Des Moines, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds will soon decide whether county supervisors in the three counties where Iowa’s public universities are located are elected to represent districts or the entire county. A bill to forbid at-large county supervisor elections in Black Hawk, Johnson, and Story Counties has cleared the House and Senate with Republican support. Senator Dawn Driscoll of Williamsburg says it’s about giving a voice to rural residents who feel ignored.
Senator Kara Warme of Ames says she enjoys having students in the community, but the population is far different in July when students are gone.
Democrats voted against the bill. Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames says permanent residents already have a disproportionate advantage because turnout among students is significantly lower.
Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner of Iowa City says the bill is an attack on local control in three of Iowa’s 99 counties.
Representative Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says Pottawattamie, Scott and Woodbury Counties have similar populations to the three counties addressed in the bill.
Representative Brett Barker, a Republican from Nevada, says when he was campaigning last year, the number one complaint wasn’t about property taxes — it was about the county board of supervisors.
Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says rural voices are drowned out in Johnson County — home of the University of Iowa.
The bill also forbids county supervisors from filling vacancies and requires special elections when a member of the board of supervisors in Black Hawk, Johnson, and Story Counties resigns or dies in office. In a 2023 special election in Iowa’s 10th largest county — Pottawattamie County, 64 percent of voters rejected plans to have county supervisors elected by districts, preserving the system of at-large elections for Pottawattamie County Supervisors.
KIWA Staff Photo
