Miller seeks second term on Pottawattamie County board
Pottawattamie County Supervisor Susan Miller says the hardest part of running for re-election has been deciding where to spend her time. Miller, first elected four years ago, is one of five candidates seeking three seats on the Board of Supervisors in the Nov. 3 general election, along with Jeff Jorgensen, Mark Shoemaker, Shawna Anderson and Dennis Gunderson. “Both of them could be full-time jobs, and I kind of lean towards I’m going to do what I was elected for, and I will campaign when I can move the needle,” Miller said. Early in the year, she mapped out the county’s community celebrations on a calendar so she could appear at as many parades and events as possible.
Miller said running as an incumbent is different from her first campaign, when she was largely unknown outside the boards she had served on. During both races she has attended city council meetings across the county to build connections with community leaders. “I’m not in your face, but I’ve got your back,” Miller said of her approach. She said residents often find her when they have a problem, such as a road in need of repair.
Miller said the county and the city of Council Bluffs have different responsibilities but should work together. “I think if you talk to any of us, we’ve got all the same goals, and that’s to grow the population, create more job opportunities and create a better place for our families to live and thrive,” she said. She said water is the place to start when it comes to the infrastructure that growth would require, pointing to regional water lines that carry Missouri River water through Council Bluffs Water Works to Avoca and beyond. Any such connection must be affordable for residents, she said, and decisions should rest with the cities. “We do not want the county dictating to the cities how they move forward and how they decide to grow,” Miller said. She said cities should lead on issues such as aging sewer systems and lagoons, with the county helping to bring the right people together.
Miller said the county’s towns have more in common than not, with each looking for quick improvements while working on larger projects. She pointed to the Avoca Veterans Community Center, which reused an older Main Street building and came in under budget, and to Minden, where a new community center is being built on Main Street after the old one was destroyed by a tornado. “I think there’s a project like that in every community,” she said.
That tornado came during Miller’s second year on the board, when she served as chair. She said the countywide emergency response was among the most memorable parts of her term. Miller recalled that her father was a volunteer firefighter in Macedonia when a tornado struck there in 1977, and she said that while today’s response is more organized, the willingness to help has not changed.
In the campaign’s final days, Miller said she believes many voters have grown tired of election noise, so she is focusing on board work rather than door-knocking. She said the county’s 911 communications upgrade, which began this year, is the most pressing project before the board. “I am a public servant,” Miller said. “If I wasn’t doing this, I would find another way to serve, but this suits me.”
Editor’s note: Miller’s full interview is available on Pottawattamie County Routes on the Loess Hills Media YouTube channel. All five supervisor candidates were invited to interview for the series. Interviews with Shawna Anderson and Mark Shoemaker are also available, and The CB Journal has published stories on both candidates. Jeff Jorgensen and Dennis Gunderson did not respond to the invitation.
