~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
Claims by a Scranton resident and mention of loading up a gun raised a question of free speech following the county supervisors’ Dec. 21 regular meeting.
During open forum at the meeting, Scranton resident Alex Calderon spoke to the board at length, saying, “My civil rights and constitutional rights are being violated.”
Calderon described a situation, festering over past years, in which he feels his property rights to his private driveway in Scranton have been ignored by the city and Casey’s General Store. He said snow from Casey’s is shoved onto his driveway and the city puts signs on his property illegally.
Calderon owns commercial property across the street to the north of Casey’s.
He said has used railroad ties and “built up the easement with nails” to enforce his rights. The ties and nails have “disappeared.”
Calderon blamed supervisor Dawn Rudolph, also from Scranton, saying, “Dawn Rudolph has made my life a nightmare since I bought my property.” Calderon called Rudolph a “puppet master” and accused “her and her minions” of an incident involving “buckets of rocks.”
Calderon also claimed Rudolph is says he goes around Scranton “stirring up trouble.”
“My life has been threatened several times,” Calderon said. “I’m ready to load up my gun.”
“I came here from a large city to create small business. There’s racism here,” Calderon said. “Hatred and animosity are being fed into the younger generation.”
Board chair John Muir told Calderon the board has no jurisdiction in Scranton, and advised him to talk to the Scranton city council.
County attorney Thomas Laehn said, “Remedies from the county have to be in the form of criminal or civil allegations. Grievances cannot be remedied by the county.”
Laehn said criminal activity should be reported to the county sheriff.
Muir also said, “We will ask questions. If people know you don’t want trespassing, and they trespass, and they’re county employees, we’ll remedy that.”
In view of Calderon’s public statement about a gun, GCNO later spoke with Laehn by telephone to ask about limits on public speech.
While declining to speak specifically about Calderon’s statements made during open forum, Laehn did say there are limits to free speech.
“No right is absolute. Words can constitute a criminal act. Threats, harassment, stalking can have legal consequences,” Laehn said.
The board placed no constraints on the time Calderon had to speak and he spoke for 30 minutes. The board did not explain limits on public speech to Calderon.
In other business, the supervisors heard requests for FY 2022 from several agencies.
Tess Cody, representing ACCESS (Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support) described the sexual and domestic abuse program as giving support and emergency shelter to county residents. During the pandemic, Cody said the agency has used virtual tele-health and virtual support groups to provide services. Training for providers has been done through an online book club.
ACCESS requested $5,000, the same amount as the current fiscal year.
Linda Ross, representing Elderserve (Jefferson congregate meals), a subcontractor of the Elderbridge Agency on Aging, said the number of people using congregate meals declined due to the pandemic but is now rising. The dine-in option at the Greenewood Center was discontinued because of the pandemic, she said, but delivery of meals continued.
Elderserve requested $12,000 for FY ‘22, an increase of $2,000 over the current fiscal year funding.
Jeff Lamoureux, executive director of Heart of Iowa Habitat for Humanity, spoke of a nine year history of the group offering home repairs to county homeowners through the Helping Hands program. Though construction of housing was curtailed because of the pandemic, Lamoureux said some projects were possible. He described partnering with the schools to build a ramp for a home.
Heart of Iowa Habitat for Humanity requested $5,000 for FY ‘22, the same amount as received during the current fiscal year.
Reegan Hanigan, representing Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community, described the newly-combined non-profit organization as made up of various teams doing projects to benefit the community and tourism.
Jefferson Matters requested $4,500 for FY ‘22.
Shelly Sindt of Elderbridge Agency on Aging described the agency adapting to the pandemic by using virtual services such as Facebook virtual live meetings. A current project is “using GrandPads to connect those over 90 years of age to family, games, and other content.” Sindt said the GrandPads use cellular connections and so avoid the intricacies of internet use.
Sindt said, “In our 29 county region, we haven’t missed a step in providing meals.”
Lionel Foster, a member of the Elderbridge board, attended the supervisors’ meeting by Zoom and thanked the supervisors for support. “Our clients have gratitude for Elderbridge,” he said. “The elderly population is growing every year.”
Elderbridge requested county match funds totaling $7,638 for FY ‘22. Current year funding is $7,511. Sindt said the increase represents a nickel per senior served in Greene County, from $2.95 to $3.00.
“For every dollar of funds received from Greene County, Elderbridge spends $27.57 in the county,” Sindt said.
The board took no action on the funding requests.
The board entered closed session with county attorney Laehn to discuss joining federal litigation involving opioid damage discussed by Laehn at a previous board meeting. Laehn had said 47 Iowa counties were joining a suit to recover opioid-addiction costs from manufacturers of opioid drugs.
The board returned from the closed session with no action taken.
