Real-life lessons

Every time you hear about a new brew pub gaining popularity somewhere in Iowa, you can thank three longtime Creston High School teachers.

While teaching history in Creston, Randy Hughes served two terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1983 through 1987.

One afternoon, he and colleague Jim Lippold were invited to fellow CHS teacher John Rose’s house. Rose was an avid home beer brewer.

Brew pub idea

While he wasn’t a beer drinker, Hughes was intrigued by an idea offered by Rose and the Creston Democrat took it back to the Iowa Statehouse for consideration by fellow lawmakers.

“Jim and I would brew our own beer,” Rose said. “There were no brew pubs allowed in Iowa at that time, but we talked about the idea of home brewing becoming a business opportunity in the state. Randy introduced a bill to legalize brew pubs in Iowa. It eventually passed and that’s how brew pubs came about.”

Hughes said his name was on the original brew pub bill, but it did not reach the governor’s desk until after he left the Iowa Legislature.

“John was so passionate about what he was doing in home brewing,” Hughes said. “He said more people should be able to do it. I introduced it, but it didn’t go anywhere during my time. But, the Democratic staff liked the idea. They kept introducing it until it was passed.”

Hughes said he entered politics at a pivotal time for state services, including education. Two years of public service leave was included in the local teachers’ contracts, so he took off the second semester for each of the four years he served in the Iowa House, which equated to two years.

“I taught the first semester and went to session in the second semester,” Hughes said. “President Reagan had just introduced his new Federalism type of idea, which I thought was a good idea. It was that the states assume more responsibility, so we’re going to reduce federal taxes. So, the state’s going to have more freedom to raise their taxes and use the funding in a more timely, direct and appropriate fashion. Then Iowa started cutting its taxes like the federal government did, so this wasn’t going to work. I felt education was going to take the biggest blow. It was almost a self-defense candidacy.”

Unique bill history

Hughes said he had a couple of unique experiences as a legislator, just as Terry Branstad was beginning his career as Iowa governor as successor to Robert D. Ray.

“I was floor manager for the first bill that Governor Branstad vetoed,” Hughes said. “It was a certification system for teachers, much like medicine and the law. You’d have to pass the boards to become a teacher, not just get the credit from the college. We didn’t have the votes to override the veto.

“I was also the floor manager for the only bill that got passed and repealed in the same session,” he said, smiling. “The bill allowed utility companies to use alternative energy investments as operating expenses and pass them on to the consumer, which meant rates might go up. But it was designed as the beginning of wind energy and expanded solar energy in the state. However, the Iowa Commerce Commission designs utility bills and they started labeling the pilot project in Des Moines as ‘this expense is because of House Bill 405.’ So, every customer got a bill with an extra charge on it, and the legislators in Des Moines started hearing from their constituents. They got the bill repealed, and of course the oil people and coal people were happy that happened. I said wind energy was delayed 20 years in Iowa by that.”

Local successes

But, there were also success stories for his home district.

Hughes’ faculty office at Southwestern Community College is within a few hundred yards of two beneficiaries of legislation that occurred during his public service.

“The dormitories here came out of an amendment that allowed colleges to build those directly, instead of having to go through housing foundations,” Hughes said. “At the time we had the Southwestern Housing Foundation. And, (Southern Prairie) YMCA got a big donation from the hospital when they were raising money to get it built, but we had to get an amendment to a bill to allow that. So, I’m a stone’s throw away from a couple of really important things that happened.”

That wasn’t the end of Hughes’ involvement in local politics, however. He also served a term and a half on the Creston Community Schools Board of Directors after retiring from Creston High School in 2006. He resigned from that post in 2010. At the time, he said he saw it as a chance to give back to the community that educated his children.

He said he had one regret from that period. Principal Todd Wolverton had proposed a required senior project for graduation. Hughes supported the concept, which failed to gain majority board approval.

“Todd Wolverton was very much ahead of the curve among administrators,” Hughes said. “Having a major research project under their belt, oh yeah I was in favor. Research, oral presentation and answering questions about it. Those are the crucial skills successful college students have. But it got squelched. Too much work for the kids.”

Bill Taylor, Southwestern vice president of instruction, said Hughes’ public service experiences provided added value in the classroom.

“He has knowledge from his background in the state legislature,” Taylor said. “That adds a lot of credibility to his instruction in those areas.”

“I learned that the day to day operations of state government sometimes don’t reflect what the textbook tells you,” Hughes said. “I am a better history teacher because of that, and when we get into government activities I have that knowledge and experience with me.”