The Solon Area Democrat Supervisor Meet and Greet brought over 25 people and included brief introductions with a 12-minute session, where candidates rotated between three tables discussing affordable housing, public health, law enforcement, and water quality with attendees. 

The three Johnson County supervisor candidates Jessica Andino, Janet Godwin, and Jon Green are running to represent District 2, which includes Solon, Big Grove, Cedar, Hills, and Pleasant Valley.

This follows the implementation of an Iowa law that removed at-large voting for the three regent counties Johnson, Black Hawk, and Story. Now, residents of Johnson County can only vote for candidates within their respective districts. The elected District 2 supervisor will have a two year term limit.

Andino is a Ph.D. student at the UI College of Public Health, co-owner of Andino Construction LLC, and executive director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition. 

Andino said her priority as a supervisor would be to strengthen the fringe agreements on land use of unincorporated areas between Iowa City and county supervisors.

“I’ve heard from elected and city clerks that there used to be a better relationship between the county supervisors and the cities that is no longer. As a very proactive person, I like to get involved with things,” she said.

She also looks forward to improving mental health services in District 2 if elected, particularly with collaborative and evidence-based approaches to provide people with necessary clinical services. 

Andino said her ideas include the new 120-bed prison the county is looking to construct due to overcrowding at the existing county jail on 511 S. Capitol St. She also said the current jail site is worth approximately $4.5 million. 

Her proposal is to use these funds to invest towards in-facilitly division programs  that can support mental health needs and a crisis violence intervention program.

“If we can actually implement those programs in the jail themselves to reduce recidivism, I think that is extremely important to have both mental health and educational services,” she said. 

Andino believes her best strength is being able to listen to other perspectives and take feedback for self-improvement. 

“I’ve been the only white person in a room. I’ve been the only English or Spanish speaker in a room. I’ve been an only woman in a room, been the only non-farmer in a room. I think we can focus on what we have in alignment, as opposed to our differences,” she said. 

Although she is a younger candidate, Andino does not see herself staying on the board for more than 20 years.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for candidates that are all above the age of retirement to all still be running. I think it’s diversity of thought, background, experience, that brings together a healthy board,” she said. 

Godwin, who served on the Iowa City Community School Board for five years and worked for 35 years at Iowa City’s ACT facility, said it is a priority for supervisors to handle the new state revisions to district representation by avoiding as much conflict as possible.

“We need to operate at a greater good level. We need to understand what strategic priorities for the county are to be able to represent the interests,” she said. 

Godwin is also concerned about water conservation and efforts to protect diversity as diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives are being pushed back such as an Iowa law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, that restricts public universities from establishing DEI offices and roles. 

“We talk about water, we need to conserve that and take care of that properly, and diversity, this is a dirty word. It shouldn’t be. When I was working at ACT, we had all this pressure to, you know, step away from our diversity and inclusion initiatives. And we’ve got to find a way to fight against that stuff,” she said.

Godwin also referenced the support the school board provided families of children with learning disabilities who sued Reynolds and the state for House File 847, a bill that prevented school districts from requiring mask mandates back in 2021.

She said the signing of the law was very abrupt.

“They signed this at 1:00 in the morning. The next day, teachers had no idea that this had even passed,” she said. 

Jon Green, an incumbent who has sat on the board since June 2021 and current chair, said he’s looking to build a coalition with different jurisdictions to improve Iowa’s water quality issues and state funding cuts to the Johnson County Conservation Department.

“When the legislature first defunded them three years ago, I started reaching out to the Des Moines Waterworks, the other supervisors, to see council members, anybody who has an interest in water quality. And my hope is Polk, us, Linn, and a couple other jurisdictions are going to make up that shortfall for the coming year,” he said.

Addressing Johnson County’s aquifer dependency is on Green’s radar as well, particularly as Iowa is a heavily terraformed land.

On March 4 of this year, the supervisors officially began planning to create an ordinance to protect aquifers by ensuring the responsible use of AI data centers. 

“We’re ensuring that aquifers aren’t recharged by tiling the entire space. I mean, we don’t give the water time to hesitate, and that’s a real problem,” he said.

Green was also asked about the new jail facility and the implications for District 2. He said that because Iowa City is practical in allowing the county sheriff to access the Johnson County courthouse, the rural representatives must maintain a good relationship with Iowa City.

He said the conditions of the existing  jail are in need of renovation.

“It was poorly designed 47 years ago. Wow, and you know what? I’m confident that we are more enlightened people than we were in terms of what a humane facility could look like. That’s hopeful,” he said.

Paul Deaton is a member of the Solon Area Democrats and said the organization is an ad hoc group that hosts democratic politics in Solon and surrounding towns. He’s been active in the group since 2006 and has lived in the neighboring township, Big Grove, since 1993.

When asked for the most pressing issues in his community, Deaton said he has not seen any struggles in his affluent neighborhood in Big Grove township. 

However, he believes people may have issues adjusting to the new district system that replaced at-large voting. Deaton also communicated with residents and said regional water issues and the Lake McBride watershed are extremely important to District 2 voters.

He said he worries less about division and bringing the community together.

“There’s a mix of Democrats and Republicans, and I think we’re ill served if we serve the broader media narrative about, all this division, because we’re gonna disagree on issues, but at the same time, we can get along,” he said.