Supervisors discuss gender balance issues in regard to Planning & Zoning Commission

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, September 24, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with County Attorney Jill Kistler to discuss the legality of the reappointment of Doug Mullen to the Planning and Zoning Commission in light of Iowa’s gender balance law.
Kistler said that the Planning and Zoning Commission is not currently gender balanced and that Mullen’s five-year reappointment should be amended to expire this coming January so that the opening could be advertised for three months in order to demonstrate that a good-faith effort had been made to find a qualified female candidate to serve on the Commission. She said that the Board is not required to appoint someone who is less qualified for the purpose of gender equity and that she believes that Mullen is more qualified to serve on the Commission than the female applicant, Marlene Imhoff-Duffy.
Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake said that Iowa’s gender balance law does not specify what a “good-faith effort” is and noted that when Kirby Cahoon was reappointed to the Commission, Colleen Gragg removed herself from consideration because she did not want to be appointed based on gender balance requirements.
Based on legal advice that he had received, Doug Mullen said that he had been appointed to serve a five-year term and that his appointment could not be amended unless the appointment was illegally made. He also noted that there have been legal challenges made to the gender balance law.
Bonnie Smola of rural Monona said that the gender balance law was passed in 2009, giving boards and commissions 31 months to “get their ducks in a row.” She said that she does not object to Mullen’s appointment but that she does support the law that was passed in 2009.
Supervisor Lennie Burke said that the question is whether or not the Board failed to publicly advertise the vacancy. While qualifications and experience should be considered, he said the Board should make every effort to attract applicants that are educated about the boards and commissions on which they may be interested in serving. He said that the County has been working toward gender balance and that “if there was an error made, we need to fix it.”
Supervisor Sherry Strub said that she “may have misspoken” last week when she said that the gender balance law is not yet being enforced. “I don’t know how the law is written,” she said, “but I felt that we made a good-faith effort.” She added that there are some boards that are comprised of a majority of women.
Chairman Larry Schellhammer pointed out that the County has done a good job of employing women, noting that most department heads within County offices are women. He said that Mullen’s appointment would stand until Kistler received an Attorney General’s opinion on the issue.

In other business, the Board agreed with Head Custodian Mike Gallagher’s recommendation to allow the contract for garbage pick-up at the courthouse with Waste Management to expire October 1 and to enter into a new three-year contract with Town and Country Sanitation at a savings of approximately $1,200 per year. The Board also approved the temporary closure, effective Monday, September 24, of Mineral Creek Drive for a bridge deck replacement project, and accepted and placed on file the Case Management cost report for fiscal year 2012 and the Department of Corrections balance sheet for fiscal year 2012.