Ousted Johnson County director says gripes about him ‘laughable’

IOWA CITY --- A day after he was fired as executive director of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors over accusations of being “insubordinate, argumentative and disrespectful,” Guillermo Morales appeared Thursday at a board meeting — but his attempt to speak to supervisors during public comments was blocked.

Morales and other community members who showed up Thursday were unable to speak as board Chair Rod Sullivan — who led the charge a day earlier to fire Morales — chose to forgo public comment, a time usually set aside for residents to address supervisors at their regular public meetings. Allowing time for public comment is at the discretion of the board chair. Sullivan did not respond to The Gazette’s request for comment on why he chose to forgo public comment this time.

Sullivan, along with Supervisors Lisa Green-Douglass and Royceann Porter, voted Wednesday during a special meeting to immediately terminate Morales after he served about 18 months in the job. Supervisors V Fixmer-Oraiz and Jon Green dissented, saying the action was out of line with county procedures and insisting Morales be allowed to keep working but under a performance improvement plan.

Before the vote, Sullivan read a statement detailing the reasons he believed were grounds for termination — that, he alleged, Morales had been harsh and argumentative with county staff, disrespectful to departments and not acting professionally.

“I intended to come and talk about how Rod, describing me essentially as unprofessional, is rich, given that I have never yelled at anybody here,” Morales told The Gazette on Thursday. “I've never used profanity at work. … And for them to say that I'm the bad role model is laughable, when they conduct themselves the way they do.”

In the past, the elected board members have gotten into yelling matches and called out fellow supervisors during public meetings.

Morales, hired in March 2023, provided administrative guidance to the Board of Supervisors and assisted in the daily operations and strategic initiatives of the county’s government. He earned $118,242 a year.

“As I told the supervisors when I was interviewed, I can be seen as abrasive, but really what that is, is being assertive and direct. I don't speak Iowa nice. … I think that it's appreciated by some, not appreciated by many, and I think oftentimes people have a hard time hearing that come from a person of color, especially when you're surrounded by predominantly white individuals,” said Morales, who is Latino, and previously served as a labor educator at the University of Iowa Labor Center and an adjunct lecturer at the UI College of Law.

But beyond that, Morales said he believes other issues may have played a role in his ouster. He supported a controversial — and unsuccessful — censure vote against the Democratic county attorney, and supported activist Mandi Remington, founder of Corridor Community Action, in her campaign this year for supervisor.

Sullivan, Green-Douglass and Porter were up for re-election in the June primary and faced two newcomers — Remington being one. Remington emerged as one of the three top vote-getters, knocking Porter off the board when her term ends.

Morales — who reported to the five supervisors — contributed $250 to Remington’s campaign, and placed a yard sign for her campaign in front of his house.

Remington could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Morales said he also in the past has posted a yard sign for a Sullivan campaign, though he regrets that now.

“It's quite obvious to me that there's an issue with my personal position on matters of public concern, which is a violation of my First Amendment rights, and also possibly discrimination based on race or ethnicity, and I intend to pursue those claims,” he said.

Supervisors grapple with fallout

Fixmer-Oraiz opposed the firing, saying that Morales first should be placed on a performance improvement plan if there were issues.

“I think it (termination) was incredibly unacceptable; we failed to follow our own standard practice,” Fixmer-Oraiz said Thursday at the meeting. “...The person Rod described yesterday is not the person I know and respect.”

Fixmer-Oraiz said a performance improvement plan could take months to work, with advice from county staff and outside professionals. It also would include weekly check ins and performance goals.

“From board members who align themselves so closely with labor, I was shocked to see such a clear violation of due process for one of our own workers. I am saddened and disappointed that we lost such a great leader who picked up the pieces from our former director and uplifted and managed a hardworking and community oriented team,” Fixmer-Oraiz said.

Green, who voted against the termination, and Green-Douglass, who voted for it, did not speak on the matter during their supervisor reports at the meeting.

Porter, who was mostly silent during the termination, spoke of it Thursday.

“What happened yesterday was hard, but termination was for the behavior … This was not about retaliation, this has nothing to do with me. So when we sit here, I did what I did yesterday because of the complaints, because of the letters that we received from Guillermo, the insubordination, the disrespect,” Porter said.

Porter noted that Fixmer-Oraiz and Morales knew each other before Morales’ hiring. Morales volunteered for Fixmer-Oraiz’s supervisor campaign and posted a yard sign. Morales said his role included putting together canvassing materials and video editing.

Porter said she knows people are upset about the manner in which Morales’ termination occurred, but said that Morales could have asked for the meeting to be closed to the public — which is allowed by state law.

Potential write-in campaign, next steps

The Board of Supervisors has not yet discussed when a new executive director would be hired or if an interim would be appointed.

Despite being fired, Morales said he still would consider working for the county again. He also has been talking about potentially running a write-in campaign for a seat on the board, even though he knows it would be “difficult” and “unlikely.”

“If I was asked to return to work here, I would take the opportunity, because I do enjoy the people here. I enjoy the work. I think that there's some real trouble with the county's ability to work through professional disagreement,” Morales said.

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