Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher and Riverdale Mayor Anthony Heddlesten are two of the Quad Cities mayors where the 2026 Iowa League of Cities annual conference was held. Two different mayors but two similar views.

For Mayor Gallagher, running for mayor was a natural progression in his community service, for Mayor Heddlesten, being in public service, he recently discovered was a goal he set for himself at 16 years old. Oh, listen to how important chicken wings are to Mayor Gallagher.

IowaLeague.org
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Good Government Institute

Executive Producers: Katie Wheeler, Brad Cavanagh, David Martin, David Snyder, Jim Ludlow
Hosts: Brad Cavanagh, David Martin
Producers: David Martin, Jason Stershic
Editor: Jason Stershic

Steve Richardson, mayor of Indianola, is the new president of the Iowa League of Cities. He discusses the differences in Iowa's cities and talks about how they interact with each other. And he talks about how each makes Iowa, well, Iowa.

He added that his experience serving in the Iowa state legislature will help him as he leads Iowa's cities this year. And Mayors Brad Cavanaugh and Richardson talk about the relationships you build through the League.

IowaLeague.org
Iowa League of Cities on Facebook
Iowa League of Cities on YouTube
Iowa League of Cities on LinkedIn

Good Government Institute

Executive Producers: Katie Wheeler, Brad Cavanagh, David Martin, David Snyder, Jim Ludlow
Hosts: Brad Cavanagh, David Martin
Producers: David Martin, Jason Stershic
Editor: Jason Stershic

For the past year Christina Eicher has been focused on Iowa's small cities. As outgoing president of the Iowa League of Cities, representing smaller cities has been her focus. She leaves after a year with a better understanding of smaller cities and says she provided a voice for those cities among Iowa's bigger cities.

Listen to how she managed being League president while also serving as a city clerk and a city councilwoman.

IowaLeague.org
Iowa League of Cities on Facebook
Iowa League of Cities on YouTube
Iowa League of Cities on LinkedIn

Executive Producers: Katie Wheeler, Brad Cavanagh, David Martin, David Snyder, Jim Ludlow
Hosts: Brad Cavanagh, David Martin
Producers: David Martin, Jason Stershic
Editor: Jason Stershic