsack administration and held the position until his retirement in January. In that time the Iowa corrections system has become one of the most respected, efficient and well run systems in the country. Iowa is second only to North Dakota in the cost per capita to run our corrections system and is in the top 5 nationwide for the lowest rate of recidivism. After 42 years of service to the state of Iowa his knowledge and experience will be deeply missed. Larry Noble is another long time public servant who recently retired, ostensibly for the third time. After spending his working life as an Iowa Highway Patrolman, Larry retired from the Highway Patrol but his public service career was not over. He won an election for State Senator from Ankeny and began his service in the Legislature where I first met him. He was assigned to the Justice Budget Committee where I came to know him for his common sense, hard work and dedication to the state. Unfortunately his stay in the Senate was short as the Governor tabbed him to be the Commissioner of Public Safety. As Commissioner he was responsible for the Highway Patrol, the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Crime Lab, and the Fire Marshall’s office. After several years of as head of DPS Larry decided it was time to retire for the second time. This retirement lasted barely a year when the Governor again asked Larry to come out of retirement to head the DPS. Over the last three years Commissioner Noble and I worked side by side to bring the Highway Patrol back from the lowest manpower level in 40 years. That process is still a work in process, but due to Larry’s hard work and dedication the morale and manpower in the Highway Patrol are on the upswing. Commissioner Noble retired from service to our state for the third time in January. Major General Tim Orr has commanded the Iowa National Guard for the last six years and served in the Guard since 1979. General Orr has overseen some of the largest deployments the Iowa Guard has ever undertaken and is now working to transition the Guard away from a wartime footing. His dedication to his men and women in uniform in their mission of national defense and emergency response for the citizens of Iowa is beyond compare. While maintaining deployments in combat zones around the world, he has had the foresight to begin to position the Iowa Guard for a future of reduced manpower levels and active duty assignments. His vision will insure that the state will always be able to count on the
Guard in times of disaster and our country can count on Iowa in times of need. My heartfelt thanks go out to the General and all of our fellow Iowans who serve our country and our state. These are only three examples of some of the outstanding people who have dedicated their lives to public service. I consider myself lucky to have worked with and served with public servants of this caliber. While “government employees” sometimes get a bad rap, there are far more like these three examples who have devoted their life’s work to making Iowa a better place to live.
Please join me at my upcoming legislative forums: February 21
March 21
Kings Pointe Regatta Grill
Kings Pointe Regatta Grill
10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
