Table of Contents

Albert Doden
Jo Lavera Jones
Bud Louis
Tom Carsner
Charles Major
Carol Thompson
Vic Edwards
Cathy Fitzmaurice

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

Convened at 8:02 a.m.

County Treasurer Tom Kriz called the meeting to order. He pointed out that the applicant had received a copy of the questions beforehand. Kriz said in this interview he would ask the questions and the applicant could respond. Kriz said Supervisor applicant Albert Doden was welcome to look at notes.

Supervisor applicant Albert Doden began his opening statement by stating that he was a native Iowan who grew up in north-central Iowa. Doden said he graduated from Buffalo Center High School in 1973 and graduated from the University of Iowa in 1978 where he received his BS in general science. He returned to farming with his brother and father for 3 years. Doden said he returned to Iowa City in 1982 as a research assistant at the U of I and the V.A. Medical Center where he worked for 16 years except for a 2 year period he spend at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Doden said at that time Houston, Texas was the largest city in the United States that did not have any zoning regulations. He said it was phenomenal how organized a city could be without any regulations. Doden said he and his wife bought their first home in Iowa City in 1983 and built a new home in Turkey Creek sub-division in 1984 which is between Iowa City and Solon. He stated that he bought a farm 8 years ago near Kent County park and has since subdivided and rezoned 2 one lot subdivisions off of that farm. Doden said he still owns 135 acres at that location. Doden said he also owns the 175 acre farm in north-central Iowa where he grew up and which his brother farms. Doden stated that he brought up his background to demonstrate his ties to farming and farming issues and to demonstrate his employment at the 2 largest employers in Iowa City (The V.A. Medical Center and the U of I). Doden said this was a unique combination of experience and background.

Kriz asked Doden what the County Government's strengths and weaknesses were and how Doden would enhance the strengths and address the weaknesses. Doden replied that the County's organizational infrastructure was one of its most obvious strengths and that the public perceived the County Government as swift and efficient. He felt little need for any organizational change. Doden also mentioned the public's influence over the Board of Supervisors since its members are elected as a strength. He stated that a final strength of the County government was the diversity of the Board members which led to healthy discussion at Board meetings which was important for Johnson County since it is undergoing rapid changes. As for weaknesses, Doden cited the lack of a well defined long-term growth plan which was widely accepted and endorsed. Doden also mentioned the failure of the County to anticipate future needs such as space needs and road improvements. Doden stated how these problems should be addressed by developing a plan with public input that is based on facts of reason.

Kriz asked Doden if he was in favor of restructuring County Government and/or hiring a County manager. Doden replied that he would not be in favor of hiring a County manager since the Board of Supervisors was an elected body. He felt that a single individual, unelected and unchanging official would not represent the will of a growing and changing Johnson County. Doden said a County manager might be appropriate for a County which is not experiencing growth and had to deal primarily with business rather than policy decisions. He added that an independent audit of the Johnson County government might be a useful instrument.

Kriz asked Doden if he felt the County had additional space needs and if so how would he address them. Doden answered by saying that looking at the offices of the County Administration Building that one could see there were space needs. He mentioned how Johnson County is continuously growing along with its government. Doden said he would address this issue by building or purchasing existing properties but said he was unsure of what opportunities existed to take this action.

Kriz asked Doden how he would go about selecting from a pool of applicants to serve on various boards and commissions. Doden replied that he would look at qualifications and discern how knowledgeable the candidate was. He said another option might be accepting nominations for board and commission members from the public, saying there was a very large untapped resource of people who would gladly serve if asked or nominated by their peers. Doden added that any person who served on the Board should be required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.

Kriz asked Doden what his long range vision for Johnson County was. Doden replied that his long range vision incorporated 2 major issues which he felt faced the county in the future: improving secondary roads and addressing the land use policy. He stated he would improve the hard surface secondary road system by adding shoulders, center lines and asphalt top coating rather than the current oil and crushed rock method. Doden also endorsed a less restrictive land use policy which would lead to more rural housing and added that countywide building codes and environmental protection provisions are also needed.

Kriz asked Doden what criteria he would use in making land use decisions. Kriz also asked how he would base decisions concerning road improvements, maintenance, construction and roadside weed eradication. Doden dealt with the land use question first, saying environmental impact, compatibility with long term road improvements and road building, compatibility with existing and anticipated zoning regulations and impact on adjacent and nearby property owners were all criteria he would take into account. He added that these criteria protected the rights of the property owners to use their property without undo regulation, as well as protecting Johnson County's environment which belonged to everyone. As for road improvements and maintenance, Doden said traffic counts, when done regularly, help to defend the use patterns of roads. Doden cited the poor condition of many Johnson County roads such as lack of shoulders and center lines, uneven surfaces and loose gravel on road edges. He also mentioned safety, saying most secondary hard surface roads in the County have no posted speed limits which dictates a 55 mile per hour speed limit by state law which Doden felt was too fast for many roads. Doden felt the County has 2 options to treat roadside weed eradication: mowing and spraying. He said the conditions in ditches made them impossible to mow, and spraying had an environmental impact so spot spraying was a better alternative than total coverage spraying. Doden mentioned native grasses as a third, alternative method but warned that the height of native grasses could present a safety hazard.

Kriz asked Doden what he thought the County's role should be in protecting the environment. Doden said the County should take every reasonable measure to protect the environment which included educating the public on environmental issues. He talked of low environmental impact consumerism which entailed retailers smelling smaller volumes of insecticides and herbicides and getting customers not to purchase single use seasonal items such as wading pools which inevitably go to the landfill. Doden also said the County should actively regulate rural septic systems and assist in hazardous waste collection and disposal.

Kriz asked Doden to describe his approach to balancing economic and business interests with interests in the health and well-being of citizens, and environmental concerns. Doden answered by saying that the health and well-being and environmental issues should come first. He continued by saying economic and business interests may yield short term monetary benefits yet may cause long term environmental or health costs which outweigh these benefits. Doden talked of Iowa City and Johnson County's history of discouraging industry which might have a potential negative environmental impact and felt that this action should be continued.

Kriz asked what Doden's opinion was of the Johnson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Doden said that one of the purposes of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan was to preserve farmland in Johnson County, and to limit the rezoning of agricultural land for residential use. He said the written plan which was adopted establishes guidelines for rezoning requests. Doden said some of the guidelines were whether the land is currently zoned or agricultural, whether the land was likely to erode and its corn suitability rating. Doden said the application of these guidelines by the Supervisors has been and will continue to be very subjective, making the zoning process appear unfair to some. He stated that preservation of farmland should not be a criteria for land use decisions since it inaccurately assumes that too much farmland is being used residentially and that we are running out of land to grow food on. Doden stated that in Iowa four fifths of ag land lost is taken by city expansion or converted to uses other than residential. Doden cited that only one-fifth of lost agricultural land in rural areas was converted to residential use. Doden stated that this rate of loss was about .014% per year and it would take 70 years to lose one percent of ag land to rural residential use. Doden said that the Conservation Reserve Program has taken about 10% of the tillable farmland out of production. He said that despite this, American farmers harvested their second largest crop ever in 1998, yields are continually increasing and genetically engineered crops promise even greater yields. He said that we are not running out of farmland and he is opposed to the Comprehensive Land Use Policy of Johnson County.

Kriz asked what Doden knew about, and what his opinion was regarding the impact and incidence of Johnson County taxes. Doden asked for clarification of the question. Slockett said the idea of the question was that tax levying was confiscating people's income. He said the assumption of the question was that it's important to know what the impact is on the people whose money's the County is taking. Slockett said the fact is it isn't distributed equally and evenly throughout people's incomes. Slockett continued by asking Doden to address how taxes impact on County citizens in different ways. Doden said taxes were accepted by the people since services were provided from taxes. He stated that the millage rate was assessed at the same rate so there was fairness in that. Lastly, Doden said the County Assessor made every effort to be as consistent and fair as possible.

Kriz asked how Doden weighed requests for spending which required tax dollars versus increasing taxes. Doden replied by saying he was generally opposed to tax increases of any kind since most taxes were regressive, meaning the rate of taxation was the same for persons of all income levels. He continued by saying that tax increases were particularly difficult for those in the lowest income brackets. Doden also said requests for essential spending should be funded whenever possible by improvements in efficiencies and/or cuts in other spending after carefully weighing the value of each program. He stated his belief that most budgets had a small buffer, and that it was not unreasonable to expect continued levels of performance to a small, temporary, across the Board budget cut should cuts become necessary.

Kriz asked Doden what, if anything, should be done about the nature of County tax options. Doden asked if County tax options specifically meant the Local Option Sales Tax. Slockett said that the question meant the common meaning of County tax options, and that Doden had mentioned the two options the County currently has. Doden said he was unfamiliar with what other options the County had for taxes and passed on the question saying it was out of his area.

Kris asked Doden if he was in favor of implementing a local option sales tax and if so, for what use. Doden replied that he was generally opposed to the tax saying that the tax was regressive and taxed the lowest income brackets the greatest amount. He stated that new taxes may never be repealed once they are imposed. However, Doden did say that a large portion of the money spent in Johnson County comes from non-residents which makes the tax more appealing. Doden continued by saying he was pleased that the Board intends to earmark a good portion of the tax towards road improvement. Doden added that he would support a local option sales tax if it included a sunset clause which would repeal the tax within 5-7 years and if a portion of the funds generated from the tax was earmarked for road improvement.

Kriz asked if Doden had any experience putting budgets together and how he felt about performance based budgeting. Doden answered by saying his budgeting experience was limited to his personal finances but that he had some experience when he worked as the chief technician at the V.A. Medical Center where he created the budget for his lab for a brief time. Doden said performance based budgeting would subject all sectors of the County government to a complex performance evaluation. He stated that he was concerned that the evaluation process might be too complex and subjective and performance evaluations of widely differing tasks of County employees would be difficult to compare. Doden closed by saying performance based budgeting does not appear to be an effective budgeting tool.

Kriz asked Doden if he was appointed and an election was called, would he then seek his party's nomination. Doden replied that he probably would not. Kriz asked Doden if he would run for reelection if he was appointed. Doden said maybe. Kriz asked Doden if he was not appointed would he petition or would he run as the nominee in an election that was petitioned for. Doden said he probably would not.

Kriz asked if Doden had any questions for the Board Appointment Committee. Doden asked for the position's salary and the time commitment involved. Kriz answered that the Supervisor's position would expire in 2000. Slockett was unsure of the salary but said he would inquire and find the exact amount. County Recorder Kim Painter said the salary ranged from $32,000-$33,000. Kriz said that the time commitment was enormous which included many meetings. Slockett verified the pay as being about $32,000. Slockett said the time commitment depends on the individual because there was no statutory time commitment. Slockett continued by saying some Supervisors spent most of their time in the office working on county government issues but some recent Supervisors were focused on community involvement and attended meetings constantly. Slockett cautioned that his answer was subjective but surmised that most Supervisors worked over 40 hours a week. Reverend Bob Welsh said that most Supervisors spent between 50-60 hours a week at work. Painter added that the Supervisors dealt with a wonderful set of complicated, broad and wonderful issues that motivates Supervisors to get out and learn as much about the issues as possible, which she felt was some justification for the great number of meetings Supervisors have.

Doden reiterated his position on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. He said he was really concerned that the Board of Supervisors may be headed down the wrong path. He said the policy to preserve farmland had sprung from a lofty ideal to save people from starvation, and that this was not based upon fact or reason. Doden continued by saying the residents and farmers of Johnson County don't widely support the plan. He said farmers wish to retain the rights to use or sale their land for any reasonable cause including residential use and many farmers plan to sell portions of their land for their retirement. Doden urged that the Board appoint a Supervisor who knew the plan was not in the best interest of the residents of Johnson County.

Doden thanked the Committee for being interviewed. Slockett said this has been very interesting and he would enjoy all 12 interviews. Painter said that Doden was well informed and articulate and had given the Committee good information.

Slockett asked Doden if was appointed on what date could he begin working. Doden answered that he was unemployed and could begin immediately.

Slockett asked where Doden thought he would be within 5 or 10 years and what his long term interests were. Doden answered he would be willing to serve the remainder of Joe Bolkcom's term and he would consider running for re-election if appointed but was unsure if he could meet the financial commitment of running for re-election. Doden added that his family considers Iowa City their home and they have no intention of moving away in the long term.

Recessed at 8:44 a.m.; reconvened at 8:50 a.m.

Slockett called the meeting to order and started a discussion concerning the appropriateness of follow-up questions. Slockett stated that it was important to know when a job candidate can start work and how long they intend to serve as Supervisor. He expressed some dissatisfaction that an applicant answered maybe to the question of how long they intended to serve. Slockett felt that these 2 questions should be asked of the rest of the candidates. Kriz and Slockett agreed to get a more definitive answer to the time commitment question if the applicant replies ambiguously.

Slockett said in this interview he would be asking the questions. Slockett asked the Supervisor Applicant, Jo Lavera Jones, to provide references by the next day at noon. Supervisor applicant Jo Lavera Jones agreed.

Jones first thanked the committee for allowing her to be interviewed. She went on to say she was asked by a friend last fall to consider applying for the Supervisor position if a special election was not called. Jones said she gave serious consideration to that request and when the Press Citizen ran an editorial after the election commending the decision to go to an application process instead of an election she decided to apply. Jones said she and her family had greatly benefited from living in the community the past 30 years, that her experiences, administrative and management skills, and her training might be of use to the community and that she thought she could give back to the community by serving as Supervisor.

Slockett asked Jones what County Government's strengths and weaknesses were and how she would enhance the strengths and address the weaknesses. Jones replied by saying that one of the County Government's strengths was the people, meaning the staff, elected officials, non-elected officials and the department heads and the other main strength was its decentralization. She said the stability and continuity present in the personnel of the County Government, was both a strength. However, Jones said, that could be seen as a weakness as well. She said when you have people in positions over along period of time so much of the position is in their head, when they leave, that goes away with them. She said when someone new comes in they are found either trying to reinvent the wheel or they may be met with resistance because they're bringing in something new. Jones said with decentralization, anyone who ahs ever been a manager or department head, has to enjoy the freedom of autonomy within the context of a framework or within certain perimeters. She said the downside of that was there was difficulties with communication going up and across because one could sometimes become too autonomous. Jones said another weakness she might see was the realm of information technology. She said with the explosion they are seeing in technology, the County isn't on the cutting edge. She questioned whether that was where the County wanted to be but with the 21st century the County was going to have to be able to deal with the electronic and technological activities out there. Jones said that she would address the strengths with her people and communication skills. She said in that regard she could help. Jones said as far as technology she is as lost as many people are but she could bring a recognition that it is essential and a willingness to encourage that kind of change and that kind of movement.

Slockett asked if Jones was in favor of restructuring County Government and/or hiring a County manager. Jones prefaced her comment by saying it's easy for an interviewee to have many opinions since they were usually based on imperfect knowledge. Thompson said that in Branstad's last speech to the legislators he asked them to be open to change, and implied that Iowan's are resistant to change. She answered by saying that it is natural to fear change since it is the unknown, but one must always be open to change to discern if a new direction is a better direction. Jones continued by saying she would be in favor of consolidating the Recorder's Office if it brings 1 million dollars in savings in five years (as it has been estimated) and the office maintains its efficiency. She said a County manager may be necessary in the future since the concept of County government will become very complex. However, Jones went on to say that before she hired a County manager she would need to verify the information she based her judgment on is accurate, and that County stakeholders/citizens voices have been heard.

Slockett asked Jones if she felt the County had additional space needs and if so how she would address them. Jones replied by saying she had read in the newspaper there was a need for storage space, work space, jail space and Health Department space. She said new buildings, expanding buildings and inter-governmental cooperation where duties could be shared are options which could be explored to solve this problem. Jones continued by talking of cubicles rather than offices, working out of the home, the possibilities of e-mail, faxes, phones as being a possible solution without relying upon more bricks and mortar.

Slockett asked Jones how she would go about selecting from a pool of applicants to serve on various boards and commissions. Jones answered by saying she would look for geographical balance since Johnson County had urban and rural interest. She said she would look at the particular board or commission and look for skill specific knowledge (i.e. medical or engineering) to provide balance but without discounting candidates who might not have skill knowledge but have common sense and can assist with decision making.

Slockett asked Jones what her long range vision for Johnson County was. She answered by first addressing immediate long range, around 3-5 years. Jones said she would like Johnson County to have planned land use with a balance between urban and rural use of land. She continued by saying she would want the County to have the capacity to meet the growing human services needs, and a flourishing downtown Iowa City. Jones continued that she would love to see in 3 to 5 years no vacant buildings, as well as a robust economy.

Slockett asked Jones what criteria she would use in making land use decisions and on what basis she would make her decisions concerning road improvements, maintenance, construction and roadside weed eradication. Jones answered by saying she had only read portions about the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, but said the plan seemed more of a set of guidelines rather than a rigid set of rules which she would use as a starting point to make her land use decisions. Jones went on to say she would consult with the people closest to the issues, the economic side and health and safety factors. She said with a strategic plan one knows what their sense of priorities are and how to approach the various issues that have economic impact.

Slockett asked Jones what the County's role should be in protecting the environment. Jones replied she believes all the institutions of government must have a leadership role in protecting the environment because without that who will. Jones said Jones said that the if government takes a leadership role they can do much to protect the environment, the health and well being of the citizens is taken into consideration and you can leave to the next generations a place that everybody would be willing to live in.

Slockett asked Jones to describe her approach to balancing economic and business interests with interests in the health and well-being of citizens, and environmental concerns. Jones said she did not look at those things as being inconsistent. Jones said she would go from a cost benefit analysis. She said she asks herself 3 questions when making a decision which include what she wants to do, what will it cost and what she is willing to pay. Jones said based on how she comes up with answers to that, that determines what her answers will be. Jones concluded by saying that she would not pay a price that is so high it works against the health and well-being of citizens.

Slockett asked Jones what her opinion was of the Johnson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Jones replied that it was a good start. She said it's always helpful to look at issues and try to come up with a consensus that the stakeholders have bought into and try to work from there. She said if they all agree on how they're going to do things then they will agree with the process and the end result.

Slockett asked Jones what she know about, and what her opinion was regarding the impact and incidence of Johnson County taxes. Jones answered by saying property tax makes up more that half of the budget. She said she also knew that the 5 year state law was expiring and there would be a feeling towards raising taxes and she wouldn't agree with that. Jones said that high property taxes has an impact in terms of bringing in businesses. She said they have to pay at 100% so that poses a problem. Jones said she suspects that high property taxes has an impact on housing stock because if she was a property owner and was renting out her property she would rent it at a price where she could make a profit, she said this means that affordable housing becomes less a possibility. Jones said that some express the view that taxes are regressive. Jones said with all of that though that is how services are paid for.

Slockett asked Jones how she weighs requests for spending which require tax dollars versus increasing taxes. Jones asked for some clarification of the question. Slockett asked her to respond to the notion of one raising taxes for a service or not having a service so taxes remain the same. Jones responded by saying a mission statement or strategic plan or a set of priorities is needed in order to function. She continued by saying if a service is not central to one's mission, it is not unreasonable to not provide that service. Jones said if the service is central to what a mission set out to do, then it is their responsibility to raise taxes. Jones said if they do that, it must be explained to the stakeholders what and why something is going to happen and ensure they lend their support.

Slockett asked Jones what, if anything, should be done about the nature of County tax options. Jones asked for clarification. Slockett said what are the options for increasing revenue through taxes, what are the existing and what are the potential ones. Jones replied that she was not informed enough about the subject to answer.

Slockett asked Jones if she was in favor of implementing a local option sales tax and if so for what use. Jones said based on what she knows at this point, she is in favor of the local option sales tax. Jones said some say if you look at the local option sales tax as a revenue generating source, you could use that revenue from the tax to undertake county wide projects which would in turn generate more revenue, akin to an investment. She concluded by saying she has no specifics on how she would use this revenue.

Slockett asked Jones if she had any experience putting budgets together and how she felt about performance based budgeting. Jones stated she has experience putting budgets together and she oversees $1,500,000. She said some of that is fixed and determined by other people. She said she personally budgets approximately $500,000 to 600,000 a year. She said she wasn't clear with performance based budgeting but she has experience with incremental budgeting. Jones said she would need to study performance based budgeting before she formed an opinion. She stated that if it were similar to responsibility center budgeting, they look at performance measures and strategic planning assessments and then they look at efficiency of operation when determining the budget. Slockett said she wasn't completely uninformed either.

Slockett asked if Jones was appointed would she seek her party's nomination if an election was called, if she would run for reelection if appointed, and if she were not appointed, if she would petition or run as the nominee in an election that was petitioned for. Jones responded that she would not run for election. She stated if she were appointed and there were no election, she would not run for re-election. She said if she were not appointed she would not petition or run as a nominee in an election that was petitioned for. Slockett said she would be a great candidate and asked why not. Jones stated she admired people who ran in elections but it was just not her personality. Slockett said it was disheartening to hear that someone of her qualities and caliber felt that way but he understood. Jones said maybe when she was older. Slockett said old had changed in definition quite a bit for him. Slockett clarified that she would complete the 2 year term and would not seek reelection. Jones said that would be the best contribution she could make. She said she would love to save the County money but she would only stay for one term. She said she might consider it after she retired.

Slockett asked if Jones had any questions for the Board. Jones asked if their expectation was that whoever took this position did not have another job. Slockett said it wouldn't be his expectation because depending on the individual's qualifications he would consider someone with another job, depending on the job and its time constraints. He said he thinks the current Board members average 50 to 60 hours per week. Painter said they are designated as 3/4 time positions but the Board members put in full time hours. She said she would be uncomfortable with someone undertaking another full time job. Kriz said it is a heavy schedule but it depends on how the person can shift the other job around. He said there are many informal and formal meetings that need to be attended but it's possible if the other job has great flexibility. Slockett said in the past a number of farmers have served on the Board along with insurance salesmen, real estate brokers and someone with a vending service. Slockett said it's so interesting and compelling that a lot of Supervisors spend a lot more time than they imagined. Kriz said they could spend as much or as little time as they wanted but it becomes contagious. Painter said the more independent the other job is, the more successful the combination will be. Jones said the minutes implied it was expected that they give up their current job. Slockett said the voters were used to Supervisors spending full time on the Board. Jones asked if the Committee needed written references or just names. Slockett said she could look at the web site to see what other applicants had provided but they had no particular requirements. Jones said she would call them with names but she didn't think she could have anything in writing by tomorrow.

Jones thanked the Committee for the opportunity. She said it had been a real educational process for her. She said her father always says any experience is a good experience if you learn something from it. She stated she had complete confidence that they would make a decision that is best for the County. Jones said she would respect any decision that they would come to. Slockett said she provided an excellent interview. He said he hoped she would reconsider being a candidate in the future. Kriz thanked Jones and said it was an education process for them too.

Recessed at 9:29 a.m.; reconvened at 9:45 a.m.

Painter thanked Supervisor applicant Norwood "Bud" Louis for applying and informed him that she would be asking the questions in this interview.

Louis stated he had run before and lost to Mahoney to show that he has been interested in serving the County. He said he had plenty of time to offer the Board because he was only working on a Rotary project. Louis said he has always been interested in government. He said his father was a City Councilman and his great grandfather was the Town Marshall in 1850 and made the Put up your Hogs sign. He said his family has been interested in government for a long time.

Painter asked what are County government's strengths and weakness, how he would enhance the strengths and address the weaknesses. Louis said he thought about this question for a long time. Louis said there are 42 different services in the County and they are all strengths. He said the only weakness was that he wasn't on the Board of Supervisors. Painter asked if he would like to address how he would enhance the strengths. Louis said those things would come up later with the second question.

Painter asked if he was in favor of restructuring County Government and/or hiring a County manager. Louis said this was something that could go both ways. Louis said you lose control sometimes with a manager and it's sometimes better to have the people deal directly with the Supervisors. He stated some of the City and County Managers are very intelligent and bring a lot with them. He said it isn't time to restructure the government yet.

Painter asked if he felt the County had additional space needs and if so, how would he address them. Louis stated there was more space needed for all the services and the jail, which he considered very important. Louis asked if they were going to get someone to appraise the jail situation. Slockett said it would ultimately be up to the Supervisors to decide whether to put it up for a bond issue. Louis said he hoped they got the jail taken care of.

Painter asked how he would go about selecting from a pool of applicants to serve on various boards and commissions. Louis said he would conduct interviews and check their background.

Painter asked what Louis's long range vision was for Johnson County. Louis said he would like to continue the same path. He explained they had done a great job on property rights. He said they need to protect loam soil. He said he wanted to suggest Iowa's new slogan be Iowa Feeds the World. He said Iowa has 25% of the Grade A loam soil. He said they need to protect personal property rights but also protect the soil. He said they also need to take care of water quality.

Painter asked what criteria he would use in making land use decisions. She asked on what basis he would make decisions concerning road improvements, maintenance, construction and roadside weed eradication. Louis said he's against using pesticides because sometimes they do more damage than good. He said he would like to improve some Level B roads especially for emergency vehicles.

Painter asked what he thought the County's role should be in protecting the environment. Louis said they didn't have the problem here of smelly hogs, but, he continued, they needed to protect the Iowa River and keep it clean. He said they need to make sure they don't put anything in it that shouldn't go in it.

Painter asked Louis to describe his approach to balancing economic and business interests in the health and well-being of citizens, and environmental concerns. Louis stated he didn't understand the question entirely. He said budgeting, collection and disbursement of taxes and maintenance of services were all in the interests of citizens. He said he didn't know of an approach to balance those. He said there's a question of whether they want more factories like Proctor and Gamble or more farm related businesses. Painter explained they wanted to know his ideas on development and increasing growth in the county. Louis stated the nice thing about being 73 years old is the ability to look back at how things were. He said it's amazing how much the cities have grown and yet the county seems smaller. He said maybe they should consider having only one government.

Painter asked Louis what his opinion of the Johnson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan was. Louis inquired about obtaining a copy of the Comprehensive Land-Use Plan stating that he did not know enough about it. Slockett said a copy could be obtained from the Board of Supervisors Office. He said that he would have the plan read cover to cover the day after he is put in office.

Painter asked Louis what he knew about, and what his opinion was regarding the impact and incidence of Johnson County taxes? Louis said he thought people were getting their money's worth, noting that the County provides more human services than any other county he knew of. He mentioned that Governor Branstad, in his farewell speech, opined that taxes were too high in Iowa; Louis stated that he thought taxes didn't need to be raised at present. He said that a person's rights cannot be denied when it comes to decisions about what to do with their land.

Painter asked how Louis would weigh requests for spending which require tax dollars versus increasing taxes? Louis said that is a delicate balance. He maintained that now is not the time to increase taxes, that maybe sticking to a budget to cover the requests for spending. He said he would do everything he could before raising taxes.

Painter asked, what, if anything, should be done about the nature of County tax options? Louis asked the panel for their help in explaining what other options there were other than taxes obtained from property. Slockett said a property and sales tax are the only current options as well as appealing and supporting state legislation that replaces taxes, for example recent funding by the State of millions of dollars of human services. He said there were other options that other governments have such as the school district having a local option income tax. Louis indicated that one problem was that the Board of Supervisors is doing a great job already and there's not much chance of thinking up things to tell them that he thinks would improve it. Slockett said it's tough to keep taxes down and provide services. He said that it is a delicate balance as Louis said. Louis said things must be going pretty smooth because the Board didn't have people down here screaming at them all of the time.

Painter asked if Louis was in favor of implementing a local option sales tax and if so, for what use? Louis began by stating that there are 29,550 students plus visiting professors not paying County taxes and perhaps this would be a good chance for them to get into the act. He noted, however, that residents of the County would also begin paying the same tax. At this time, he went on, there is no need for an extra sales tax. He noted that initially he did think there was, but has since changed his mind.

Painter asked if Louis had any experience putting budgets together and how he felt about performance based budgeting? Louis said he had been working on a budget for the coming year with his wife Betty because their income is restricted due to his not working; that he receives army and Social Security income. He said that after creating a budget the furnace and water heater went out and blew the budget, adding that he thinks that happens to a lot of budgets. He noted that he did not get to the budget hearing. He remarked that the budget was a big job and the secret of any budget is to try and follow it as close as one can, but his prior experience with budgets tells him that something comes up that blows it. Louis said that he has 2 artificial hips and he is getting along fine, but has to use a cane to get along in the snow. He said he was telling them that in case the Supervisors have to go out in the country to look at bridges and things, he will be able to get along fine.

Painter asked if Louis was appointed and an election was called, would he seek his party's nomination? Louis said he was a registered Republican, that his family members were Democrats for 3 generations. Slockett said he was not hiding it very well, referring to a poster. Louis said that Dale Erickson told him that at the time they wanted him to fill out the ticket. Louis didn't feel he would have a chance, that he went to Europe with the Mountaineers the fall of that election; and when election day came and he was one township short and 140 some votes; so he said he should have stayed home and minded his business. He noted that before that there hadn't been a Republican come in since Eisenhower's presidency. He then noted that he changed back to Democrat to help a person out in his campaign. He asked the panel if they knew Howard Sokol, indicating that he gives Rotarians in the news at Rotary meetings. Louis recalled the last thing Sokol had said last week was "I see Bud Louis is running for the Supervisor job". And afterwards Sokol came over to the table and said, "Bud, you've got 2 chances of getting that job, slim and none". Painter asked if Louis would run for re-election if appointed. Louis indicated that he probably would. Painter asked if Louis was not appointed, would he petition or run as the nominee in an election that was petitioned for? Louis said he would not petition for an election, that he would take the panel's word for it and vanish back into the woods.

Painter asked how long Louis would expect to remain in the Supervisor's job? Louis said if he had won the first time he'd have been in 30 years by now. He mentioned Mike Dunlap having died at 103 so he has 30 years he could serve. He further commented that he'd like to be officially elected the next time, if he is given the job.

Painter asked when Louis would be available to start, if appointed? Louis said he would be available as soon as possible. He also mentioned he considers local politics to be completely different from national politics.

Painter asked if Louis had any questions of the Board Appointment Committee? Louis asked what the normal work week is for a Board of Supervisors. Slockett stated that the Board of Supervisors had two official meetings every week. He said there is the informal meeting on Tuesday and the formal on Thursday, and around this time of year there are also the budget meetings. Slockett said there are night meeting on Thursdays that take place once a month, and the Board members attend numerous meetings throughout the community. Louis said the joint meetings between the City Council's and the Board of Supervisors were a great asset to the County. Painter said the meetings were set at those times and that the Board members are free to set their schedules after that. Louis said he couldn't believe all of the paperwork that was generated over the web.

Louis stated that he would really like to be considered for the job. He mentioned that he attempted thirty years ago to become a Board member, and then he attempted a second time also. He said he would like to think he could bring some help into the County. Louis said he doesn't know how many new ideas he has but he said he is knowledgeable about Johnson County and Iowa City. He does not know the compensation for the job and never really wanted to ask. Painter said it was just a shade under $33,000. He then thanked the Committee for considering him and the others, and also wanted to add that he hopes this does not have to come down to an election. He asked if a special election would cost $20,000. Slockett said that was a pretty conservative estimate. Painter said they were all pleased at the great range of people they had feel comfortable apply and come forward. Louis asked if the applicant who was the mayor of Hills would have to resign from that position. Slockett said she would. Painter thanked Louis for applying. Kriz and Slockett thanked Louis. Kriz said many residents of Iowa City appreciate what he does.

Recessed at 10:18 a.m.; reconvened at 10:50 a.m.

Continued: Tom Carsner Interview