Jordan Hammer Boone Ward 1 City Council Member

04/27/2026

Recap from Mondays meetings

I heard alot on water and sewer rates. I mentioned this during the meeting. There has been no rate increases. If you have concerns over abnormal water bills . Bring your bill with prior months usage and reach out to public works. I am more then happy to assist in anyway.

We should here back from the FAA soon on water project for Daisy.

Was a change order for work at the water treatment plant for 32,000 for things intially not found. These were structual and needed to be done to prevent more expensive issues down the road.

Changing BDIF incentive funds to allow for roof repairs

Cerfication of final plat for Oak Park. 53 parcels which will all be single family homes.


Arts advisory board will not be disbanded but re constructed . More to come in the future

Changes made to our Hotel/Motel allocations state is cracking down. Intially we had 7,500 allocated with 3,000 to Boone Historical Society,2,500 to 7 oaks, and 2000 to the Boone Community Theater. These things did not meet the guidlines, due to not being city owned property from the way it was explained to me. Resulting.in 7,500 going back into Hotel/Motel fund.

Decided on who to use for the city Website. We went with the cheaper option(20k) vs other option of 60k.

Lastly budget Certfication . I want to first start by saying , I was a no vote on the budget. It was not do to an issue with department heads at all just more of what was spent where and from what funds. If anyone would like any details on what, let me know Ill gladly specify. The money spent in this budget is what sets your levy rate and , there was entirely to much I did not agree with in there to be able to vote yes . This was my first experience with this and I stook to what I said. I see room for improvement . I am okay being the only no in the room and am happy to explain my reasons why.

Prior meeting it was brought up moving the term for Mayor to 4 years instead of 2. City attorney is looking into how to do this and if a special election will need to be held.

This is my summary of things. All City notes are on the City Website.

03/25/2026

Tonights meeting was centered around city wide cleanup .

It was agreed that due to Ragbrai and close proximity of time to city wide clean up we would bump it to the Fall. We also discussed a revamping of what will and will not be accepted. Nothing is offical yet. The progam will be staying but adjustments will be made. Will post as soon as I hear anything else.

Enjoy the beautiful day!

Jordan

03/19/2026

Little late but, summary from Mondays meeting

-Set date for a hearing for both adopting CIP plan and certifying Levy rate

-We have an officer who put in his notice. We will began searching and hiring of one to replace him . We currently have 4 officers on leave for various reasons. Breifly discussed adding a hiring bonus to incentivize obtaining a ready candidate. One out of the academy could take to year.

-Several budget amendments Ondrea discussed and implented.

-Street sweeper repairs were discussed and approved

-Water meter supplier no longer an option . Waylon is looking into alternatives for us and is ahead of the game on this. He will keep council posted.

-City wide clean up has come up . Several options are being entertained, including, pushing date back , removing it all together, restricting items, and a few others. Nothing official yet. This will be discussed in the near future.

-Discussion in regards to the money that was mispent out of Trust and Agency/employee benfits for the Ames Economic Development contract totaling 197,000 dollars. Moving forward it will be applied to the general fund. There was open discussion on the matter. I proposed being how that money was taken from an area it shouldnt have to take that amount and transfer it towards Trust and Agency/Employee Benefits Levy or to the reserves for it to make it right and be done with it. Other council members thought it was best to not transfer the funds and leave it as it is , as if we transfered and repayed that Money it would restrict out ablity to use it as Trust and Agency are a restricted fund . So if they replaced the 197,000 that was taken from it they would only be able to use it for that. Council put forth a motion to leave as it is and do no transfer of the 197,000 back to trust and Agency. Lisa was not present, I was the only no vote. Motion to leave as is and do nothing passed. I was informed we had our City attorney reach out for clarity on the topic. I was shocked when Councilman Angstrom asked who we reached out to and was informed we had not reached out to anyone on it in the meeting, as I was told we had done.

I lastly want to say sometimes mistakes happen. Even in Local goverment. Everyone makes them. When they happen , only thing to do is admit we made one accept accountablity for it make it right and move on . I am very dissappointed in how Mondays meeting went on this particular issue specfically in the area of taking it serious and fixing the mistake. My goal was not to finger point, but just to make it right for the taxpayers in the town, and merely do the right thing. I am not at all discouraged in anyway and, I am extremly proud to have caught this and even more proud to be the only no vote and to Try to make this right. I can hold my head high knowing I didn't play politics, or make this personal and simply did the right thing . I appreciate all the postive encouragement and feedback from this

This summary is mine alone.

All offical City Notes are on the City website

03/16/2026

https://www.boonegov.com/egov/documents/1773428420_97443.pdf

Link to tonights meeting minutes. Setting hearings, City Wide Clean up will be a topic.

03/11/2026

What an investment by these folks into our community! Very proud to have them , and for the large investment in the community.

Parents and Grandparents… we hope you’re ready. The play structure is going up!

03/10/2026

Keeping what I said rolling,

This check donations consist of another donation to Boone Firefighters, and a large donation of tennis balls for girls tennis team.

I am blessed to be able to serve my community. I do not care about the money,accolades, buliding a resume, or myself up .Just honored to be able to serve the people of the town and Ward and lay down on the wire for them if need be , and to be able to take what little I earn and re invest it into our community.

My church is in need of a roof repair so I will be donating to them next go. God Bless you all its an honor to be able to serve and re invest in the community. Appreciate all the support and postive comments from all of you when out at the store , or eating. Truly blessed!

Have a fantastic evening folks!

Jordan

03/06/2026

Small recap from Mondays meeting

- City website will need redone and revamped to be ADA compliant. We will be funding this with LOST . No decision has been made just gathering estimates from different places
-A member of the parks board gave estimated date of parks plan. This could be done in May but no Gurantees just estimate.
-Terry talked about importance of City reps attending the Meeting Monday with Senator Green and Rep Behn . I will be in attendance with a few others .
-Race track had agreed to split difference on firework cost. We already budgeted this out of HOTEL/MOTEL and had additional donations on top .
-Easement was granted for development of the lot at the end of Crestwood Drive
-Ordiance to change parking from 10th street Divison to Harrison

Lastly I am from my prior post posting some photos. I was contacted by a person in my Ward and asked if I could post the budget in regards to Employee benefits being used. I am posting 2 photos per there request to clairfy.

Photo 1- is 2026 budget year and prior years budget vs actuals. Shows the employee benefits being used for Economic Development contract

Photo 2- Response from the department of managment stating that the do not teach it is allowed and is only for public safety. Example- we didnt have a fire department, we could then contract with another city for fire services and use employee benefits to pay them.

Moving forward this will not happen anymore. I am only concerned with making the wrong right with taxpayers and fixing the mistake. Hope this provides clarifcation for people who asked for it. I have nothing to hide and only have interest of taxpayers at heart. I take this serious and hope the mayor and rest of council take it as serious.

Summary and Opinions are mine alone. City notes may be found on the city website.

03/03/2026

I ran on being transparent so I will be transparent.

Going threw this years budgets and prior years budgets I noticed something that raised my eyebrows.We had been using trust and agency levy or employee benefits to pay for for 38,000 dollars of the Ames contract. After asking questions I went to the Department of Management to ask about the use of these funds for this. They confirmed it should not happen and that in sessions about budget they teach this. I reached out to City Admin and City attorney both on the potential misuse and mistax and met with them today. There is no litigation on the matter and the City attorney confirmed this is not good use and that moving forward we should not do this.

I take taxpayer money very serious it appears this is a misuse of funds and that has stemmed throughout the entire contract.

I am not agaisnt the contract, but I am for paying for it in the lawful legal way.

My dissappointment on this is extreme . I have been on council for 2 months and caught this and I share the concern had I not it would have continued.

This appears to be a misuse of funds and this needs to be addressed. I am not sure what happens from here ,but I do know 38,000 dollars additonal was taxed via trust and agency improperly and it was also spent in a manner that it should not have been.

I have been a big proponet of a budget work session for this reason . This is why asking questions and looking into things is IMPORTANT. I will not be supporting the budget until a work session is conducted .

2 months is all it took me. I take my job very serious . This is wrong and we must be more mindful of taxpayer money and how we use it.

Anyone has any questions reach out. These are facts and I am willing to provide receipts. I beleive the taxpayers of this town deserve better then this. We trust those with the money and it is dissappointing to come across this and knowing its gone on for a while. I am thankful I caught it and hopefully stopped it . If anyone gets upset I am sorry but the public needs to be aware of this IS and has happened.

Thanks
Jordan

Opinions and statements are mine alone

02/21/2026

So I have heard alot of talk and chatter behind the bond and it being YES for everyone and few other things so figured I would address this directly.

Yes the vote was all yes myself included.

Ondrea made it abundantly clear this will not effect our levy rate. As well as no further rate increases. Its on the record. This is a short term ordeal that will save money on interest by it being a short term ordeal.

This is needed for Daisy, yes but it also will help with any future developments down the road. It was also needed prior.

Letting a billon dollar investment go down the drain this late in the game over this would be a poor decison in my opinion .

Reserves have been mentioned and we have use some of this for the well . This was also stated in the meeting .

I ran on being skeptical of what we spend on but I also made it clear I support spending if its for water, sewer roads, and if its done in a manner that doesnt make for higher taxes or more fees. If it would have I would have said something and suggested a different avenue.

All this said I understand the concern from citizens and I think its great to have people involved and welcome it in the future. I was a yes because it does NOT increase the levy rate and does NOT increase bills further and provides us with the ablity to develop in the future .

I have been a no, and sometimes the only no on things. I make decisions based off what I think is best for Boone and the people who live here. To me this was a no brainer .

Hopefully this clears thinga up . If you have a question please ask it is easy to get caught up in gossip . I promise I will respond with honesty weather I agree with you or not.

02/17/2026

Evening everyone after tonights meeting before I share my summary I would like to say few things.

1-When the public ask questions it is a great thing to have. Asking questions on how a project will affect taxes is not a bad thing its great . I know some people would prefer people remain quiet but I see it as beneficial.

2- Nobody including myself is in any way against Daisy coming here. Just cause someone shares a concern on how we pay for a project and how it will effect taxes does not mean they are against it at all . Its a just concern they have and rightfully so. Especially with 12 million in reserves(ball park)

3- I have been very polite in my approach to things. I ask questions and I do challenge things . How ever tonight our Public Works Head decided to start making commentary as I mentioned the sewer and water reserves sitting at 12 million dollars and mentioned reason people share concerns over water projects with the flat sewer fee that was being brought up prior to me taking office as well as the 2 %increases each year. To that I simply say I would love the oppurtunity to discuss budgets,statistics numbers revenue/expenditures and otherwise with him at anytime . I just find making commentary to be unnecessary and moving forward I will respond to it on the spot. Why the negativity over mentioning reserves is quite confusing to me.

4- Change is a hard thing for anyone. Now challenging things questioning things is quite a change to what we have been accustomed to down there. There is alot we agree on and alot we dont. That is okay . I am the new kid on the block but make no mistake I do not care if I am the only no vote. I stick with being responsible with tax payer money, at ALL times , and with EVERY dollar spent.

Summary

-Downtown Boone gave a good quarterly report.
-Brenda gave her update on things from Ames EDC

-Ondrea cleared up bond WILL NOT result in any increase to our levy rate.
-issues with sewer lining resulted in a sewer main breaking out by Mchose. We have had issues with this particular spot before from What I understood from Waylon
-Approved out of state travel for 1 firefighter for training(already included in Fire Department budget)
-Approved sending 3 to Washington D.C. (Ondrea,Kyle,Terry). I was a no vote and only person in the room who questioned the need for it . 3800 per person to go .


These are my thoughts and my breif summary alone. Notes can be found on the city website