(Spirit Lake)– Dickinson County employees will need to sign off annually on a conflict of interest policy under a resolution the board of supervisors adopted today. Previously they only had to do that at the time of hiring. The vote to revise that policy was 4-1 with supervisor Kim Wermersen casting the dissenting vote.
The action follows allegations over the past year of conflicts of interest among some supervisors on certain issues. County officials argued at the time the matters were properly addressed. County Attorney Steve Goodlow told the supervisors the county’s existing policy already was above and beyond what’s required under Iowa Code.
Transparency was also on the agenda for today’s (Tues.) meeting, specifically pertaining to the archival of county meetings online. A number of those who spoke called on the county to archive recordings of the Board of Supervisors meetings indefinitely. Following further discussion a motion was made and approved 5-0 to establish a link on the county’s website to access recorded Board of Supervisors meetings on YouTube that will be permanently archived. Supervisor Steve Clark spoke in favor of increasing transparency and accountability…
There was also discussion about requiring meetings of the county’s Board of Health, Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Adjustment, but it was decided to leave those out of the motion. Supervisors indicated there could be further discussion in the future on extending the requirement to those bodies at a later date. It was pointed out audio recordings are already made of Planning and Zoning and Board of Adjustment meetings, which are available by contacting the Planning and Zoning Office. Some, however, say they should be more readily available.
Supervisor Levi Markwardt brought the conflict of interest and transparency issues to the forefront siting concerns from constituents.
