Kriz said that he would be asking the questions in this interview and that Edwards could begin his opening statement.

Edwards said he has lived in Johnson County for 36 years. He spent 4 years as a medical student, and 4 years, in the Navy as an officer, then 31 years in family practice at Medical Associates in Iowa City. He said he retired in June, and he now wants to pay the community back for the good it has done for him. Edwards said he served on the School Board where they had grievances, did budgeting, and hired a new Superintendent. Edwards said he served on the County Assessor's Budget Review Committee and was a Deputy Medical Examiner for Johnson County. Edwards said he was on the Board of the Wesley Foundation and also on the Church Board. Edwards said he is a farm owner and knows the value of conservation and Iowa farmland. He said he also worked as a hired hand on the farm as a kid. Edwards said he is a licensed pilot and is familiar with the Iowa City Airport and the problems it faces and will be facing.

Kriz asked Edwards what are County Government's strengths and weaknesses and how would he enhance the strengths and address the weaknesses. Edwards stated that the strengths are definitely the people that work for County. He said the weaknesses are the mandates sent down by State and Federal Governments, and the mandates that are un-funded, such as the Mental Health problem. He said he feels sorry for the patients in that program because they are shuffled around from program to program and county to county. He said they should lobby for more state support. He said they need more cooperation between counties.

Kriz asked Edwards if he was in favor of restructuring County Government and/or hiring a County manager. Edwards said the County is running smoothly and the voters are satisfied with it and so he would not hire a County manager. Edwards said a County manager would only act as a buffer between the voters, and the department heads, and the Supervisors. He said the Supervisors should be open to both the voters and the department heads.

Kriz asked Edwards if he feels the County has additional space needs and if so how would he address them. Edwards stated that the County definitely has space needs and will probably always have space needs. He stated that he does not support the long term lease looked at for the Department of Human Services. He said long term leases aren't proper and the County should build, citing the Administration Building as an example. Edward said he also does not support hiring an expert on jail space. He would like to see only preventative measures, not a larger jail. He said funds would be better directed towards more probation officers and things of that nature.

Kriz asked Edwards how he would go about selecting from a pool of applicants to serve on various boards and commissions. Edwards said he would interview people. He stated that he has experience of hiring and firing, which he did in his own office for 31 years.

Kriz asked Edwards to state his longer range vision for Johnson County. Edwards said he sees further growth and development. He said that we've got prime farm land, the University and all of the cultures. He said he sees that the cities are going to take more and more land away from the counties and there will be further growth and development. He said the airport will have to be moved because the City is encroaching upon it. He said he is very optimistic about Johnson County.

Kriz asked what criteria Edwards would use in making land use decisions and on what basis would he make decisions concerning road improvements, maintenance, construction, and road-side weed eradication. Edwards stated that the Land Use Plan is only a guide line for reference and that everything will have to be handled on an individual basis. Edwards said the Code of Iowa says that the County has to provide road services for people. He said developers should be mandated to provide their own roads at the counties specifications. He then mentioned he does not support pesticides being used on the side of the road.

Kriz asked Edwards what he thinks the County's role should be in protecting the environment. Edwards stated that it is one of the most important responsibilities for the county. He said he does not want the County to get as bad as Cedar Rapids. Edwards said there needs to be standards on septic systems. He said they need to have control over them.

Kriz asked Edwards to describe what would be his approach in balancing economic and business interests, with interest in the health and well being of citizens and environmental concerns. Edwards said that there is no balance, that the health and well being of citizens and environmental concerns come first. Edwards said if a developer comes in with a plan and says that the County's demands are too expensive than that development shouldn't be built. He said developers should build the costs of good roads, water, and sewage into the land they sell because it is their responsibility.

Kriz asked Edwards what's his opinion is of the Johnson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Edwards said he knew a lot of time and effort had gone into it but the County should use it only as a guideline. He said they're going to have to make each request on an individual basis as they have in the past.

Kriz asked Edwards what he knows about, and his opinion regarding the impact and incidence of Johnson County Taxes. Edwards said he pays them. He said he gets more for his money from County taxes than he does from City taxes.

Kriz asked Edwards how he weighs requests for spending which require tax dollars versus increasing taxes. Edwards stated that everybody hates to have taxes raised but it's a fact of life. He said he wouldn't promise to not raise taxes or to raise them.

Kriz asked what if anything should be done about the nature of county tax options? Edwards mentioned that some school districts had a local option sales tax and he wasn't sure what other similar taxes the County has available to it. He said he promised to learn about it if he was elected.

Kriz asked Edwards if he is in favor of implementing a Local Option Sales Tax and if so for what use. Edwards said he is in favor of it because it is another way of raising money without raising property taxes. He said they could maybe augment Mental Health's budget until more support comes from the legislature.

Kriz asked Edwards if he has any experience in putting budgets together and how he feels about performance based budgeting. Edwards said he had experience with budgets on the School Board and the County Assessor's Office Budget Review Committee, and on the Red Cross Board. Edwards said as far as performance based budgeting goes, he only believes in using that toward individual employees and their work, not departments.

Kriz asked if Edwards was appointed and a special election was called, would he seek his party's nomination, would he run for re-election if appointed, and if he was not appointed would he petition or would he run as his party's candidate in an election that was petitioned for. Edwards said if he is appointed and an election was called, he would seek his party's nomination, though is not sure what ticket to go under. He said he would run for reelection. He then stated he would not stir up a petition on his own, but if a petition came along from some one else's appointment he would run.

Kriz asked Edwards if he were appointed, when would he be able to start. Edwards responds that could start tomorrow night. He mentioned that he would be on vacation at the end of February through the first week of March.

Kriz asked if Edwards had any questions of the Board Appointment Committee. wards stated that he didn't.

Edwards began his closing statement. He thanked the Committee for their time. He said a friend told him he had 2 chances, slim and none. He then stated that he thinks that the Committee is honest and sincere and they have an important job to fill. Edwards said he is qualified to fill the job and said if they do choose him he will do his best to make sure that the Committee and the voters of Johnson County never regret it. Kriz said they learn through the process also. Edwards said he learned more from the School Board than he gave to the School Board. Slockett thanked him and said he would give Edwards full consideration for the job. Painter thanked Edwards also.

Reverend Bob Welsh asked how and when the Committee would make their decision. Slockett said he didn't know how long it would take them to make their decision. Kriz said his intention was to continue to meet and dialogue and see if they were ready to make their decision. Slockett said what they said earlier is they would make a judgement at that point and decide if they needed to wait until they received the minutes of the interviews. Painter said they were trying to balance the want of the community to have the position filled with the desire the Committee members have to give everybody their due and full consideration. Slockett said he is trying to rank the individuals and has been impressed with all of the time and effort the candidates have put into this. Slockett said statistics show that more people who interview last are hired. He said the best defense of that is awareness. Slockett said it was an interesting thought because if they took a break before they made their decision it would put more distance between them and the last interview, but it also puts more distance between them and first interview. Slockett said it won't make much difference to wait an hour. Welsh said he hoped they didn't have to do this again but if they did he wanted them to make sure the word got out better. Slockett said many people don't think the press are covering the interviews so they don't think they are open to the public. Slockett said they tried to get the meetings broadcast on cable also but that didn't work out. Painter said there were interview candidates who gave really good ideas. Painter said that everybody had a different style and it was interesting to watch that.

Recessed at 6:35; reconvened at 6:52 p.m.

Continued: Cathy Fitzmaurice