Louisa County Conservation Board member awaits official removal order after alleged 'false allegations'
WAPELLO — A Wapello man who was removed from the Louisa County Conservation Board by the county board of supervisors on June 21 said Wednesday that he had not yet received any official removal order from the board.
County officials said during the board of supervisors’ July 26 meeting the letter had been sent to Sam Willson by certified mail on July 19.
Willson said although he had not received the official letter, he did receive a copy from a newspaper reporter on July 27, but it was unsigned and he questioned whether it was legal or valid.
“Receiving official word from the press instead of the official way is wrong,” Willson, who was appointed to a five-year term on the LCCB on Jan. 1, 2020, wrote in a later email to the reporter.
According to Iowa Code, an official appointed by the board of supervisors may be removed by the board by written order, except where otherwise provided by state law.
In another section of the Code, an exception is made for county conservation board members, which only allows the board of supervisors to remove those members for malfeasance, nonfeasance, disability or failure to participate in conservation board activities.
In any case, once a person who is removed is mailed the written order, that person has 30 days to appeal the order. Even though Willson has not yet received the official written order, since it was mailed on July 19, he only has until Aug. 17 to appeal, if he wishes.
Willson has not announced if he plans to appeal, although he has indicated he has talked with an attorney about his case. He also pointed out in his email to the reporter the delay in receiving the official order had used up almost a third of his appeal window.
According to previous discussions and the written order, the supervisors decided to remove Willson following a 90-minute closed meeting where it reviewed comments he had posted on the WQAD-TV Facebook page.
More: Louisa County Board of Supervisors votes to remove conservation board chair Sam Willson
Those postings had come in response to comments posted by others related to a proposed sale of the 18.5-acre Baird Timber, which a unanimous conservation board later rejected.
More: Baird Timber will remain under Louisa County ownership following long-awaited board decision
In the initial post a person had asked, “isn’t the conservation board supposed to preserve?”, which prompted another individual to reply: “yes, but when the county supervisors can (appoint) members to the (LCCB), believing in conservation doesn’t seem to be a requirement to sit on the conservation board.”
Willson had then responded with: “They are supposed to, but when the board is corrupted, it runs astray.”
That comment was later cited in the supervisors’ written removal order as the primary charge against Willson.
“The decision of the Supervisors is based on your written statements posted on Facebook alleging corruption on the Conservation Board,” they wrote.
“Your allegations of corruption are unsubstantiated and foster a hostile environment on the Conservation Board,” they continued before closing by accusing Willson of malfeasance “for making false allegations on a public social media platform.”
In his email to the reporter, Willson denied the accusation and suggested his comments were constitutionally protected speech.
“I stated the board was corrupted and went astray. I did not state the board was corrupt or there was corruption transpiring,” he wrote, adding none of the supervisors had asked him what he had meant by his postings.
“The actions by the board of supervisors demonstrates that they do not want someone to voice facts about a board they want total control over,” he concluded in the email.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Louisa County Conservation Board member Sam Willson may appeal removal
