Stories

The club will not meet on Monday, December 22 nor on Monday, December 29th. We will see you on Monday, January 5th.

May your Christmas be filled with love, joy, and peace as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. May 2025 be filled with blessings and memories to cherish for years to come. 

Department of Administrative Services—Mark Campbell

Did you know there are over 30 agencies in state government, specializing in services to Iowans such as natural resources, public health, public safety, economic development, the arts, education, agriculture, human services, revenue, transportation, veterans’ services and more? 

The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) manages four business areas: Human Resources, General Services, Central Procurement, and State Accounting. All of the services provided by DAS have been placed into three categories: utility services, marketplace services and leadership services. 

Fort Dodge’s own Mark Campbell was appointed to lead the DAS. He was appointed to the position by Governor Kim Reynolds, who wanted to have a person in place to take a business approach. How can government consolidate and save money, thereby saving taxpayer dollars? 

Mark shared his work so far as the DAS Director. In his first week he worked to consolidate two research centers into one, creating efficiencies. His second week, Honey Creek needed to be repossessed. The search is on to find a new operator. 

Since Mark was on the Board of Supervisors for 12 years, he mentioned possibilities for streamlining government. He gave examples that went to the DOGE committee, which could lower property taxes. Some DOGE-committee recommendations would require a change to Iowa Code, others would not.  

This is a one-year appointment for Mark Campbell. He’ll spend four days per week in Des Moines and work one day remotely. 

Campbell was on the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, which put him on the State’s radar for being the DAS Director. He suggests applying to the Iowa Talent Bank, if a person wants to become involved with State government. 

Rotarian Fierke appeared on the cover of the Tuesday “Messenger” as the council mme in the initial budget development session for the next fiscal year.

Rotary Rush Is Back!

From December 1, 2025 through February 28, 2026, Rotary District 5970 is pleased to again offer the “Rotary Rush” promotion for the Rotary Foundation. 

For the months of December 2025, January 2026, and February 2026 only, using Rotary Foundation Recognition Points generously donated by district Rotarians, the district will match your $100 to $500 cash contribution to the Annual Fund-SHARE on a 1-to-1 basis for any active Rotarian in District 5970 who is not yet a Paul Harris Fellow +8. A $100 minimum cash gift is required by The Rotary Foundation to begin this match process, with a maximum of $500 per Rotarian.

 Of note is this:

• Matching will occur for donations to The Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund, not the PolioPlus fund.
• Matches are limited to one per donor and will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The match may end early if the match pool is exhausted prior to February 28, 2026.
• Match requests received before December 1, 2025 or after 5pm on February 28, 2026 will not be accepted. 

If you are interested in this limited-time matching campaign, you will need to fill out Rotary Form 123-EN, which is available on the Foundation tab on the District's website. Your check (payable to “The Rotary Foundation”) and the form must be sent to David Manning, 227 Lake Avenue, Storm Lake, IA 50588. 

Reach out to Bill Kent if you have questions (bill.kent.fd@gmail.com).

Ringing Bells by Red Kettles

Six Rotarians braved the cold weather on Saturday in order to ring bells for the Salvation Army at Hy-Vee's north entrance. $1,445 was raised during those hours! Thanks to Dr. Jim Knight for leading the effort to schedule bell-ringers.

Congratulations, Rotary, for helping to make Christmas a little brighter for families in need. 

Thoughts from Mayor Elect Dave Flattery

Today, Mayor Elect Dave Flattery shared his ambitious vision and (unendorsed) ideas. 

Ambitious vision! Council, Fierke, GA, Supervisors, Law Enforcement…none have endorsed it. It is his alone. Mayor Elect Flattery is interested in seeing considerable and significant improvements to the downtown district. 

On the cusp of retiring from his banking career, he will have the time to devote to making the City of Fort Dodge a better place to live, work, and play. We wish him well, as he works with the City Council to improve the greater Fort Dodge area.

At the annual Rotary Christmas Event last week, a free will donation was organized with the proceeds going to the “Lord's Cupboard,” a primary Fort Dodge area food bank.  The Club provided a check for $700 to the Cupboard.  Well done Rotarians as the holiday meals are always a special concern for families in need.  

Mary Kay has also added photos of the event to the Home Page - On the left-hand column find Club Photo Albums.  Then click on the Christmas 2025 file.

The annual conference for District 5970 will be held on May 1st and 2nd at the campus of Ellsworth College in Iowa Falls.  This is your chance to attend a meeting of Rotarians across Northcentral and Northeastern Iowa discussing what projects they are doing, and to have discussions with peers across the State.  The close location to our club is a real benefit for cost containment.