Linn Supervisors could let public decide on board size

CEDAR RAPIDS - In the face of a petition calling for them to do so, the Linn County Board of Supervisors plan to discuss a referendum that would ask voters to once again weigh in on the size of the county board.

The five-member board on Monday will discuss and vote on a referendum on the November ballot that would let voters decide if the board should continue at its current size or revert back to the three-member board it was up until 2006, when a public vote added two county supervisors.

In a Friday news release, the board announced their plans to explore the possible vote. The board will formally discuss the matter during Monday's meeting.

With signatures mounting on a petition calling for a vote on the board's size, Supervisor Brent Oleson said he felt it was necessary to start discussing the matter sooner than later.

'We know the petitioners have had a year to collect signatures and get it on the ballot,” he said. 'Just looking at this and seeing that people are trying to go back (to the way it used to be), I think it deserves a full debate . . . It's too important to wait for the last minute, I feel like we've got to start talking about it.”

The board has consisted of five supervisor seats for about 10 years.

Nearly 60 percent of Linn County residents who voted in the 2006 general election approved an increase in supervisors from three to five.

Board critics, including Kevin Kula, a member of local group Concerned Citizens of Linn County, have been collecting signatures for almost a year to call for a public vote to reduce the county board from five supervisors back to three. Kula said Friday he had achieved the more than 8,000 signatures needed to force the vote.

Kula's biggest criticism of the board is their pay.

The board in 2009 agreed to drop its pay to 80-percent time, but in 2013 supervisors reverted back to full time pay.

Supervisor's make about $103,000 in annual pay.

'They've gone hog-wild with this money,” Kula said. 'When you stop and take a look at the big picture, there's so much waste.”

While critics like Kula say the board can perform the same duties with three supervisors, those on the board argue otherwise.

Supervisor Amy Johnson, who was appointed to the board two months ago and is not seeking reelection this November when her term expires, said she has seen firsthand the amount of work that goes into the job.

'My colleagues work very hard and they really represent so many different kinds of people in the county that might not otherwise be represented if there was only three,” Johnson said. 'I just think it's going to be hard to maintain that level of customer service if the number of supervisors were reduced.”

The full board will formally discuss the matter Monday.

'It's really important that we put this on the ballot, it's obvious certain citizens are really concerned about this and they want to see it put on the ballot. I think we as public servants should go ahead and discuss this and give both sides enough time to tell their story and share their points of view,” Johnson said.

While Kula said he'd like to see the size of the board go before voters, he also has been circulating a petition calling for a public vote on the county's district plan - which dictates the board's representation rules within the county.

Currently, the board has five districts with voters within each district voting solely for their representative.

Another district plan allows at-large supervisors voted for by the entire county and the third option has all residents voting for district representatives.

Kula said he plans to continue pushing to also put the county's district plan before voters.

'They need to put them both on the ballot and let the people of Linn County decide,” he said. 'I'm going for 100 percent.”