John Forbes brings expertise derived from a long career as a pharmacist and the Iowa Legislature to his Polk County Board of Supervisors campaign. But there’s no denying that Forbes’ opponent is the central figure the Democratic primary to represent the southwestern part of the county, so let’s start there.
Matt McCoy is the only incumbent running for the board. That makes him the candidate who has to answer for the intrigue, name-calling and litigation that has gripped county government for years.
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That isn’t completely fair to McCoy. But he bears no small responsibility for how the county has wasted taxpayer resources and squandered public trust. McCoy told the Register that he attributes strife to, in part, his attempts to reject “the old boy system, the old ways, the patronage system” and bring efficiency and modernization to county business. In this telling, retiring supervisors Angela Connolly and Tom Hockensmith, both Democrats, resorted to hysterics and personal attacks to try to preserve a good-old-boys network of sorts.
That idea is supported by the 2025 jury verdict that found Connolly and Hockensmith and former county administrators John Norris personally liable for defaming Jim Nahas, the county’s former human resources chief. “It has been hard for the existing members of the board who have been there for a very long time to deal with change,” McCoy said.
McCoy cannot plausibly claim innocence for all the fighting, though. Other lawsuits not yet resolved accuse McCoy and the county of mistreating employees. If voters choose to oust McCoy in hope of shutting the door firmly on this embarrassing chapter, he might well maintain the view that he was always the adult in the room. And if that was the best gloss on the county soap opera, the editorial board would stand up for McCoy to keep his seat. But the accounts that have emerged about the board’s mudslinging instead put McCoy in the middle of much of it.
“I never envisioned myself ever running against an incumbent Democrat, you know,” Forbes said, “but I had so many people encourage me to do this because of the dysfunction on the board.”
It’s too bad, because McCoy is correct to rattle off a string of thoughtful innovations and other achievements that he’s led or been a part of. A public substance abuse center in Des Moines. A land bank to start making a dent in housing availability. Dozens of water quality installations throughout the county’s farmland and other undeveloped areas. A collaboration with the state on medical-examiner services that’s saving money by avoiding duplication. By that measure in isolation, McCoy ought to return to office.
The question for voters, then, has two parts: Is it more important to seek a fresh and more cooperative start on the board, or to retain an accomplished chairman? And, if “fresh start” wins out, is John Forbes a promising enough candidate to justify that choice?
He is, although it’s a closer judgment than we’d hoped. The editorial board interviewed Forbes and McCoy together, and we were disappointed that Forbes chose to use a large chunk of his time trying to settle a score with McCoy about Forbes’ failed 2024 supervisors campaign. Indeed, there was time during that interview in which the two ping-ponged about past and current grievances. We expect better from those who wish to represent Polk County.
The best idea Forbes put forth during the interview was to repurpose an abandoned city of Des Moines building as a permanent warming and cooling center for the city, a need Forbes said he’s understood better through volunteering to help homeless residents. That work is already in progress, he said.
Whoever wins the primary and takes office — no Republican candidate signed up at the primary stage — should approach the board as a nonpartisan exercise. Barring some huge surprise, Democrats will keep their 3-2 advantage on the board, but the governing coalition in close votes in 2025 and 2026 has been McCoy with Republican Supervisors Jill Altringer and Mark Holm. “I want input from the two Republicans, too,” Forbes said. “The problem right now at the board is, with Matt in charge, he’s basically shut out the two Democrats on the board and going with the other two Republicans. And that’s what’s not sitting well with people when I’m out knocking doors.” We support Forbes because he can drive nonpartisan successes to help all Polk residents, not because we expect, or want, him to start freezing out the Republicans.
When the Board of Supervisors comes back on the ballot in 2028 and 2030, we want the campaign, and our coverage, to be about various ideas to tweak or transform county programs. John Forbes can both take on that task for the next four years and forge a dynamic where disagreements with colleagues can be settled with adult conversations, not in courtrooms.
Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the Register’s editorial board
Why we write election endorsements
The Register’s editorials represent the consensus of our four-person editorial board. The idea is that putting forth a collective opinion on issues that are important to Iowans is valuable for focusing attention on those issues and provoking conversation. Endorsements do not dictate to Iowans how they should vote, or aim to predict the outcome.
Reporters not involved
Because editorials go out in the Register’s name, that can create a reasonable, but mistaken, impression that the board is speaking not just for the editorial board but also for the dozens of reporters, editors, photojournalists and digital producers who create the news report. That’s not how it works. Of the members of the editorial board, only executive editor Rachel Stassen-Berger has any involvement with directing news coverage, and the board’s positions do not influence the decisions Stassen-Berger and other editors and reporters in the newsroom make about what or whom to cover or how.
Who is on the Register editorial board?
The board members along with Stassen-Berger are Richard Doak and Rox Laird, both Register retirees and veteran editorial writers who volunteer their time to our discussions, and myself, Lucas Grundmeier, the opinion editor. I am in the early stages of seeking new volunteer participants for the editorial board, which in the past has included at least five and often several more voices. Email lgrundme@dmreg.com if you’d like to know more.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: For a clean break, John Forbes gets the nod over Matt McCoy | Opinion
Reporting by The Register’s editorial, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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