Committee members present: County Auditor Tom Slockett, County Recorder Kim Painter, and County Treasurer Tom Kriz. Also present: Recording Secretary John Deeth.

Convened at 9:45 a.m.

All motions carried by a unanimous vote unless otherwise noted.

Slockett said they don't have a formal organization. He said County Recorder Kim Painter would be asking the questions.

Painter told Smalley he could begin his opening statement. Supervisor candidate Myron Smalley thanked the Committee for accommodating him. He first provided some background information. Smalley said he is a married, 42 year-old farmer with 3 daughters. While not having any direct political involvement, he said he has followed Johnson County affairs, especially through his Farm Bureau Board work for the past 20 years. Smalley stated that his background gives him knowledge on how to work with boards and committees effectively.

Painter asked what were County Government's strengths and weaknesses and how Smalley would enhance the strengths and address the weaknesses. Smalley said he believes one of Johnson County's greatest strengths are its people who work well together and communicate with the Boards and other departments to better the County. Smalley also stated that the only weakness he could see is that in the past, previous Boards did not predict Johnson County's future growth and some space needs have resulted. Smalley stated he would enhance the county's strengths by wisely using budget funds and effective communication. As for strengthening weaknesses, Smalley stated he would try to effectively foresee the county's future needs. He used current government work with its Comprehensive Land Use Plan as an example of foresight to overcome some of Johnson County's weaknesses.

Painter asked if Smalley was in favor of restructuring County Government and/or hiring a County manager. Smalley answered that he was not in favor of restructuring County Government. He said he had spoken with residents of other counties who had 3 Supervisors instead of 5. Only one Supervisor at a time can perform duties outside the office such as inspecting roads, due to the rules governing meetings when there are only 3 Supervisors. Smalley also stated that there was so much diversity in Johnson County that a 5 person Board is needed to adequately represent all interests. As for hiring a County manager, Smalley said these officials work well in some places but that he personally felt he did not want someone in charge without direct responsibility to voters.

Painter asked if Smalley felt that the County has additional space needs and if it did how he would address them. Smalley said the County absolutely had space needs. He cited SEATS and DHS as portions of County Government with space needs. Smalley said there were always ways to utilize space better in the short term. He said the County needs to look at different ways to address the space needs.

Painter asked how Smalley would go about selecting from a pool of applicants to serve on various boards and commissions. Smalley said he would first look for the diversity already existing on the various boards. He said he would screen the applicants to maintain a mix so all areas of the county are represented on its commissions. He also stated that people involved in government should look at their own circle of acquaintances to possibly find good people who simply needed a nudge to become involved in County government.

Painter asked what Smalley's long range vision was for Johnson County. Smalley replied that Johnson County was growing and that forward thinking was needed to provide the services needed for the rapidly changing and growing taxpayers of the county.

Painter asked what criteria Smalley would you use in making land use decisions and on what basis would he make decisions concerning road improvements, maintenance, construction and roadside weed eradication. Smalley said one of the biggest criteria was the Comprehensive Land Use Plan which was just adopted. Additionally, he stated that a sensitive and critical areas ordinance needed to be incorporated as a serious guide for decisions on a case by case basis. Smalley also stated that safety was the most important criteria for road improvements, maintenance and construction, followed by examining changing traffic patterns and spending money where it is best needed to serve the public. Smalley said weeds in ditches should be tempered but there are financial constraints. Smalley mentioned the methods used by Russ Bennett to reduce roadway weeds which were effective, but that some weed eradication such as brush removal can become a serious safety factor.

Painter asked what Smalley thought the County's role should be in protecting the environment. Smalley replied that Supervisors should look at every project to ensure that there is a minimal environmental effect created. He said there are alternatives to every situation where the County can minimize the impact to the environment and mentioned construction specifically as an area where this can be done.

Painter asked Smalley to describe his approach to balancing economic and business interests with interests in the health and well-being of citizens and also environmental concerns. Smalley stated that he had no concrete or specific guidelines, but each project needs to be analyzed to predict its impact on specific people and the community as a whole. Smalley said business was definitely needed in Johnson County as well as industry of all types in order for the County to maintain its position and growth but this needs to be tempered by its impact on the community.

Painter asked Smalley what his opinion was of the Johnson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Smalley said he was involved in the early development of this plan but had to stop his participation later on due to conflicts. He said the plan was a good document and a firm foundation for the Supervisors and Planning and Zoning to face the future with a firm plan of what the County wants and needs. Smalley said the plan should not be treated as a bible and things still needed to be done on a case by case basis. He also stated that a Critical Areas Plan was needed to be used in conjunction with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan in order to have a complete guide.

Painter asked what Smalley knew about, and what his opinion was regarding the impact and incidence of Johnson County taxes. Smalley asked the interviewer to clarify the question. Tom Slockett replied that when Supervisors set taxes it is an important responsibility and Supervisors needs to be aware how taxes affect individuals in the county. Slockett continued by saying how taxes affect people in different ways, such as income taxes hit those with higher incomes, sales taxes affect those who spend a great deal and property taxes affects more people such as renters and home owners. Slockett asked Smalley how taxes affect people in Johnson County in term of fairness. Smalley said taxes were involuntary and one of the 2 absolutes in life. Smalley spoke of how much of farmer's operating expenses was taxes and how even incremental changes in taxes affects farmers more than others but farmer's income potential is greater than other's. Smalley said there were alternative ways of raising County funds that need to be evaluated such as charging for some services.

Painter asked Smalley how he weighed requests for spending which require tax dollars versus increasing taxes. Smalley said there must be cost/benefit addendum that needs to be evaluated on each individual basis. He stated that spending tax dollars for services which are available elsewhere or affect a very small portion of the community have to be looked at closely. Smalley said that spending requests which affect the whole county in general warrant more consideration.

Painter asked Smalley what, if anything, should be done about the nature of County tax options. Smalley stated that innovative ideas must be researched such as charging for services and other means to minimize the property tax implications for Johnson County. He said options such as the local option sales tax need to be addressed. Smalley suggested that rate structures for different classes of homes be looked at and used the low tax base of low income housing as an example.

Painter asked if Smalley was in favor of implementing a local option sales tax and if he did for what use? Smalley said he was personally not in favor of it but from the County's perspective the potential funds cannot be ignored and needs to be pursued, assuming Iowa City and Coralville pass it. Smalley stated that for potential use of these funds, they need to be spent in a manner which is noticeable to residents. He said that the local option sales tax was too open ended to set specific projects on it, and he cited the jail was voted down in Washington County as an example. Smalley said these funds needed to go to property tax relief and Secondary roads to people could see where their dollar went. Smalley suggested a close ended bond issue as a better solution to the county's space needs.

Painter asked if Smalley had any experience putting budgets together and how he felt about performance based budgeting. Smalley said he has developed a budget and cash flow for his farm for the past 20 years which ranged up to approximately $150,000 with a 2-3% margin. He also stated that he has developed budgets as a member of the Farm Bureau for 20 years based on fixed income of approximately $70,000-80,000 from dues. Smalley said he worked with the New Horizon FS Cooperative Board which had a $35,000,000 annual sales budget. Smalley stated that these experiences have provided him with a strong feel for budgeting along with his working knowledge of county budgeting from watching it closely. Smalley said he did not have enough information to fully form an opinion on performance based budgeting, but that he saw some strengths in this type of budgeting since it held department heads accountable for their requested budgets. Smalley also felt that applying quantitative measures to qualitative factors can be unfair, citing attempts to use performance based budgeting on teachers as almost impossible. Smalley said that performance based education didn't seem to work.

Painter asked Smalley if he was appointed and an election was called would he seek his party's nomination. Smalley said he would. Painter asked if he would run for re-election if appointed. Smalley replied that he would run for re-election if appointed. Painter also asked Smalley if he was not appointed would he petition or would run as the nominee in an election that was petitioned for? Smalley said he had enough faith in the Committee and that the Committee had put in enough work to chose a proper replacement for the seat of Joseph Bolkcom. Smalley said he had no plans at that time to petition for a special election, but if an election was petitioned for and he felt he had something to bring to the County that was not represented by the candidates then he would be prepared to run.

Painter asked if Smalley had any questions for the Board Appointment Committee. Smalley asked if the Board was committed to maintaining a representation on the Board which covered rural interests. Slockett replied that he personally felt farming was an integral part of our community and that he wanted someone who would represent farm interests. Painter agreed with Slockett and that someone with a rural background serving on the Board could bring a great deal of expertise to many concerns that are brought before the Board. County Treasurer Tom Kriz said that balance on the Board is an important part of the community and that he agreed with Slockett's and Painter's previous statement. Slockett said that talk in the past of Supervisor districts has been resolved due to the fair hearing the Board has provided for farmers. Slockett went on to say he thought there has not been a Supervisor who has not been concerned with farmers and listened to them very seriously and that the same was true with the present Board members. Kriz said that the farming situation has now become a rural situation which makes it an issue that everyone wants to address. Smalley said he misspoke when he said farmers, that there are indeed many residents of rural areas who are not involved in farms. Kriz agreed and added that rural residents all faced the same issues whether they were farmer or businessman. Slockett talked of the special needs of farmers with the present economic situation and how the Board of Supervisors provides the major governmental function for rural residents. Painter said that the 4 currently sitting Supervisors are all residents outside of the Iowa City City limits.

Smalley then asked the Board if they had any questions about his statements which could be clarified. Slockett said he was not confused or felt unclear about what Smalley had said. Painter had a question regarding taxes and budget issues, and inquired about potential service charges. Smalley said he didn't have a strong handle on that. He said he knew of some prisons which charged prisoners, but he felt he needed more information to discuss it in detail. He said he knew there were probably some services that the County could probably charge a fee. Painter said that service charges were an option which could be explored and Smalley agreed. Slockett asked about Smalley's view concerning the local option tax. Slockett interpreted Smalley's position as not being in favor of it but that the Board should still be prepared in case the local option tax is passed by Iowa City and Coralville. Smalley replied that his personal opinion was that he did not want another tax but from the County's perspective it should be pursued as a revenue source of approximately $11,000,000. Slockett asked if he meant advocating when he said pursuing and Smalley said that was what he meant. Smalley agreed with Slockett's statement that if Smalley was on the Board he would be an advocate for the passage of sales tax, but only if the funds go to property tax relief and secondary road improvements. Smalley said there were ways to use the funds for projects other than direct property tax relief, citing Iowa County's efforts. Slockett stated he liked Smalley's suggestion of service charges for only those who use those services, but also said he felt things like parks should remain free.

Smalley, in closing, stated that he wanted this position to improve himself and that all candidates would agree. He said he could bring a lot to Johnson County to better it, which is why he is applying. Smalley said his acquaintances within the county gives him a handle of the county's needs and that he understands what Iowa City is, what it's about, and the integral part Iowa City plays in Johnson County's budget. He said he felt he could blend Iowa City's and Johnson County's needs together in an effective manner. Smalley said that he would tell the Board what he believes on every position and has no agenda as a Supervisor except to provide good County government. He closed by stating that he can effectively lead the county as a Supervisor.

Slockett said he was pleased with how the Committee process was working. Kriz said they have a marvelous batch of candidates. Slockett said they are lucky with the caliber of people they have to select from.

Motion by Kriz, second by Slockett, to adjourn.

Adjourned at 10:28 p.m.