County’s Westfall won’t seek reelection

By Phil Cobb | February 18, 2016 |

Robert Westfall

The Nodaway County Commission will have at least one new face next year following the Nov. 8 general election.

North District Commissioner Robert Westfall said Wednesday he will not seek a fourth term on the three-member governing panel.

“I don’t want to commit myself for another four years,” said Westfall, a retired BP Pipelines welding supervisor who cited a desire to spend more time with his family.

First elected in 2004, Westfall has represented the North District during the administrations of four presiding commissioners, Lester Keith, Joe Baumli, Robert Schieber, and Bill Walker, who is now approaching the midpoint of his first term in office.

In nearly a dozen years of public service, Westfall, a Maryville Republican, has taken part in a number of major initiatives, including construction of the Nodaway County Administration Center, completed in 2009, and an extensive exterior renovation to the Nodaway County Courthouse that included replication and replacement of the 1882 structure’s signature cupola.

Also during his tenure on the commission, Westfall has played leadership roles in construction of the courthouse square streetscape and ongoing efforts to secure Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for the repair of bridges and other transportation infrastructure damaged by heavy rains and flash flooding over the past two years.

In addition, Westfall supported a half-cent sales tax, approved by voters in 2014, that last year brought in about $1 million earmarked for fresh gravel on rural roads maintained by the county’s 15 townships.

Westfall’s withdrawal from the race means there will be no incumbent for the North District commission seat in the Aug. 2 primary election. Potential candidates from all parties have until March 29 to file with the Nodaway County clerk’s office for a spot on the ballot.

Primary winners from each party will face off in the general election this fall.

The South District commission spot is also open this year, and incumbent Robert Stiens said Wednesday he intends to seek a fourth full term.

Stiens, a Ravenwood Democrat, was appointed to the commission to fill the final 10 months of an unexpired term before winning the seat in his own right in the same election that brought Westfall to office.