Supervisors appoint one of their own to conservation board after recent backlash

Supervisors have appointed one of their own to the Jasper County Conservation Board in response to the recent “breakdown of communication” with the county department, which led to community outrage. The longtime board member who was replaced by a supervisor is disappointed and frustrated by the decision.

Appointing Thad Nearmyer to the conservation board in place of the current board member, Robyn Friedman, was proposed by Supervisors Chairman Brandon Talsma during the Sept. 2 board of supervisors meeting. The action passed in a 2-0 vote with Nearmyer abstaining from the vote.

“In light of recent events, I think it would behoove us to appoint Thad Nearmyer to the conservation board,” Talsma said, referencing recent controversy about the future of a conservation position. “I’m going to make that motion. I think there’s been a continual breakdown of conversation between the two boards.”

Abby Lamont, of Newton, spoke out against the appointment during the public comment portion of the meeting, suggesting it is a conflict of interest to have a supervisor on their conservation board. Talsma told Lamont county supervisors can, indeed, serve on other county boards and commissions.

Iowa Code 331.216 states unless otherwise provided by state law, a supervisor may serve as a member of any appointive board, commission or committee of this state, a political subdivision of this state or a nonprofit corporation or agency receiving county funds. The code seems to uphold Talsma’s arguments.

Still, Lamont argued Friedman had been waiting to be reappointed to the board for nine months. Lamont questioned why the position was left open for so long.

Talsma reasoned he couldn’t speak for why his fellow supervisors chose not to bring it up to reappoint Friedman, but he did not bring it up because he disliked the idea of people serving on boards and commissions “for a perpetual amount of time.” He brought up similar sentiments with the reappointment of Carol Kramer.

In 2022, Talsma pushed back against reappointing Kramer to the conservation board. She has served on the board for more than 30 years. While the board would eventually appoint Kramer in a 2-1 vote, Talsma argued these are not “lifelong appointments” and that other volunteers may want to serve.

Talsma also told Lamont he did not like that the majority of conservation’s board members are from Newton or within a three-mile radius of Newton. He wants to see more board members representing the rural areas. Talsma noted Friedman has been instrumental to conservation obtaining its nature center.

“But I didn’t want to reappoint somebody for a four-year term for something that was going to be over in a year,” Talsma said.

Lamont pressed the supervisors to explain why they left the board seat vacant for nine months. Talsma said it technically wasn’t open and that the conservation board has no authority to reappoint their own board members. He reasoned that members of the boards and commissions serve perpetually until acton is taken.

“Why appoint Thad today? Why not bring somebody else up?” Lamont asked.

Talsma answered, “In light of recent events and the lack of communication between our two entities is why I felt it was paramount that we need to make the change now.”

Lamont also inquired about the proposed 28E agreement the supervisors wanted to draft for the conservation board, which clearly defines the duties of the nature center. Specifically, the supervisors want the agreement to hold conservation accountable to past comments saying the upkeep wouldn’t fall on taxpayers.

“They haven’t been asked to sign anything yet,” Talsma said. “Nothing’s even been drafted or proposed to them, and it would be a two-way street.”

Lamont hoped supervisors would reconsider making a 28E agreement, saying conservation has raised millions of dollars and will continue to raise millions of dollars for the nature center. Thousands of children benefit from the conservation programs every year, she said.

“It would be a huge disservice to not facilitate that building with our tax dollars,” Lamont said.

FRIEDMAN QUESTIONS WHY SHE WASN’T CHOSEN

Friedman had been serving the conservation board for 15 years. She was first appointed in 2010 and asked to be reappointed every five years her term had expired. Friedman told Newton News she had submitted her application to be reappointed to the conservation board in December 2024.

When two supervisors attended an earlier conservation board meeting this year, they were asked about the delay of Friedman’s reappointment. Friedman said the two supervisors were asked if there were other applicants. They said no. Friedman said they were then asked why they weren’t moving forward.

“They answered that they were considering moving in a different direction with no further explanation beyond that,” she said. “No explanation to county conservation department or the other board members. And they didn’t let us continue that conversation at that time because there were two of them present.”

Which meant their presence could be considered a quorum.

Friedman anticipated her seat would be on the line after her board decided to repost the naturalist/office manager, which supervisors disagreed with.

Supervisors were put on blast by community members after a report from KNIA-KRLS was shared on social media. The radio station reported on a conservation staff member pleading with Newton school board members and teachers to contact supervisors about keeping a naturalist/office manager position.

Jasper County released a press release clarifying they were not eliminating the position but wanted to kickstart conversations about creating a split office position between conservation and secondary roads. The conservation board argued they have the funds to pay for this position.

While the supervisors acknowledged that conservation can fund the position, Talsma noted budget cuts next year could eliminate it. He disliked the idea of hiring someone for a job that may not be there in less than a year’s time. Still, conservation board wanted to fill the position and posted it to job sites.

“Which is not what the supervisors have wanted us to do,” Friedman said. “I knew it would probably put my appointment in a bit of jeopardy.”

Friedman disagreed with supervisors choosing Nearmyer to serve on the board.

“I was under the understanding that I was the only person who submitted an application to be appointed to the position,” she said. “And I submitted that before my term expired in December for then it not to be acted upon all these months leading up until now, even after directly asking for it to be put on an agenda.”

Nearmyer later told Newton News he had not filled out an application.

Iowa Code 350.2 states members of the county conservation board shall be selected and appointed on the basis of their demonstrated interest in conservation matters. With her background running trails, being a fan of nature and having a biology degree, Friedman thought she was a good fit for the board.

“I was the only applicant and they still didn’t choose me,” Friedman.

Friedman is frustrated and disappointed by the decision, and she said supervisors have only opposed reappointments to the conservation board for her and Carol Kramer, who are the only women on the board. Friedman said both she and Kramer struggled to be reappointed.

Friedman was heavily involved in the nature center project. One of the biggest reasons she wanted to stay involved for one more term was to see that project through fruition. Even though she is no longer on the board, Friedman said she will continue to be involved with Jasper County Conservation.

SUPERVISORS DEFEND THEIR DECISION

In a follow-up interview with Newton News, Talsma said the application process is used by all of the county’s boards and commissions.

“We played around with it before in the past but we kind of quit pushing it out because it didn’t have the results that we wanted,” Talsma said. “I think three years ago is when we started to do a big push and it didn’t have the desired affect. It had a whole bunch of people who weren’t qualified.”

Many of the county’s boards and commissions have requirements to join, like the veterans affairs commission or the planning and zoning board. For an individual to serve on the zoning board, they must be a rural resident. The commissioners for veterans affairs are veterans of the U.S. military.

Talsma addressed the issue of supervisors serving on boards and commissions and he disclosed to Newton News which boards the supervisors serve on:

• Brandon Talsma serves on boards or commissions for Central Iowa Juvenile Detention, Cemetery, Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund, Central Iowa Regional Housing Authority and Emergency Management.

• Doug Cupples serves on boards or commissions for Public Health, Aging Resources, Central Iowa Regional Housing Authority as an alternate, JEDCO and DHS Decategorization.

• Thad Nearmyer serves on boards or commissions for Jasper County Nutrition, IMPACT, Aging Resources as an alternate, Central Iowa Regional Transportation Planning Alliance, Compensation and Fifth Judicial District.

To Talsma, it is important for supervisors to be involved in these boards and commissions when it involves county funds.

“It should be supervisors and elected officials that sit on them because that all comes back to play in our budget,” Talsma said.

Talsma defended his decision to put Nearmyer on the board, given the recent controversies. The chairman of the board of supervisors said communications between them and the conservation board had been breaking down for some time. Talsma said there was a time he attended every conservation meeting.

However, he said that all stopped after he questioned whether Kramer should be reappointed to the conservation board. Talsma said meetings then shifted to an hour or 30 minutes before the supervisors meetings began on Tuesdays, so he was unable to attend.

Talsma said putting Nearmyer on the conservation board may help improve communications between the two entities.

“If a supervisor would have been on the board, it would have been cleared up in a bout 30 seconds,” Talsma said.

Talsma emphasized that county departments operate through tax dollars allocated by the board of supervisors.

“We’re not trying to micromanage or control anything, but there has got to be a conversation between these boards and coming back to the board of supervisors so that we can work together so that both of us can try to achieve what our objectives are,” Talsma said.

To him, that means both the supervisors and the conservation board will have to compromise. Nearmyer stressed communication is important.

“I believe it’s imperative that the conservation board and the board of supervisors have a good understanding of each other’s goals,” Nearmyer said. “Having a supervisor on the conservation board will begin that process.”