Linn County deputy auditor announces run for county supervisor

City elections are a little more than three weeks out, with county elections over the horizon in 2014.

Even so, Becky Shoop, first deputy in the Linn County Auditor's Office, said she is running for the District 5 seat on the Linn County Board of Supervisors in 2014. The seat is now held by John Harris of Palo.

Shoop, 56, of 3490 Wileys Rd., Walker, is a 38-year employee of Linn County, with 36 years spent in the Auditor's Office.

"I hear time and time again, ‘We have no representation. I don't know who my representative is. And we don't matter,'" Shoop said. "And that bothers me."

She said she will bring change to county government and "fiscally responsible, accountable leadership."

Shoop said it's not too early to announce a run for supervisor because she is taking on an incumbent. She's a Democrat and Harris is a Republican. Any party primary would be held June 3, 2014.

Shoop, by the way, isn't the first challenger to announce a run for supervisor.

Robins Mayor Ian Cullis, who is not seeking re-election as mayor, said he will move to an apartment in Cedar Rapids to run against incumbent supervisor Lu Barron in supervisor District 1. Both are Democrats.

Linn County government in recent times has featured a running dispute between Shoop's boss, Auditor Joel Miller, and the five-member Board of Supervisors.

Of the dispute, Shoop said it is wrong to suggest that county government is dysfunctional.

"You shouldn't expect to always agree all the time," she said. "I get along with Joel and the board and the board's staff, and I would hope that I could help."

Among the supervisors' noteworthy decisions of 2013 is the decision to change their status and their pay from 80-percent time to full-time.

Two Linn County residents, Richard Bice and Michael Engelken, and Auditor Miller have started a petition drive to obtain 10,000 signatures, which will prompt the formation of a charter commission to review the form of county government. They favor a county government with part-time supervisors and a full-time, professional county manager.

Shoop said the supervisors should not have changed their status from 80-percent time.

District 5 comprises small towns and rural townships on the west, north and east parts of Linn County, including towns that reach from Fairfax to Walker to Prairieburg to Mount Vernon and Lisbon.