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Cedar Rapids City Council member Ashley Vanorny elected Iowa League of Cities president-elect
She is likely to eventually lead League’s executive board
Marissa Payne
Oct. 12, 2022 6:00 am
Ashley Vanorny, who represents District 5 covering much of Cedar Rapids’ southwest quadrant on the City Council, has been tapped to serve as president-elect of the executive board of the Iowa League of Cities.
Vanorny, a full-time worker in health care administration, was elected Sept. 28 during the organization’s annual business meeting, held in conjunction with the annual conference and exhibit in Waterloo, according to a news release. The nonprofit provides advocacy, training and guidance to Iowa's communities.
The president-elect is typically elected president the following year. Vanorny, 37, steps into this role as the first woman to serve from Cedar Rapids, the first woman to serve in 12 years and one of the youngest ever to serve on the board.
She also has been selected as one of 16 leaders from across the U.S. to join the NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders), a selective national network of progressive state and local elected officials with honorary co-chairs U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, U.S. Rep. of Washington, D.C., Marilyn Strickland and Columbia, S.C., Mayor Steve Benjamin.
Vanorny was elected to the nine-member City Council in 2017, when she became the second-youngest person to represent Iowa’s second-largest city. She currently serves on the council’s Development Committee and Public Safety and Youth Services Committee.
Additionally, she serves on the Safe, Equitable, and Thriving Grant Committee, Area Ambulance board of directors and is a Corridor Municipal Policy Organization member.
She has served on the League’s Education Committee since 2019. Vanorny will now also serve in her president-elect position on the Policy Committee. For the National League of Cities, she serves on the Community and Economic Development Committee and the Race, Equity, and Leadership Council.
Vanorny said in a statement the Iowa League of Cities has prepared her “immensely to serve my fellow citizens with well-developed programs like the Municipal Leadership Academy and Certified Elected Municipal Officials program.
“I am so honored to work alongside dedicated city officials throughout Iowa to best serve our Iowans at the most intimate level of government,” Vanorny said. “What you see on the board is a nonpartisan coming together of officials from cities of all sizes, fighting alongside one another for the best Iowa possible. It refuels my optimism for what Iowa can be every time I get to convene with my municipal colleagues.”
Vanorny said she looks forward to serving in this new role with Board President John Haila, the Ames mayor.
The League’s executive board is responsible for adopting policies to guide the League, adopting the annual operating budget, establishing membership fees and providing strategic direction.
The executive panel consists of 14 board director positions and five officer positions: president, president‐elect and three past presidents. All roles must be filled by current city officials who represent cities of various populations and geographic locations.
The Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference will be hosted in Cedar Rapids next fall.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com