MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNTY OFFICERS DESIGNATED TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
OCTOBER 29, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Interview Of Candidate For The Vacant Supervisor Position: Edgar Thornton
Discussion/Action: October 20, 2009 Committee Meeting Minutes
Discussion/Action: October 22, 2009 Committee Meeting Minutes
Discussion/Action: October 23, 2009 Committee Meeting Minutes
Discussion/Action: Agenda(s) For Next Meeting(s) If Needed
The Committee to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors was called to order in the Health and Human Services Building, Room 203B and 203C at 2:00 p.m. Members present were: County Treasurer Tom Kriz, County Recorder Kim Painter, and County Auditor Tom Slockett.
Slockett: I’d like to welcome Edgar Thornton. You’re here for the purpose of interviewing to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors. We don’t have a chair but we’ve sort of taken up an order in these proceedings where I welcome the applicant and cover the first section of questions and then we rotate from there. We have at the beginning, a two minute opening and at the end, a two minute closing. The questions have been posted on the internet and we may have some follow-ups to some of the questions. So with those ground rules, Edgar, would you like to begin your two minute opening?
Thornton: Well, thank you very much Tom, Kim, and Tom. Thank you for adjusting your schedule and for the interview process to help me out with my work schedule. That’s why I appreciate the opportunity to actually participate in the process. Let me first say that I’m honored to participate in the selection of a new Board member. The Johnson County Board of Supervisors have a number of very important issues in front of them that they are going to tackle here in the next couple of years. From major infrastructure issues, to investments in public works, to making logical and effective and reasoned response to revenue shortfalls that are confronting the State and the County Governments. Each of the eight finalists are competent, after looking at the credentials very credible replacements for Mr. Meyers, the late Mr. Meyers. I understand that he was an independent person, had an independent voice on the Board. I hope to continue that legacy of independence, of bringing unique views, articulate views, a different type of viewpoint. I present myself as somebody who has 20 years of government. Most of my service has been both at the Federal and State level, so it's interesting, it would be an interesting opportunity for me to actually be involved at the local level as well. But I’ve managed budgets from my role in government from $3 million budgets to $60 million budgets. The current budget that I operate in my current work is a $7 million program. I’ve been a business owner in the past. When we lived in New Mexico, we owned flower shops, so I understand the issues of small business. And then also what I would bring to this position would be the understanding as a former regulator, and so I understand what local governments, how they’re impacted by decisions that are made by both the Federal and State Governments. And so, those are, just as an opening statement, those are many of the thoughts that I had for reasons for why I responded to the call for applicants.
Slockett: Thank you, Edgar. What makes you the most qualified person for this job?
Thornton: Well, thank you. Once again, as I said before, you have a very interesting list of persons who were applying for the position, who had a wide variety of backgrounds working in the community. I also have been here working within the community since we moved here, returned here to Iowa City six years ago. I, in my background, I have a strong academic background of private sector, public sector, management background and leadership that I would bring to the Board of Supervisors. I have a Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell College in political science and history. Though I spent most of my career outside of Iowa, we returned here to Iowa City to be with my parents who were becoming older and dealing with issues where they needed my family to be close to them. Academically I hold a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Kansas. So with that program I was very involved with learning about the role of local government. Actually I was an intern during those days with the International City and County Management Association. I’m currently working on my Doctorate degree at the University of Minnesota. And currently, I am also working at the American Council on Education in Washington. I am commuting. I come back and forth to Iowa City. So I can adjust my schedule to meet the needs of participating in the process. The work that I’m doing is working with African communities, looking at sharing experiences of community colleges both in the U.S. and South Africa. Prior to that, I was with Kirkwood, once again, here in the community. I was at the main campus as an administrator. I’ve also worked here in the community with the Chamber of Commerce where I was a part of the Community Leadership Program. I’m sure you’re very familiar with that. I met Mr. Johnson through that process. So serving as a Supervisor, I would bring a rich experience of both, government, now what I’m doing in the private sector working for an association. I’d bring creative ideas, a new spirit to the Board. I’d bring a different vision that the Board may not have seen ever before. And so, I would bring those ideas that I’m facing both as a person in the private sector dealing with the economy, to how the Board deals with the economy and the protection of property rights, looking at how we keep young people in the community, that they’re not leaving the state, and trying to make the community a welcoming community. It would be another major issue that I would be concerned about. A last one, which is just very dear to my heart because my mother is here in the community and we do take advantage of many of the services that are offered here, is how are we working with seniors in the community and so that’s also another reason why I think I would bring a unique voice to the Board.
Slockett: Thank you. Second question. What would you hope to accomplish as an individual and as a Board?
Thornton: Well, first of all, I would like to look at how are we doing with responding to the financial crisis that’s facing our community and our state? I’d like to make sure that that’s one that I spend a great deal of time on. Also, looking at social services. I’d be very interested in those issues not only for how it's affecting the aging community but also how it's affecting families. And then also because, as you’ve seen from my resume, a great deal of my experience has been in the environment. And so I’d also be very interested in what we’re doing with land use and many of our infrastructure plans as well.
Slockett: How do you view the County’s responsibilities with regard to human and civil rights? How will this influence you as you take on the role of Johnson County Supervisor?
Thornton: When I saw that on the list it’s one that I really take to heart because my family has been very involved in civil rights for forever, it appears in our family. I was the youngest of our family and I saw what both my parents were doing, working in the civil rights movement back in the '60s and the '70s. I saw what my sisters were doing, I’ve seen what my sister who lives here in the community also with me right now who has been very involved in various social issues here in the community. But as an African American male, I think among the eight finalists, I bring a very unique perspective to the problems of civil rights. And that, as I said before, translates back to the experiences that my parents had. And so I really answer the question from a personal level because we take the civil rights very personally in our family. My father was the first African American to run back in the 1940s for city council in the community where they lived, Lynchburg, Virginia. He faced a number of problems going out as a minister, as an educator, and actually putting his name on the ballot and doing exactly what I’m doing in terms of stepping in to try to participate in the process. And so, they persevered through all the injustices they had through their experiences as educators. My mother, a librarian, my father, also as a minister and as a college president, they saw firsthand what can happen in relation to civil rights. I grew up very understandable of the challenges that people had. I take civil rights very seriously and would really question anybody questioning me about my support of that issue because I’m going to really watch what’s going on here in the community as a Board member to try to make sure that people are welcomed, that people are given opportunities to participate, and I think that would be a unique viewpoint that I could bring to the Board.
Slockett: I have a follow-up on that question before Kim asks her section of questions. Recently the findings of a group of Harvard researchers were that approximately 45,000 people per year die from lack of health insurance. That's one every 12 minutes. We are in the middle of a historic debate on health insurance. Senator Kennedy viewed health insurance as a right and not a privilege. I am interested in it from a human rights, civil rights perspective. I think there are three questions regarding that perspective for health care: one, should it be universal? Two: should it be comprehensive? Three: should it be accessible and affordable to all? That is kind of in line with the universal question, but many of the so called universal proposals actually still leave out millions of people. If you could comment on those three aspects of the current debate: universal coverage, comprehensive coverage, and affordable or accessible health insurance.
Thornton: A very interesting question, Tom, that you raised, because when I left Washington this morning, they were talking about, as you said, the historic nature that they are moving forward, finally. It seemed that this year this issue has been just a story, that it has gone on far too long, it seems the debate. So finally, I do agree with you that we are finally moving forward in terms of making some final decisions. To answer your question, I'd like to put it all together, my response to you. Because my response is that I don't have the answer, Tom. I think that as someone who saw my father die at the University Hospital of Alzheimer's, and I saw what we were having to pay. In the case of my parents, they had a very good health insurance. But what about those who do not have that? So I understand the need for having some type of system that will work for everybody. I remember when Dad was going through the late stages of Alzheimer's, looking at some of the financial cost of some of the medicine. It's just really out of whack. I am for health reform in some manner. I don't what that is. I don't know where they are going to go, but some type of relief needs to be done for the average American. I think that if you look at the role of city and county government, I think that local government has to understand how it provides services that can work in tandem with whatever is provided by the Federal Government. I think that the Board, looking at the fact that they are now, finally, in Washington, moving towards ending the debate, and moving towards coming to some type of legislation and some type of final approach. I think we are going to be challenged as a Board, as local officials, to try to develop programs that meet the needs of the public but also in this very gloomy financial fiscal time period, that are cost effective for local citizens.
Painter: Alright. A group of questions focused broadly on County government overall and the first of those would be what are County Government's strengths and weaknesses here in Johnson County and how would you enhance the strengths and address those weaknesses?
Thornton: I think the strengths are the people. Everyone that I have ever come in contact with in County Government has been extremely helpful. I've had excellent service when I've worked with your offices and with the other departments here within County Government. I would think the number one strength is the organization, the institution itself. I think that in terms of looking at the weakness though, the weakness is the County Government gets overshadowed by what happens across town with City Government. I think that the public doesn't get a chance to really understand what is happening within County Government and seeing the value of it. There is going to be a later question that you were going to talk about in terms of the boards and commissions, but I will use that as an example because I did serve on the Board of Adjustments with the City. I do remember that at the same time, there were a number of calls for volunteers to serve on your boards as well. As I went out to talk to people, and I don't really want to take away my answer on that one, but it was just hard to get people to respond. I tried to use myself as an example and there were just not a lot of people who would step forward. I think the weakness is to understand what is the role of County Government, and how does it serve me as an average person, and how can I benefit and take advantage of it? I think in this time period where the public is very energized since the last Presidential Election, it is incumbent upon us to look at the weaknesses and try to address reasons for why the public should be more interested in County Government and communicate with it. Is that communications issue a result of a County not communicating with the public? I don't know. But there needs to be more communication between the public and the County.
Painter: Okay. Thank you. What do you feel are the greatest challenges facing Johnson County and how should the Board address those challenges?
Thornton: Looking as a layman, as just an average citizen, it looks like you have two major issues that are confronting that we're going to talk about later as well. One is the fiscal crisis. I think with the Governor's recent call for the 10% cuts, the fact that you also, as a County Government have taken a cut and asked your departments to look at how they can do things cheaper, faster, better. That must be the number one thing on your mind and must be on the Board. Because how do you do that and still provide the services the public expect, the public need, the programs they have come to value? How do we continue that? That has to be number one. Number two, once again as an average person, going to soccer games, there are one or two parents that are involved with the Sheriff's Department. I hear their concerns about the justice center and how overworked they are. That has to be a tremendous strain on County Government. I think the budget, the justice system, the economy, have to be number one issues. As a part of the Board, I would be looking for proposals that help us to do that in once again, a cost effective manner that works best for the County, but it has to be one that is transparent. All of the community will understand what we are doing.
Painter: Do you feel a new Johnson County justice center is needed?
Thornton: Okay, as Tom gave me that very controversial question, this is also another one. I know that the Board recently voted two to two on this particular issue. Not to necessarily trip my hand totally on that one, I think how I can respond to it is that I would be very open to hearing all options. I'd like to know what options are out there. If there is a way to do it in a way to build it, to design it, to renovate the structure, I'd like to know what's out there because the budget is straight. Right now Johnson County has not necessarily had many of the issues that the other counties have had because of our unique situation. But going for the best may not be what we can do right now. We may have to trim the project a little bit and design it in a way that still protects the public, still provides the needs for the department, but then also is one that we as local officials and also the Board itself, have had an opportunity to see what is the best program that works for the community?
Slockett: This follow up question goes along with what you have said. A little background, a jail, which would be part of a justice center, has failed the last couple of times it has been voted on. The last time in the year 2000, the countywide no vote was two to one no, 66% no. It was 73% no in Iowa City and in some precincts it was over 80% no. Part of the campaign had a lot of comments on the size of the jail at that time. It was a 330 bed jail. We have a very highly educated group of voters here in Johnson County and a lot of their discussion had to do with the fact that worldwide 5% of the worldwide population is in jail. Of those jailed, 25% of them are in US jails. It is kind of the idea of isn't there some better way to deal with problems than to throw people in jail? There is concern about having an exceptionally large jail, because that might facilitate putting more people in jail when perhaps other alternatives might be better. I've received input from members of the public who were opposed to the jail previously with the idea of a 180 bed jail. The notion being that is as many people as we've ever needed on a single day to have in jail. So instead of building a large jail, just make one that will meet our largest current capacity, realizing that we still might have to, on occasion, transport some people outside the county. But that would, in light of the financial situation, if we're taking a bond issue to the people, respond to previous criticism. It would have to be scalable, so you could increase it later if you needed to, but it would be a way of showing the voters you had taken into account the previous no votes. I would just like to throw that out and get your reaction to something like that.
Thornton: I would have to, once again as a new Board member, just as when I was with the Board of Adjustment, I would have to rely on initially the opinions of both staff and listen to the opinion of the department. But I can tell you that as someone who has not necessarily in my work in State Government and Federal Government, was not necessarily in the law enforcement area, so I can't necessarily as a layman say which size of jail is better. But what I can say is as a Board member I would listen. I would take my time to try to understand what is best for us, and what is best for the community, and what can the community afford? If you are talking about the difference between a 300 and 180 bed facility, there is cost. Because of the situation that we're in right now, as I said at the outset, you may not be able to build what you thought you wanted to do before. So I would lean towards trying to understand, can we provide the community with a response to the public safety needs with a smaller facility, because of course it’s going to be more economically beneficial for the public. But I would say I would have to look at the issue and then probably really listen to the experts to really make a decision.
Painter: Okay. Thank you. How would you go about selecting from a pool of applicants from the many boards and commissions within Johnson County?
Thornton: As I said before I was on the Board of Adjustment with the City, and I think in our particular case, we were always able to find somebody. So we didn't really go for a long period of time without a replacement. But I do know in some of the other boards it was hard. It gets back to something we had talked about earlier. How do we make public service interesting and attractive to average citizens? Another major problem that I've seen here in the County is just the fact that people do not show up many times for elections. They don't show up for other times when we need their participation. So I think it's a much larger issue of how we make government an issue that people will take time off from going to the soccer game, going to church, going to the mall, out to dinner, and will come to that meeting in the evening, whether its for a Board of Supervisors meeting or whether it is for participation in a board or commission. So I would actually, because I saw it firsthand, I would be very interested in this particular issue Kim, to see if we can do something that makes the process interesting and attractive to people because I think we need more voices throughout the community, whether it's by gender, or race, or economic issues. We need balance in participation throughout the County on many of our boards.
Painter: What is your long range vision for Johnson County and how would you utilize your experience in strategic planning to implement that vision?
Thornton: My long range vision for Johnson County includes working towards economic diversity and independence for our families and taxpayers. I think we need to value our quality of life that we have here. That's part of why we were attracted to return to Iowa City. But we have to make sure that our quality of life helps people to pay their bills, that it makes housing affordable. We have a transportation system that works here. Small businesses find this an attractive place to hire that extra person. So we need to make sure that Iowa City and Johnson County become continued magnets for economic development. So with my past experiences in government at the Federal and State level, where we were looking at strategic planning a great deal, I have personally been involved in strategic planning discussions and looking at the long range vision for a community. The best case that I can give you an example would be my experience in New Mexico when I was a deputy cabinet secretary for the environment. I was very involved with looking at the long range issues for our state. So my experience is also in Federal Government. We had to always respond to Congress, so we always knew the bottom line. What were we going to do with people's money? I think that also translates back here to Johnson County and to County Government. That would be my past experiences working with strategic planning and long-term visioning, would be I would hope an asset to the Board of Supervisors.
Painter: Great. Thank you.
Kriz: Edgar, the next section we've got is on land use and the environment. The first question we have in this grouping is what criteria would you use in making land use decisions? On what basis would you make decisions concerning road improvements, maintenance, construction, roadside weed eradication?
Thornton: In response first of all I would bring back my experiences as I've said before, before we came here to Iowa City, we were in New Mexico for 10 years. There, with it being the fifth largest state in terms of land area, we had various environmental issues that were very unique to a state like New Mexico. It wasn't a state that is as financially secure as Iowa. While it has great resources, Iowa has a much more robust economy and tax base. With that being said, I would bring my past experiences as a State Official in looking at land use planning, looking at the environment, and how we would make it work both for people, as well as how we're good stewards of the environment. I think here we also in Iowa and Johnson County, we also have to understand how we make decisions on land use and how we're impacting family farms in this community. Because our issues are not necessarily just related to the urban areas, but they are also for the County as a whole. I think that also in terms of our land use decisions, we have to make sure that they are transparent, they're very open. Once again in my work in New Mexico, I actually, because of my role managing within the department both the enforcement and compliance section, I was very involved with holding public meetings. Meetings such as this, from organizing it, to making sure we had a recorder, to making sure that the citizens were able to come to the podium and make their remarks. I'm very keen on making sure that the public is very involved. I'm almost to the point of we have to drag them off the streets to get in here, so that's why I'm glad to hear in the back of my head that some folks have shown up for the meeting. But I think that we have to make sure that the process is one that is open and all voices are heard. I'll give you an example. I understand prior to our time here there may have been some road decisions that it may be an issue of whether everyone had been a part of the process. I think as we move forward, while I’m involved, I would make sure that everyone has a chance within the community to speak out, to have their opinion raised before the Board or whatever commission that is hearing that particular proposal.
Kriz: What do you think should be the County’s role in protecting the environment?
Thornton: Well, I think it’s providing that balance that the public needs between what is the State and what is Federal Government and requiring, imposing what unfunded mandate they are suggesting that we do. I saw this firsthand when I was with EPA back in the 90s. I saw that there several stormwater-related proposals that we were proposing within that administration at that time that were coming without any funding sources. So those were tremendous impacts on local government, to make a policy decision in Washington, but then here in Iowa or whether it’s New Mexico, the implementation of that policy has a major impact. So I think our role is one of making sure we are protecting the environment, but making sure we are good stewards of the public’s money, helping both our small towns, our rural villages, our urban areas, to have a good quality of life, a safe community, having opportunities for good transport, since they also are meeting the fiscal problems and requirements that we are facing as a local government.
Kriz: Describe your approach to balancing the economic and business interests with interests of health and well being of citizens and environmental concerns.
Thornton: This is an issue that when I heard this question, I wanted to really approach it from, try to bring in my current experience, the work that I’ve been doing for USAID, where I see communities that are living on a dollar or 2 dollars a day. We have it very good here in the US. We have it extremely good here in Johnson County with the services that are given. Many of the people that I work with in my programs with USAID, both now as a contractor but before as a staff member with USAID, we were working with communities that were extremely poor. They didn’t have resources. There was no concern about the environment, or if there was a concern, it was an afterthought. So I think in our particular case, because the United States is such a rich country and we have so many advantages, I think we have to step back and perhaps enjoy what we have and not necessarily always look for unattainable results. I think that we actually have such a good set of environmental laws in this country, here in this state, that I think we need to value that. I think we need to promote that, but I think we also need to step back and look at what are the impacts to average citizens, what are the impacts on business in our community. But then just as in the same sense as we saw recently with the National Parks program that was on PBS, we need to actually value what’s here and we need to protect it. I think that protection of the environment is one that is very close to my heart, because it’s been a part of virtually every job that I’ve had in my career. I’ve had some role in the environment, whether it’s overseas and how US policy is working with the environment, whether it is working with State government, or whether or as a regulator, how that then translates back to how local governments run. I’m very concerned about how we meet this balance and meet the goals of both government but then meet the needs of average citizens.
Kriz: What is your opinion the Johnson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan?
Thornton: A very interesting plan. It’s very good guide to how government should respond, should provide services. It provides a structure for how we protect our agricultural communities. It provides a guide for how we make zoning decisions. I think that the plan with its various steps, when I looked at it, it is an excellent example- it could be- to many other communities. I think that is something that we should feel very proud of here in the Johnson County/Iowa City area, that we are making long range decisions like that, that will protect our environment, our natural resources for the next generation. I have 2 of the next generation in my household. I have a daughter at City High who is a senior who is graduating and a son who is at Southeast now and will be a freshman at City next year. So they are the future. I think I want to make sure that we leave a community that is just as good for them, to take advantage of the parks that we have here, the recreational facilities we have here, the services. This is something that personally I’m going to be, if selected, I will be very interested in seeing that we continue.
Slockett: Next section is taxes and budget. What do you know about and what is your opinion regarding of impact and incidence of Johnson county taxes.
Thornton: Well, Tom, I know of virtually nobody that I know wants to pay taxes, but we have to and it’s something that we have to do to make sure we are providing to us all as average citizens. But we have to make sure that we are not a burden, is not one that the community feels is a burden. That it’s something that they want to limit so much that it becomes a hardship. We have, as I said before, we have to be good stewards. We have be aware of our fiduciary responsibilities. I think that we have to make sure that County taxes are ones that are not necessarily driving away business, as a former business owner. When we were in New Mexico, I remember firsthand concerns that we had about certain decisions that were being made in the community on taxes that possibly could have impacted the bottom line. So I think that there are other major tax issues that I understand the Board has considered that I would look forward to participating in, hearing the opinions of the public. I know they are dealing with the issues of the flood. I know they are looking at tax-related issues as the county grows. These were all issues that we have to make sure we are doing, but we are not necessarily making Johnson County not an attractive community for future residents.
Slockett: What if anything should be done about the nature of County tax options?
Thornton: The County should have tax auctions when they are appropriate and when they can provide opportunities to get rid of unused property, unused equipment.
Slockett: I think I should maybe restate the question. What if anything should be done about the nature of County tax options? Options. Is that the question you were answering?
Thornton: Okay. I didn’t think we had that kind of question. In terms of the options, I think we have to remember to, within this critical time period, looking at the bottom line of the fiscal nature of the community, we have got to make sure we are paying as we go. I think that we may not, as we talked about with the justice center issue, we may not be able to afford certain things, certain infrastructure that we were originally planning. But we need to be able to look at what we can afford at this particular time and not necessarily overburden the public with future tax that will be a problem in future years, or as I said before, will drive business or drive away residents.
Slockett: Are you in favor of implementing a local option sales tax, if so, for what use?
Thornton: We have to be very careful with how we use that mechanism. The County only has certain options to find additional resources. So as I said before, we have to make our decisions wisely and deliberately, because the impacts of making decisions are not just easily made by saying we are going to raise taxes. We have to pay as we go to make it right for the public and for the community as a whole.
Slockett: Do you have any experience in putting together budgets?
Thornton: Currently I’m managing a $7 million project, with my current project which is a USAID program. I’m very intimately involved with developing a budget. We’re at the first year of our current project, and moving into year two I know exactly every number on the page. When you talk about the budget it’s something I’m dealing with firsthand, because this is the end of a Federal fiscal year and so I’ve been very involved with the development of this project, which is a three year project. Also when I was in State Government, I also managed a $60 million department which was the Environment Department. We had 600 employees with 25 offices around the State. I was very involved with the development of that budget, working with the Lieutenant Governor who was our major contact with the executive on how the department was functioning within my work either at Los Alamos or my work at EPA. We were always very knowledgeable about the budget and had to report back to Congress and report back to the Administrator or the Secretary’s Office with how we were using the money within our office. I’ll give you another example of a budget that I feel very proud of, because we had a very small $3 million budget when I was at USAID as a Deputy Director of the Urban Office, because when we were there the Iraq war was at high gear. So they were looking for money everywhere, and many of our programs within USAID were moving towards that particular mission which is the largest mission in the world. We were able to continue our programs, not only continue our programs with the $3 million and hold the line, but we were able to leverage additional resources not only from other programs but also from the private sector so that we were actually doing a billion dollars in projects. I was very proud of the fact that we took $3 million dollars and were able to leverage additional resources from the outside to be able to get our job done. So when it comes to budgets I have a very intimate understanding of what we have to do and how we meet the bottom line.
Slockett: How would you balance spending requests versus increasing taxes? If it became necessary to reduce the County’s operating budget by 10%, how should the reduction be implemented?
Thornton: I know that this is a very major issue for the Counties here right now and for local communities in the State. I think what I would bring is my knowledge from the other sides of government, from both the State and Federal. We went through times of hard times, and there were times in the '90s, and the late '80s when I was at EPA, even my time in New Mexico at the Environment Department. I understand when the executive makes a decision that you are going to have to work with less, and what does that mean for furloughs? What does that mean to not be able to afford that new system that we wanted in a certain department? How that might impact how many people are we even sending to a very important conference that EPA is requiring us to do related to land use? Perhaps we can only send one instead of sending two. So I understand this very well. When I left Kirkwood a year ago they were already seeing the first signs of what was happening. I remember hearing what I’m sure they’re dealing with within their institution right now. It’s tough, and I know this is going to be tough on both the Board as well as for your offices, and how you meet this requirement. I would be looking at how do we do it without hurting people, would be my first notion. How do we do it, as I said before, maybe to do without that system that we were planning, that new data system that was going to make sure that meetings are held, or the fact that we’re able to respond more effectively to our constituents. Perhaps we do it the old way. Perhaps Tom you don’t get that knew state of the art system for your elections this year. Maybe we need to move that back to next year. That’s how I would be looking at it, because the bottom line is, how do we protect our employees and make sure that they have a job?
Painter: Okay, several questions on appointment and election processes. First of all, if you are appointed and an election is called, will you seek your party’s nomination?
Thornton: Another good question Kim, because I responded as a private citizen to hearing about the late Mr. Meyers passing away. I responded and said, many times when I hear about local government, or about government in general, whether it’s a board or commission, or whether it’s an elected position that somebody’s running for, many times I’ll sit back after the fact and I’ll say, why didn’t I run? Why didn’t I get involved? Because I have a long degree, over 20 years of government experience. I would think that it would be a resource, I would think, to the community. But then I say, well that person may not have the experience that I have, but I’m sure they’ll do a very good job. I would think in this particular case, if I had this opportunity, I’m doing something, I’m putting myself out there as I’ve said to myself before, well why didn’t you do it? You could have also done this too. And so don’t criticize the other person and say that they’re not prepared. If I feel that I’m prepared, go out there and do it. That’s why I’m here before you. I’m not going to be a back-bencher. I’m going to be somebody who participates in the process, now whether that means that I will actually run, I don’t know. Would that mean that I would accept whichever party, because I would expect both parties to give me their nomination, quite frankly. But would I accept? I don’t know. I can’t answer that right now, but in terms of the last question about a petition, there is absolutely no way I’d be involved in the petition.
Painter: Okay, so no to the petition. And if you were appointed, you’re not quite certain you’d run for re-election then, is that what I just heard?
Thornton: I’m not sure. I’d have to look on it, but I would say, just here and now, because I’ve thought about it, I would say probably yes, probably yes, but you have to give this thought because…
Painter: You sure do.
Thornton:…as I’ve said before, I’ve been there before saying… and then it’s been could have, should have, would have, and so this is the time for me to do it.
Painter: All right, thank you very much.
Kriz: Edgar, do you have any questions about the appointment process at this point in time?
Thornton: I think you’ve had a very, and I complement you on that, I think you responded to a very difficult issue and a loss of a colleague, someone that you all had worked with, the Board had worked with, for a number of years. I think you responded very effectively in a very short time period. You set deadlines, you put the release out to the public, informed those of us who were applying for the position on how to participate. Casie was very helpful in terms of working with me and my difficult situation with my business requirement. So I think that you’ve made the process very easy for us as participants and so I complement you.
Kriz: Well we’ve kind of circled around, we’re now down to the point that you can close with any comments you’d like to. We’ve been through a number of questions. Anything you’d back up to, like to say, or just kind of just summarize in closing?
Thornton: Being a PK, a preacher’s kid, and I have ways to tease that, given the last speaker will be here awhile. Once again, thank you for allowing me to participate, to actually do something that I have said before that I should have done. So this is a new step for me. It’s a new step to instead of encouraging others to get out there and participate I’m actually doing it myself. It’s not the first time, and I served with the Board of Adjustment, and it was a very interesting experience to deal with the issues that we were working with, even though maybe the average citizen might have said, they might have been a little boring. But I enjoyed the process, and I think that a lot of that is attributed to my background in government, both my strategic planning background and my policy background in government, that I enjoy government. I’m probably someone who enjoys watching public access, and when I’m visiting a different city I look at what councils do. I would very much enjoy participating in this process, sharing my management experiences, my local, State, and Federal Government experiences, and trying to be a responsible member of our community. I’d like to be very involved in promoting more citizen participation in government, and expanding the range of voices within this community. Because I think that I bring as an African-American a unique viewpoint that’s growing in this community. I think that viewpoint would be a breath of fresh air to the Board. I think our major issues as we talked about earlier, are dealing with the economy, and dealing with some major infrastructure decisions that we have to do. So I would like to have an opportunity to share in these discussions, and to bring my viewpoint as we make decisions that will impact the future generations of residents of this community. So, as a Johnson County Supervisor, my experience in policy and budgets and working with every day members of County government, of a government, I think would be a resource. I will understand as a former government official, I will understand the issues and concerns of our County employees, because I've been there as one of them. I think that will be something that I will relish, will look forward to participating in. I think that also my desire to understand every facet of this government will be also a good resource. So I'm prepared to serve. I have knowledge of governmental structures and I love the community. So that's why I think I will be a very effective member of the Board of Supervisors.
Slockett: Thank you very much.
Thornton: Thank you.
Kriz: Thank you.
Thornton: Thank you.
Painter: Thank you very much. You are free to go back to work, it sounds like.
Thornton: Thanks again.
Slockett: I hope you don't get wet on the way out as well.
Slockett: Okay the next item is an item about the special election in case a petition had been filed, so we can skip that one.
Painter: Did we have to go back and take action on minutes?
Slockett: That's right. We haven't taken the action on the minutes yet. So item #2 is action on the October 20th, that's when we selected the people to interview and the questions. Do you want to do these one at a time.
Painter: That's fine. I would move approval of the October 20th minutes.
Kriz: I would second that.
Slockett: Okay. All in favor say aye.
Painter: Aye
Kriz: Aye.
Slockett: Aye. All opposed same sign. It's unanimous.
Slockett: Next is discussion/action on October 22nd. That's the meeting where we interviewed Bleam, O'Donnell, and Badgett.
Painter: Move approval.
Kriz: Second.
Slockett: All in favor say aye.
Painter: Aye.
Kriz: Aye.
Slockett: Aye. Opposed same sign. It's unanimous.
Slockett: Next is October 23rd. That's the meeting where we interviewed Lehman, Rettig, Pickett, and Rasmussen.
Kriz: I would move approval.
Painter: I'll second.
Slockett: All in favor say aye.
Kriz: Aye.
Painter: Aye.
Slockett: Aye. It's unanimous.
Slockett: Okay now we can skip over item #6, because there is nothing on a special election. Next is discussion/action: agendas for the next meetings. We have the agenda for tomorrow. Were there any changes to that one?
Deputy Auditor Casie Parkins: It's too late to make changes to that one.
Painter: Oh, it is too late.
Slockett: Because it's at 10:00. Thanks Casie. But there may be a need for another meeting.
Thornton: Excuse me. I forgot my keys.
Slockett: That's perfectly alright.
Thornton: Thank you.
Painter: You too, Edgar.
Slockett: We'll not have the minutes for today’s meeting finished for tomorrow, so we won't be able to approve them. Then we'll have the minutes for tomorrow's meeting and so we actually, I think, need another meeting. I'm not certain whether we will still exist as a statutory committee after we have made the appointment, but I still think we ought to meet. We'll call it a meeting and if it turns out it’s not actually a formal meeting, we could still informally approve the minutes, make any changes that are needed. Next week my staff is a little bit busy because it's the election week.
Painter: Yes, no kidding.
Slockett: It's the election week so we would like to have it late in the week, on Friday if possible. We were just thinking of getting together in the conference room of the Auditor's Office and it will just be very brief to approve the minutes. In case it’s raining, we won't have to go outside. So what shall we say? 2:00 p.m. on Friday? Does that work?
Kriz: Looks good.
Painter: The 6th looks good to me at 2:00 p.m.
Slockett: So we can have Casie make an agenda and post it for that meeting. It will just be approving the minutes for today and tomorrow.
Painter: Okay.
Parkins: Should I put an item on for a special election, if needed.
Slockett: Special election, if required.
Painter: Yes.
Slockett: Discussion from the public, if any.
Painter: Okay. Looks good.
Slockett: Since we don't actually have one, I don't think we need to formally act.
Painter: No.
Kriz: I don't think so.
Slockett: We didn't formally establish the other meetings, did we? I don't believe so, so I think we'll be alright.
Kriz: As long as we set the date.
Slockett: I want to thank the public for coming. Do you have any questions or comments?
Jo Hensch: It's a very interesting process and I appreciate being able to observe.
Slockett: Thank you very much.
Painter: Thank you.
Parkins: What's your name?
Hensch: Jo Hensch.
Parkins: Thank you.
Slockett: Okay. Are we ready to adjourn?
Painter: I believe so.
Slockett: Thank you very much.
Adjourned at 3:08 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Committee on October 30, 2009 at 1:45 p.m.