~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
Greene County attorney Thomas Laehn wants it known that Greene County will not be an easy place to get away with criminal acts.
He reported to the county supervisors at their Nov. 22 meeting that he has cleared a backlog of cases that formed while court activities were limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He explained that the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that any cases that do not reach disposition by Feb. 1, 2022, must be dismissed. No Greene County cases remain, and Laehn added that other county attorneys can not make the same claim.
He prefaced his comments saying, “perhaps I’m a better attorney than a politician.” Earlier comments he made about OSHA’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate drew a very wide range of responses in news and social media, ranging from total agreement to calling for his resignation.
Laehn also spoke of two Greene County cases where the defendants have fled the state, one to Texas and one to Pennsylvania. The defendant from Pennsylvania has already been returned to the county, and sheriff Jack Williams planned to transport the defendant from Texas soon.
“Our policy is to extradite people who flee,” Laehn said. “Otherwise, people have a get out of jail free card.”
The supervisors unanimously approved opioid settlement participation forms which accepted monetary settlements from several major pharmaceutical companies involved with opioid distribution.
“The money from the settlements has limited uses and is distributed by the State over 18 years,” Laehn said. “It’s designed more for urban counties.”
However, Laehn said possible uses might include the ambulance service in the county.
Sheriff Jack Williams was approved to assume emergency management coordinator duties on an interim basis.
Laehn told the supervisors there are no legal issues with an interim basis, but a permanent coordinator needs to be found and appointed.
Laehn said Williams would not be reporting to the emergency management commission.
Board chair John Muir asked about a timeline in the code for a permanent appointment of coordinator and the board discussed the small pool of people available with the skills and knowledge required.
“Law enforcement and secondary roads are always involved in emergencies,” Muir said.
Williams was approved unanimously by the board and he asked that the board appoint one of the supervisors to the county’s emergency management commission.
The board unanimously passed a resolution supporting the adoption of the name Wolf Hollow Creek for an unnamed creek in Cedar township. The resolution will be sent to the federal Board on Geographic Names.
Jeff Pudenz identified himself during open forum as the person who had initiated the request with the BGN.
“It’s been a two-year process,” Pudenz said. “Indigenous peoples had to sign off on it, too.”
Engineer Wade Weiss shared a letter of thanks he received for help his department had given the Rippey baseball infield improvement projects earlier in the year.
Ken Paxton, Sid Jones, and Chuck Offenburger, representing Greene County Development Corporation and the Greene County Diversity Project, introduced Carlos Arguello, head of Latino IQ, who attended electronically through video zoom and spoke about his company’s role in the project.
Arguello said he grew up in Carroll in one of the first Latino families in the area.
“I’m excited about the diversity project for west central Iowa,” he said.
“Latino IQ helps organizations understand Latinos as consumers, clients, customers, employees, and residents,” he said. “Latinos come from a complex and diverse heritage.”
Arguello described successful projects done in Storm Lake, Marshalltown, and Crawford County.
He said language differences are usually not of great importance.
“English is the primary language of many young Latinos,” he said. “There are 200,000 Latinos now in Iowa and many are in their twenties. Their first language is English. For Latinos 35 years old and younger, Spanish is not the primary language.”
Arguello said he has already talked with many employers in Greene County who have indicated they need employees.
“The response has been positive (for hiring Latino employees) with every employer I’ve talked with,” said Arguello. He recommended putting together a diversity steering committee to work with his company.
Arguello identified challenges he sees as part of the project: cultural education needed for employers and Latinos; housing; childcare; recreation and entertainment opportunities. He said many Latino families have multi-generational households with multi-generational needs.
“At first, Latino employees might commute from distances as much as an hour away before deciding whether to move to a community,” Arguello said. “Housing will be an important part of the project.”
“Community involvement will be very important,” he said. “The project won’t work without the community.”
“We are a welcoming county and have high expectations of people moving in. We want to help it along so people can be successful,” Muir said.
Supervisor Mick Burkett asked about other communities Latino IQ has worked with.
Arguello spoke of projects in Webster City, Iowa State Extension, John Deere, T Mobile, and voter acquisition projects for both major political parties.
He said, “Other counties are looking at this. Employees are going to bigger cities (instead of smaller towns.)”
Muir asked about benchmarks for the project and how to determine if it is working.
Arguello said, “The first benchmark will be more employee applicants coming through the doors.”
Arguello spoke of advertising and telling the story of Greene County to wider audiences through Latino publications and Latino-specific outlets.
Representatives of GCDC echoed Arguello’s message and added statements about the importance of welcoming from the community and “taking care of the human aspects” to have “incredible success and growth as a county.”
Ken Paxton said there is already strong support for the project from large employers in the area.
Muir said, “We follow the lead of employers, and they’re showing us they have needs (for employees.)”
Representatives of GCDC said they are applying for a federal grant for $75,000 with a local $75,000 match to fund the diversity project for three years. Arguello’s company, Latin IQ, could be involved for the entire project.
Chuck Offenburger has reportedly become the head of a steering committee being formed to explain the three-year project and prepare residents for it.
