Ron Welper is a Waterloo transplant from Northeast Iowa and he located in Waterloo in 1970 after a tour of duty in Vietnam with the US Navy. He is married to his wife, Sharon, and they have two children. He was a barber stylist in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area until 1986. When he retired from barbering he worked at Curbmaster to organize and set up the parts department which included shipping and receiving. Ron has been into the home improvement business for the last fifteen years. In the early 90's he became a community activist and took it upon himself to take a year off from work and took care of street gangs, graffiti, and organized the neighborhood around him. From the success of his neighborhood association he was elected to public office in 2001. At that time there were three or four neighborhood associations and now there are over 30 neighborhood associations. He was encouraged by citizens to stay in public office and was re-elected in 2005. Ron has always taken his role as elected official very seriously and is dedicated to the economic development and quality of life here in Waterloo and he believes that public safety is number one.