Stirtz seeks Harrison County supervisor seat
By Don Harrold, Executive Editor
don.harrold@enterprisepub.com
Michele Stirtz says she has no agenda in her run for the Harrison County Board of Supervisors. “I just want to make sure that Harrison County can grow and prosper,” she said. “Grow and prosper for my kids and my grandkids in the future.”
Stirtz, a Republican, is running for an at-large seat on the board. She said she will take part in a candidate forum Wednesday, Oct. 21. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Stirtz said she has attended the board’s meetings for two years. “I keep saying I don’t have an agenda. I didn’t get on to have an agenda,” she said. “I really enjoy being around people … I just enjoy it just because it’s more businesslike.”
She worked in higher education administration and left that job about seven years ago, she said. Since then, she has worked in food and concessions and substitutes at the school. “I like a challenge, and so any time that I see that where I can help, I want to help out,” Stirtz said. “I just think that I can make a difference. I think that I can help. I’m very outgoing. I’m a very people person.”
Stirtz is a Missouri Valley graduate. “I’ve been a resident of Missouri Valley. I went to school in Missouri Valley. I graduated from Missouri Valley,” she said. She and her husband have been married 44 years and now live outside Missouri Valley. They have two sons and three grandchildren, and she helps care for the grandchildren. Stirtz said she and her husband have both left their jobs. “I’m not really sure we say retired, but we are retired,” she said.
This is her second campaign for the board. Stirtz said she went to her first caucus in 2024 and became a delegate, and she disagreed with how the supervisor nomination was decided after that year’s June primary. “I didn’t think it was fair,” she said. “Again, I understand, it’s the rules, it’s the law, but I just thought that it took away the voice of the people in Harrison County.” She said that is when she began attending supervisor and council meetings. She entered the November 2024 race as an independent in August and did not win. “I was only in there maybe 90 days, and I didn’t think I did too bad for being in there for 90 days,” she said.
Stirtz said she once voted as a Democrat. “I was working, and I think I just really listened to the radio and listened to what was on the news, and I didn’t really pay much attention,” she said. During the pandemic she was home, had lost her jobs and was looking for information when she found Rush Limbaugh’s show. “After that, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, all these things that I’ve thought, I don’t think are right,’” she said. “And so since then, I’ve now listened to a lot of news … not mainstream media … And I align with Republicans.”
On what she would like to see improve, Stirtz pointed to communication. “I think it’s communication,” she said. “I just wish that more people could attend.” She said she first favored moving meetings to evenings but now sees that as harder, since courthouse staff need to be available during the day. “Maybe every now and then,” she said. “But with that, I think that there needs to be a way to communicate to the others what’s happening … I still do think that they need to be televised, recorded, whatever, somehow.”
Stirtz described the board’s role as working weekly “to ensure that the departments are functioning as they should, staying in budget,” handling zoning and funding requests, and setting ordinances. Her goals are to “ensure this county stays within budget, to have an open and honest communication, ensure that the infrastructure such as roads, bridges are maintained and continue to be maintained.” She called herself a stickler for following policies, procedures and laws, a habit she said comes from her working years. “It might not be something that I might want or don’t like, but … it’s the rules,” she said. “Now, can the rules be changed? Yes.” As a director, she said, her role was to make rules and talk with others “to make an informed decision and so that if something does need to be changed, it can be changed.”
On land use, Stirtz favors filling existing buildings before new construction. “For me, I want to keep as much farm ground as we can. If we have existing buildings, I think that we should try and use some of our existing buildings first to help our downtowns, to help our business districts, and help those grow,” she said. “And same with housing, can we utilize some of the empty spaces.” She also wants to look “for opportunities for economic growth … within our community for our tax base.”
Stirtz said she announced her candidacy around March and has yard signs and T-shirts. She said she isn’t sure how her chances look this time. “It’ll be stressful. It’ll be times that I won’t want to be there,” she said. “Of course, I may lose some friends … I hope to make the right decision that will help the Harrison County residents.”
She said there are hot topics in the county right now. “I just want to be able to listen … do my research, make a determination how would be the best way to go forward,” Stirtz said. “The one thing that I’d like to say is to make common sense decisions that are in the best interest of the residents.”
