IOWA CITY

A pair of public-comment sessions last week on separate days clearly put the spotlight on a division that has grown within the five-member Johnson County Board of Supervisors.

One week after Supervisor Jon Green called for Supervisor Royceann Porter to be stripped of her committee assignments and professional travel benefits, the Oct. 11 work session included 12 speakers supporting Porter and the Oct. 12 formal session included 11 speakers criticizing Porter.

The Board itself came under scrutiny.

Kevin Sanders, the Iowa City chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said there would be an investigation.

After two days and more than an hour of public comment, no action was taken against Porter and there was no apology by Porter or by the Board for Porter’s actions or its own actions.

There were also no proclamations issued, a program that was paused for a month after a verbal tussle between Porter and Sikowis Nobiss, founder and executive director of the Great Plains Action Society, during a formal session in July that included a proclamation for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Awareness Day.

A screaming argument between Porter and three other women, including Nobiss, interrupted the Board’s Oct. 4 work session to the point that a recess was called by Board Chair Lisa Green-Douglass and a live video was frozen. A portion of that meeting has now been placed on a YouTube video.

Nobiss was back in front of the Board at the Oct. 12 session, using her three-minute allotment to, in part, thank Green for his recommendations and reaction.

The Oct. 11 public session “compounded the harm that was already done,” Nobiss told the Board. “I have been disrespected.”

“What I saw last week was very disheartening,” Sanders told the Board. “We will take action if our African-American leaders are disrespected. I’m putting everyone on notice. Govern yourselves accordingly and treat our leaders with respect.”

The Board decided at its Oct. 4 work session that the proclamations program would swing out of its pause and back into the Board’s formal sessions, but there was no scheduled proclamation on Oct. 12.

Supervisors did not respond to the public comments because they are not allowed to, per county and state codes.

Property Rezoning

The first rezoning since the adoption of the Windham Village plan was approved by the Board at its Oct. 12 formal session.

A property of less than one acre, located south of Black Diamond Road, was rezoned from CH-Highway Commercial to RUA-Urban Residential. The rezoning corrects non-conforming zoning that was around two existing houses built in 1865 and 1948. Johnson County didn’t adopt zoning maps until 1960.

Shelter House Damage

Crissy Canganelli, Shelter House Executive Director, asked the Board for $7,000 in relief due to damage at the Southgate Winter Shelter facility caused by resident users.

An existing contract calls for Shelter House to cover damages.

Canganelli said staffing shortages and a lack of access to cameras has hindered the ability to track Shelter House users and damage they sometimes cause. More than 400, most of them low income residents, sought help during last winter at Shelter House.

“This is the most difficult, I think, endeavor in social services that I’ve ever seen,” Supervisor Rod Sullivan said. “It’s impossible work.”

Board Chair Lisa Green-Douglass was not in favor of changing the contract terms with Shelter House, but other supervisors favored adding funds to the county’s agreement with Shelter House in the next budget year to help cover the damages.

“We want this partnership and this is the right thing to do,” Sullivan said.

Board Action

The Board approved a 28E agreement for Mental Health/Disability Services of the East Central Region.

The Board approved an agreement with CommUnity Crisis Services for financial support for a youth crisis stabilization facility.

Next meeting: The Board’s next formal session is at 9 a.m. Oct. 19.