By Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register
Rob Barron was sworn into city office ahead of the first meeting of the year, making him the first Latino representative to serve on the Des Moines City Council.
Dozens of people gathered at Des Moines City Hall council chambers Monday, Jan. 12 as Barron repeated the swearing-in oath read by his father, Xavier Barron, who ran for City Council nearly 50 years before. Also beside Barron were his wife and two children.
Ahead of the first vote to reappoint multiple positions, including the city manager, attorney and clerk, Barron told constituents that he ran for office to improve the city and said its leaders and staff should advocate for its residents.
“I do believe that this city works well for some but not for everybody,” Barron said. “I’ll be here in a year casting this vote again, and how well we’re serving people from every neighborhood — men and women in labor, people who are advocating for alternate routes to travel other than a car, and you know, people who grew up in places other than the United States — these are the things that are important to me.
“I want a city that’s more caring, dynamic, and inclusive, and I want our government to reflect that, as well,” he continued, as claps broke out from the crowd.
Barron, 46, was elected in November to represent the city’s northwest neighborhoods, beating out opponents CeCe Ibson and Dudley Muhammad. Barron takes the seat of former Ward 1 representative, Chris Coleman, who was elected in a 2023 special election after council member Indira Sheumaker resigned. Coleman announced last summer he would not run for reelection.
Ward 1 covers Des Moines neighborhoods including Beaverdale, Merle Hay, River Bend and a majority of Drake.
Also sworn in Monday evening were council members Mike Simonson and Josh Mandelbaum. Incumbent Simonson fended off challenger Endi Montalvo-Martinez in November for one of the two at-large council seats. Unlike the ward seats, the at-large positions oversee the entire city, and any Des Moines resident can vote in the election.
Incumbent Mandelbaum, who ran uncontested, reclaimed his Ward 3 seat to represent the city’s southwest neighborhoods, as well as the downtown and East Village.
Barron, the executive director of an education nonprofit, Seed Coalition, and founder of the Latino Political Network, ran to restore a vision on the City Council in a city that has been “running in place for too long” and losing families to the suburbs, he previously stated in the Des Moines Register’s candidate questionnaire. He wants to make Des Moines the “best place in the world to raise a family,” he told the Register’s editorial board in October.
Provided by Rob X. Barron/Todd Bailey
He said his council priorities include strengthening the city’s child care system, advocating for more affordable housing, supporting public transit infrastructure and addressing food deserts in Ward 1.
Barron also sat on the Des Moines Public School Board from 2013 to 2021, serving as chair and vice chair. During his campaign for the Ward 1 seat, Barron highlighted the ways the City Council can fill gaps schools can’t, particularly in the area of child care, which he said is both a family and an economic issue.
Barron said children have access to public education when they turn 5, but child care opportunities for younger children are not guaranteed. The city should consider filling in that need by, for example, providing property tax abatement for new child care facilities with the condition that the facilities serve only families in Des Moines and maintain affordable rates, he said. Addressing the problem could put Des Moines at a competitive advantage over suburbs, as well as surrounding Midwest communities.
Barron earned his bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College. He grew up in Des Moines and lives in the Beaverdale neighborhood with his family.
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