On April 21st, Mayor of Ames, John Haila, visited the Iowa State University Campus where he was invited by the Communication Studies and Leadership Studies programs. Haila, a previous Iowa State Alumni (1972-1976), hosted a town hall explaining his journey into becoming the mayor of Ames, what it means to be a leader, and answered many questions from students. While he did not set out to be mayor, he had found himself in many integral leadership roles, running his own architecture and engineering firm, serving in the Ames Chamber of Commerce, and even serving in the transit board. Haila was passionate about Ames and helping the community, so after selling his firm he was approached to run for may in 2016. While at first, he did not see himself in this role, his peers had explained that the mayor role would fit him better than just being a city council member.

One of the points Haila had told students was that to be a great leader, you must be a good listener. Not only that, but Haila also explained that being a leader can come with conflict between people. However, Haila discussed that two people can be very passionate and advocated for something that are completely opposites of each other, yet they can still have a deep respect for one another. With this, the council of Ames is non-partisan, where no political parties are not considered. Haila criticizes that having political parties integrated can lead to a lot of baggage. Instead, he wants the purpose of each member of the board to passionate about Ames regardless of their political party.

Many questions that Haila was asked focused on his goals for being mayor and his commitment to being more engaged with the students on campus. His biggest focus is wanting to get direction from the community. He wants to hear and understand what the community is wanting and to have a strategic plan in accomplishing in what the community wants. With a focus on students, Haila is finding ways to create festivals downtown for different groups in the Ames community. Haila wants to incorporate all students and communities to feel welcome in Ames. One of the festivals he had discussed that is already occurring is the art festival that is held every September. With a focus on students, Haila is wanting to specifically figure out ways to communicate with each other and to hear and get ideas from students who want to make an impact in the community. While already, Haila meets with President Wendy Wintersteen to go over any projects that directly involve the ISU campus, Haila also meets with the ISU student government to get an insight to the student perspective.

Mayor Haila, who was once a student at ISU, focuses his role as a leader to help his community. He respects individual’s ideas, backgrounds, and voices to make Ames a welcoming community. While at times there can be many critiques he can face, he always has an open ear to hear what people have to say.