Prairie City man announces run for Jasper County supervisor

Scott DeVries, of Prairie City, is one of three Democrats campaigning to unseat the two Republican incumbents on the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, whose alleged lack of transparency and poor communication with the public, he said, is “frightening” or at the very least “a little bit surprising.”

“I feel the COVID situation opened up an opportunity for more transparency or for more people to become involved,” he said. “You don’t have to sit in the supervisors meeting. You can participate via Zoom. You can be engaged in different ways. I feel like that tool isn’t being used to provide more transparency.”

Problems with transparency go beyond the board of supervisors, DeVries said, and it may be an issue with governments in general. Regardless, he believes it needs to be greatly improved and involve more opportunities for public feedback, even going so far as to more directly notify residents or seek input.

“Every supervisors meeting has a public comment section, but you have to get people into the process to comment,” he said. “What other options do we have to comment? Are we doing listening sessions? Are we going out into the county to say, ‘Hey, as your supervisor … what do you need from the supervisors?’”

All decisions a local government makes impacts the people, DeVries said, but sometimes those individuals are not aware they are going to be affected.

“If you’re going to decide to discontinue a service in the county, the viewpoint of those individuals relying on that service should be considered as you take a look at ‘Do we really need this service? Who’s receiving the service? Is there another opportunity in our county?’” DeVries said.

DeVries grew up in Jasper County, and he has been involved with the local Democratic party since the 2000s. He even served as party chair at one point. For two years, DeVries worked abroad in Tokyo, Japan, around the same time Donald Trump was elected president. Upon his return, the landscape changed.

To him, it was not the same United States he remembered growing up. Jasper County had changed, too. As a whole, DeVries said the region is “much more polarized and partisan than we’ve ever been.” Some of the board action in the past year or so reflects that divisiveness, rather than promoting togetherness.

“When you start having discussions of ARPA money, for example, where we’re going to use our ARPA money only for the unincorporated sections of Jasper County, because the incorporated areas are getting their own ARPA funds to determine,” he said. “That’s not good for the county.”

Jasper County can also do a better job of representing all people in the county, DeVries added. Supervisors are elected to represent the county as a whole, which is a reason DeVries questions why the supervisors are having unincorporated versus incorporated discussions.

DeVries argued the unincorporated areas are becoming less and less populated all time. As someone who lives in the unincorporated territory of Prairie City, DeVries agrees he and others living in the same way need a voice but he also acknowledged there is a shift of fewer farm residents in Jasper County.

“We are shifting, and there is a little bit less of a focus on the things that used to make us great in Iowa, what used to be our pride and joy and what we called our ‘Iowa Values’ … the ability to have discussion with opposing views and to be civil within that discussion,” DeVries said. “I think we lost that within Jasper County.”

The board of supervisors is comprised of all Republicans. DeVries said although citizens elected those individuals, they did not elect the members of the county boards and commissions. Those people, added, should be represent of all Jasper County, and supervisors should take their perspectives into consideration.

“We should have opposing viewpoints on all of those, because as a county we need to be considering every individual,” DeVries said. “…Yes, you were elected, but quite honestly as a supervisor you don’t represent the people that elected you, you represent every individual in Jasper County.

“And if you’re not willing to listen to those voices then you shouldn’t have been elected, you shouldn’t be in that position. Because that position has the challenge of listening to not only the voices you support but also listening to the ones that you don’t.”

In addition to DeVries, Democrats Pam Olson and Bev Price are seeking a seat on the county board of supervisors.

Following the primary election, two candidates will be placed on the ballot in November. Republican incumbents Brandon Talsma and Denny Carpenter are seeking re-election. Republican candidate Julia Prendergast will compete with them in the primary.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com