JOHNSON COUNTY– Three candidates are on the ballot for a special election on Tuesday, June 8, to fill a vacant seat on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.
Republican Phil Hemingway, Democrat Jon Green, and no-party candidate Brian Campbell are running for the position vacated by the resignation in April of Supervisor Janelle Rettig.
The Solon Economist sent all three candidates a dozen questions ranging from biographical to philosophical and policy-related, and their responses are printed as received, and in the order they received.
Phil Hemingway is also an Iowa City resident who grew up on his family’s farm between Morse and Oasis. After high school he farmed with his brother and father raising cattle and hogs, and growing corn, beans and alfalfa. He managed Roy Carver’s ranch in Belize, and has worked in Africa and the former Soviet Union. He has operated his own business since 1997 and served one term (four years) on the Iowa City Community School District school board of education. He has been married to his wife Anita for 28 years and the couple has one daughter, Monica.
Why are you running for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors?
The board needs to get back to the basics. I want to bring fiscal oversight and use my blue collar and farm common sense to help bring the county back to serving all residents and let them pursue their life without interference from the county government.
What do you see as the core function of the board of supervisors?
The board needs to focus on providing the core services of roads, law enforcement, emergency services and mental health support. The primary way that the board does this is through oversight of the budget. I will evaluate and understand spending to assure that taxpayer money is spent efficiently. By finding savings in some areas, we enable more to be spent on higher priorities. Those priorities are set by the board. When the county tries to do too much, it does nothing well.
Besides the pandemic, what do you see as challenges confronting Johnson County, and by extension the board of supervisors? And what would you as one supervisor on the board propose to address these challenges?
Mental health issues drive many other problems, and the pandemic has increased isolation and drug abuse. The Urban/Rural divide is another challenge that the county must work to end. These issues, and all challenges that arise, must be tackled by listening to the various views of the community and applying common sense.
Do you feel there is an urban vs. rural divide in the county? And do you feel rural residents in general, and the agricultural community in particular, is being represented by the board of supervisors? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Yes, there is an urban/rural divide, and it exists because rural residents and farmers have been ignored by the board for too long. Many board members haven’t tried to engage with farmers and understand their business. I will get out and listen to people. I will apply my farm experience to helping others on the board appreciate the rural perspective in addition to the concerns of those in the city.
In recent years the Comprehensive Plan and the Unified Development Ordinances have been a point of controversy, particularly among the ag community. Would you have voted in favor of the Comp Plan and UDO? If yes why, if no why not?
I would have voted against the Comprehensive Plan and UDO. Planning is critically important. The UDO is over 300 pages long and addresses many different issues. Some parts of it are an improvement for the county and others are an overreach. The staff who worked on the plan had good intentions but lost focus on the proper role of the county and ended up with a long list of excessive regulations and micromanagement of people’s lives, especially in the farm community. The board should focus on micromanaging the budget not worrying about how many goats are in a pasture.
How would you describe the relationship between the supervisors and the ag community? And, what would your approach be if elected?
The current relationship is poor and there is no reason for this. We have pulled together to build a great county for almost 175 years. People want healthy, fresh food. Iowa is the leading agricultural state in the nation and we are lucky to have farmers and ag businesses in our county. I have a good relationship with farmers and farmers’ groups, but I want to improve my relationship with all county residents. Talking to each other, not just communicating through email, goes a long way toward building and improving relationships. In addition, the board should work to make it easier to start small farms/niche agriculture in the county. Some people are interested in starting a small fruit and vegetable farm. There are many people in the city that are interested in getting fresh food from local farmers. Current regulations don’t make it easy to be a farmer with less than 40 acres. This is crazy, and common-sense dictates that the board should make it easier for farmers to produce fresh healthy food in our county, for our county.
Recently an Iowa City City Council member called for abolishing the Iowa City Police Department, and nationwide there are voices calling for abolishing or defunding law enforcement. What is your stance regarding law enforcement (Johnson County Sheriff’s Office)?
I never thought I would have to say that I support law enforcement and the rule of law. This should be a given. We can’t allow the destruction of private and public property no matter how just the cause. There is a way to address grievance and affect change in our democracy. I have always defended free speech and the board should make it easy for people to come and speak out about issues. The sheriff has a tough and essential job, and I will have his back. The sheriff and all elected county employees are accountable to the community. Yes, I will stand with the sheriff, but I will examine his budget with the same fine-tooth comb like all county spending.
The recently opened GuideLink Center has been hailed by Gov. Reynolds as a model for others to follow and is an example of a public-private partnership. Do you agree? Disagree? And, what is your position on public-private partnerships? Are there other ventures where you would try to formulate similar partnerships?
The GuideLink Center is an excellent model. Mental health is a big and complex issue. It takes many different skills and approaches to helping people who are having problems. Making the center regional allows it to have more resources. Partnering with other organizations and businesses that are working on the same challenge pulls together these efforts and focuses them to have a bigger impact. We need to do more partnerships. Johnson County has a Big 10 teaching hospital and there are opportunities to work together to enable the students to have excellent learning experiences while also providing help to those in need. Partnerships create a win/win for everybody.
Is it appropriate for the board of supervisors to mandate a minimum wage in the county? Or to declare a moratorium on certain agricultural operations? If yes, why? If no, why not?
No on both counts. The county needs to focus on running the county, not the state. Our focus must be on core services: roads, law enforcement, emergency services and managing the budget to provide these services. When we get off focus and spend time and energy on issues like minimum wage and restricting agricultural businesses, we stop doing what we are supposed to do and we only make the urban/rural divide worse. We also need to support business activities of all kinds and growth so that there are jobs for our residents. Regulations that make it harder to do business in our county than in the surrounding counties manage to drive business activity away and that is bad for all of our residents. I will stay focused on the core services and managing the money that is spent on those services.
Do you see yourself as an activist pursuing an ideological agenda? Or do you promise to represent all of your constituents? How accessible will you be to the residents of Johnson County, and how willing are you to actively listen to those with differing opinions?
My focus is on core county services. Maintaining roads and sweating the details of the budget is pretty basic, not ideological. I will apply my farm and business background and common sense to my approach to issues. My experience with the school board taught me how to set up regular times and places to enable me to meet with as many people as possible. I learned to listen to others and understand their perspective. I’m a face-to-face guy and always get much more out of talking with somebody in person than I do through email. I will set up regular meeting times and places so people always know when they can come to talk with me and know that I will listen to them.
A campaign is essentially a job interview. So, simply put, why should the voters of Johnson County cast their ballot for you?
Johnson County is a wonderful place to live but we are currently faced with an urban/rural divide that I want to help end. We need the board to be a voice for all county residents. I have worked as a farmer and a business owner in Johnson County and my blue-collar common sense will serve the county well. Listening to people and their diverse opinions and applying common sense leads to better decisions. I have experience from serving on the Iowa City School Board. I can bridge the divide and be a voice for all.