Linn County supervisor vacancy will be filled by appointment; applications due March 23

CEDAR RAPIDS — Eligible Linn County residents who want to be appointed to the Board of Supervisors have until March 23 to submit applications.

A committee of three Linn County elected officials decided Thursday to move forward with appointing someone — rather than calling for a special election — to the board after Supervisors Ben Rogers resigns next month and leaves a year-and-a-half vacancy for District 2.

According to Iowa Code, that committee — Auditor Todd Taylor, Recorder Carolyn Siebrecht and Treasurer Brent Oleson, all Democrats — will vote to make the appointment to the three-member Board of Supervisors, which will go from two Democrats and one Republican to one Democrat and one Republican after Rogers leaves.

The committee met last month and declared its intention to appoint a replacement. That triggered a notice to the public that included a 14-day window when a petition could be submitted to force a special election. That window expired Wednesday. Taylor reported his office did not receive a petition by the deadline.

During Thursday’s meeting, the committee decided on a process to receive and review applications, interview candidates and make an appointment. The process is as follows:

Depending on the number of applicants and how many of them the committee wants to interview, the appointment could be made the first week of April. It cannot be made before Rogers resigns April 1.

Job posting includes note about proposed legislation

The application posted on the county’s website includes a brief description of the job, its salary — $135,294.43 per year — and several minimum requirements. Applicants must be at least 18 years old; they must be a registered voter; they must be a resident of Linn County for at least 60 days before the appointment; and they must live in District 2, which includes southeast and northeast Cedar Rapids, as well as a portion of Hiawatha.

The posting also states that the person appointed to the position would serve until the 2026 general election, with two caveats.

After the appointment is made, there will be another 14-day period when a petition — bearing 4,125 signatures of eligible electors — could be submitted to force a special election.

The posting also warns a “change in state law” could disrupt the appointment. Senate File 75, which was approved Monday by the Iowa Senate, would require vacancies on boards of supervisors in counties with more than 125,000 residents — or counties that are home to the main campus of a Board of Regents university — to be filled by special election if more than 70 days remain in the term.

Rogers’ term is set to expire in 2026.

Darrin Gage, the county’s director of policy and administration, said the bill — if approved by the Iowa House and signed by the governor — would go into effect immediately.

“So if the House were to pass that next week and the governor signed it, that would happen before you made your appointment,” Gage told the committee. “So I think that’s very fair to make the public aware that these things are possible.”

Applications, interviews will be made public

The committee discussed other requirements for the posting during Thursday’s meeting. They are requesting each applicant include a resume and a cover letter.

The posting also notifies applicants that “applications are subject to public records requirements.” The three committee members said they want to make the applications available to anyone who wants to read them, although some information may need to be redacted to protect applicants’ personal information.

The committee also said it plans to hold interviews in public.

“People have got to know what they’re getting into,” Oleson said.