Nearly 30 members of the public filled the gallery space during Monday’s meeting of the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors. Many members of the crowd held signs protesting last week’s decision to appoint Supervisor Dan Langreck to the Winneshiek County Conservation Board, instead of renewing the appointment of Bill Ohde, the board’s current chair, who is a retired Iowa DNR employee. (Photo by Zach Jensen)
By Zach Jensen,
Members of the public expressed their discontent Monday, taking issue with the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors’ decision last week to appoint Supervisor Dan Langreck to the county’s conservation board, rather than reappoint current conservation chair Bill Ohde — a retired member of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The rehashing of last week’s decision eclipsed other items on Monday morning’s agenda. Nearly 30 members of the public filled the gallery during Monday’s meeting — many of whom held signs bearing images of eyes or phrases such as “we are watching” to signify the public is paying attention to the decisions being made by the board of supervisors.
Ohde’s four-year term will expire at the end of December. Ohde applied to be reappointed, but county supervisors Langreck, Mark Vick and Steve Kelsay voted to fill the conservation board’s opening with one of their own. Supervisors Shirley Vermace and Mark Faldet voted against Langreck’s appointment.
Kelsay reiterated the decision is aimed at enhancing communication between the conservation board and the board of supervisors.
“We want to know what’s going on, because we hold the responsibility of budgets and how the taxpayer money is spent,” Kelsay said. “We don’t take that lightly.”
Former conservation board member Tom Murray, who served from 2009 to 2020, feels the board of supervisors’ Republican majority may be using Langreck’s appointment to emphasize its own priorities. He felt some of the comments made by the board of supervisors were contrary to his own experience as a conservation board member and, in some cases, he found them defamatory toward Schoeder.
“All of our monthly board meetings were publicly posted at least 24 hours prior to our meetings and open to the public,” Murray said. “I do not recall a supervisor ever attending one of these board meetings. I believe they would have if they felt they were not getting enough information … .”
Full article available in the December 19 Decorah Leader.
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