City council is a thankless job. It requires diligent study, inordinate patience, active listening skills and a full battery of problem-solving techniques. It also requires ineffable good nature. Very few people have all these things and a desire to serve.

Thankfully, Iowa City has Laura Bergus.

I can wax on about policy positions, but that’s what campaign websites and candidate forums are for. So. Let me tell you about Laura, the human I trust.

I met Laura more than a decade ago when I was working as a mediator, but I have gotten to know her as a community member and, later, a friend. There is much to wonder at where Laura is concerned, but I am consistently awestruck by two things: the time she gives and the care with which she listens.

Laura volunteers and serves on the board of community service organizations, a local government commission, her neighborhood association, and one of the community’s most important and accessible arts nonprofits. Her commitment to providing free legal services earned her recognition from the Iowa Supreme Court.

And when Laura listens, she listens. No doubt this has made her successful as an attorney, but far more important, it has made her a genuinely good human. She has been present when I needed an ear, from one human to another. I am lucky to count Laura as part of my small corner of the world, and I trust that she would offer that same thoughtful care to Iowa City residents.

— Christine Ralston