Big counties consider joining forces

Three of Iowa's biggest counties are exploring the idea of forming an urban county caucus to share information and position themselves for greater influence with the State Legislature.

Supervisors from Black Hawk, Linn and Johnson Counties held a joint meeting for the first time Friday in Cedar Rapids, and as they talked over flood plain policy, broadband, the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, and their legislative priorities, what emerged was a desire for a network of urban counties similar to the Urban Education Network or the Metropolitan Coalition, groups of the state's largest school districts and cities.

More than a third of Iowa's population lives in its seven largest counties - Polk, Linn, Scott, Black Hawk, Johnson, Woodbury and Dubuque.

While small counties focus first on secondary roads, large counties have greater responsibility for providing services to veterans, at-risk young people and the mentally disabled. Their budgets and bureaucracies are far bigger, and they take a greater interest in what lawmakers are up to.

“We just have a whole different set of issues,” Black Hawk County Supervisor John Miller said.

With a common agenda, big counties will be able to put more pressure on legislators and get more attention, Miller said,

A county with a population of 10,000 has so little in common with urban counties, said Rod Sullivan, a Johnson County supervisor, that supervisors from big counties often spend meetings with small county representatives just bringing them up to speed. Polk County, Iowa's largest county, has stopped participating with the Iowa Association of Counties in recent years, Sullivan said, and building a large-county coalition could bring Polk back into the fold.

“We have somewhat different needs than most of our fellow (association) members,” he said. “We've got to serve our constituents.”

The three boards will meet again Feb. 26 in Cedar Rapids, and will try to work out the details of a large county caucus.