State of Linn County? 'Fine,' says Oleson

CEDAR RAPIDS - “The state of the county is just fine,” Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson reassured residents Wednesday during the State of the County address.

Oleson, R-Marion, made his case by recognizing county workers in all departments for their work. He also called for county residents to respect county workers and local government.

“These people are taxpayers, people who live in our neighborhoods,” said Oleson, a Marion Republican. “People make up your local government. Our government is people trying to be a better community.”

Oleson, who is finishing his first term and seeking re-election this fall, said he's alarmed by a reflexive distrust of local government among some county residents.

“That's the easy narrative to gravitate to,” he said. “Local government is made up of people, to make things better for people.”

Oleson said county employees were key to the continued recovery from the June 2008 flood, citing the financial management of Finance Director Steve Tucker and Budget Director Dawn Jindrich.

“Only four years after these devastating floods, and our balance sheet is as strong as it's ever been,” said Oleson, noting supervisors have reduced the property tax levy by 12 cents over the past four years.

Oleson also defended the county's use of project labor agreements on its flood-recovery projects. On Tuesday, Oleson pushed for a project labor agreement for a new Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency project - he's a board member of the agency - even if meant a legal challenge to Gov. Terry Branstad's order banning PLAs on projects that receive state money.

In a project labor agreement, the county agrees to pay prevailing wages to local union workers in exchange for a no-strike guarantee.

“They ensure the work on public projects are done with local workers, keeping the money in the local community,” Oleson said. “They're our neighbors - why shouldn't they build our community?”