The Johnson County Board of Supervisors has decided not to explore alternative forms of government.
The board requested that the objective be removed from its strategic plan in an informal 3-2 vote during a review of a draft of the plan on Wednesday, June 24.
The idea suggested the county “cooperate with community efforts to plan for an alternative form of government, including a board-county manager governance structure.”
Currently, like all counties in Iowa, the board of supervisors serves as the county’s executive and oversees departments not led by other constitutional county offices, such as the sheriff, county attorney, county treasurer, county recorder, and county auditor.
Considering more power for the people in Johnson County
The objective would have pushed the board to cooperate with community efforts to pursue a ballot initiative to amend the county charter. The citizen-led initiative would require 10,000 petition signatures before it could be put to a county-wide vote.
Supervisors Jon Green, Mandi Remington, and Lisa Green-Douglass were in clear opposition.
Green-Douglass and Remington said they did not think the concept was necessary because, if citizens obtain the required signatures, the board would be required to cooperate with any voter-approved initiatives.
Green said he would not support the strategic plan if the objective of exploring alternative forms of government remains. He said that the state government has already “disrupted” county government by passing Senate File 75, which requires supervisors to be elected by district.
“It’s a red line for me,” Green said on Wednesday. “I’ve spent months and will spend months campaigning against this boneheaded idea. We already have externally had so much disruption from the state visited upon us by the state government.”
“I think that now is the time for continuity rather than putting this board — this organization — under additional pressure.”
Supervisors V Fixmer-Oraiz and Rod Sullivan both wanted to keep the provision to recognize the community’s desire and to express the board’s willingness to field concerns and ideas.
“This is something that has come from many directions, whether that be internal or external,” Fixmer-Oraiz said. “If it has reached this point, I think it would be a disservice for us to completely strike it.”
The county’s strategic plan will be revised by BerryDunn, a Maine-based consultancy firm that assisted in its creation.
The supervisors will submit their formal approval later this summer.
Liam Halawith covers Johnson County local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. Reach him by email at lhalawith@registermedia.com. Follow him on X at @liam_halawith.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Johnson County drops plan to explore new government structure
Reporting by Liam Halawith, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Liam Halawith, Iowa City Press-Citizen | USA TODAY Network
