Des Monies City Councilman Joe Gatto will run again for his Ward 4 seat this fall, he announced at a kickoff event last week. Gatto first joined the council in 2014, winning a special election for the seat. He won his first full four-year term in 2015, running unopposed. He'll face at least one challenger — ToyA Johnson, a former libertarian candidate for the Iowa House. 

In a news release, he said "visionary city leadership" is needed to combat special interests at the state and federal levels. He said the city needs to be a place high school graduates want to come back to. He repeated his desire to improve the condition of city streets and pledged to make sure "the best first-responders in the country” have enough funding.