By Addi Martin
After a close vote on June 7, incumbent Democrats will likely fill two of the three open seats on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.
Rod Sullivan and Lisa Green-Douglass were re-nominated to to the supervisors, and Iowa City restaurant owner Kurt Friese took the third Democratic nomination.
The Democratic winners will be the winners of November’s election because there are no other supervisor candidates on the ballot.
With all 58 precincts reporting, Sullivan led with 62 percent of the vote, with Green-Douglass following at 53 percent and Friese at 49 percent.
Oaknoll Retirement Residence Director Patricia Heiden finished fourth, Jason Lewis fifth, and Mike Hull sixth.
“People have seen what we’re doing,” Green-Douglass said. “Being the incumbent, you have the voting record to say how you would position yourself on certain issues.”
Douglass, who has lived in Johnson County for 34 years, said she wants to continue to be an advocate for underrepresented groups.
Friese, the owner of Devotay, 117 N. Linn St., will begin his first term in January.
He said he wants to focus on the county’s land-use plan, work to alleviate what he said is a stigma on mental health, and expand on the county’s existing Crisis Intervention Training and Mental Health First Aid Program. That program, implemented by the Iowa Department of Human Services, aims to help the community identify and understand mental illness.
“If I had a magic wand, I would make every ninth grader go through this program,” he said. “I believe the stigma of mental health would lift overnight.”
Friese also said he wants to preserve farmland.
“I want to completely stop development in the North Corridor and stop pouring cement on farmland,” he said.
Sullivan is headed for another term in his 12-year-long run as a supervisor.
During his last term, he worked to pass the Johnson County Minimum Wage Ordinance in September 2015. Sullivan’s platform was also based on wanting to improve the local food economy as well as working to make housing more affordable in the Johnson County area.
