V Fixmer-Oraiz, Jon Green and Seth Zimmermann debate affordable housing and growth in Johnson County

The three Democrats, including one incumbent, running for two seats on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors answered questions on key political issues from a small crowd Monday.

Supervisor Jon Green of Lone Tree, V Fixmer-Oraiz of Iowa City and Seth Zimmermann of Solon participated in the League of Women Voters of Johnson County forum at The Center, making their pitch as to why they should have a full four-year term on the board.

Affordable housing, population growth and divisive issues that have plagued the board over the last two years were some of the main issues discussed.

The forum was moderated by LWV member Susan Craig. The LWV is a nonpartisan organization and regularly holds these forums before elections.

Democratic voters will pick the winners of this race in the June 7 primary election. Those two will go on to face two Republicans, Jammie Bradshaw and Phil Hemingway, in November. Johnson County Supervisors run at-large in the county, not in districts.

A full video of the voter forum is available on the City Channel 4 YouTube and Facebook page.

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Candidates stress need to help smaller towns as Iowa City and suburbs experience rapid growth

Each candidate was asked what Johnson County's 16.8% population growth, from 130,882 in 2010 to 152,854 in 2020, means for services the county provides.

Green, who attended virtually, said that, while Johnson is the second-fastest growing county in Iowa behind Dallas, that growth is not shared amongst its municipalities. While smaller towns like Tiffin more than doubled in size, others like his home in Lone Tree are not seeing that influx of people.

"We need to ensure ... the county builds the capacity to do this work and be a partner to some of our smaller municipalities," he said.

Green said that, as a former mayor of Lone Tree, he knows how tough it can be for smaller towns to accomplish major infrastructure projects and he is glad Johnson County is moving in the direction of helping its smaller towns and unincorporated areas.

Zimmermann said that, as a near lifetime resident of Solon, he agrees that Johnson County needs to support outlying communities. He said he has felt there is a rural and urban divide.

"I am interested in being the bridge between that divide. I'm interested in bringing people together, coming up with solutions," he said.

Zimmermann said he is happy that the board recently created a position to help aid small towns and unincorporated areas with economic development and wants to make sure the county continues to make sure everyone is represented.

Fixmer-Oraiz said they believe the county should look at fringe-area agreements and that the county should do all it can to make sure infrastructure is available and being utilized close to towns and cities.

"Johnson County has an amazing rich resource of jobs and natural resources, so of course we're going to be seeing a lot of growth and interest in our towns," they said.

Fixmer-Oraiz said the county needs to support its communities as much as possible and do so in a responsible way so it can protect natural resources and that the infrastructure put in place isn't burdening residents.

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Candidates asked to take stances on excluded workers and MRAP

The three candidates were asked to take a stance on divisive issues faced by the Board of Supervisors over the last couple of years: use of an armored police vehicle, and the push to create an excluded workers fund with money from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Board unanimously decided to deny the Johnson County Sheriff funds to purchase a Lenco BearCat armored vehicle in place of the Mine Resistant Armored Personnel Vehicle, or MRAP. The board recently voted 3-2 to create the Direct Assistance Program, sending $1,400 direct payments to randomly selected low-income Johnson County residents.

Zimmermann was asked first about the board's vote on the Direct Assistance Program and whether the county should have opted for a more narrow program that focused on excluded workers, a group of mostly undocumented immigrants who didn't receive any stimulus payments from the federal government.

"I believe the board can be proud of the position they took. I know it was a divided vote and there was much debate on where to go on this," he said. "I think everybody can be proud that they live in a community that stepped forward and supported people who are disenfranchised and have not received the support they need over the years."

On armored vehicles, Zimmermann said the needs of protecting Johnson County fall to Sheriff Brad Kunkel and his department. He said if Kunkel views he needs one of these vehicles to properly do his job, he won't go against the sheriff's wishes.

"We have a tool that can be used for pulling trees off the road, getting people out of (flooding) and all kinds of search and rescue things. I don't see a point in getting rid of it, and I think we allow Brad to do his job as he sees fit," Zimmermann said.

Fixmer-Oraiz said the excluded workers issue speaks to the trauma of the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic impacts that followed. They said the Supervisors were asked to invest $29.3 million in the community and had to make decisions on how to spend it all in the short and long term.

"We do need to have direct aid to folks, and I'm very proud Johnson County is the only county in the state that did that," Fixmer-Oraiz said.

Fixmer-Oraiz shifted to saying that, as an environmental and community planner with Astig Planning, they think the county should focus more on addressing the effects of climate change.

Fixmer-Oraiz said they do not support more purchases of militarized vehicles. They said it is a complex issue because many people in Iowa are "armed to the teeth" because of lax gun laws.

"The other side of that, too, is that we need to have a democracy where people can take to the streets and protest and say when their rights are being trampled on without fear of a militarized vehicle arriving on the scene," they said.

Fixmer-Oraiz said the sheriff is an elected official and has to answer for the choices he makes, but wishes to have a working relationship with Kunkel.

Green was one of the two votes against the direct assistance program alongside Supervisor Rod Sullivan and reiterated that he forcefully advocated for this money to be targeted at excluded workers.

"I have no doubt that everyone in Johnson County who receives a $1,400 stabilization check is going to be better off for it and is going to make our county better," he said. "But I fought for the program that I thought was the better program."

Green pointed out that the county also increased funding to the General Assistance Program, which is meant to be a lifeline for the broader population of residents in need of assistance.

Green reiterated his opposition to the county owning any militarized vehicles, either the MRAP or the smaller Lenco BearCat. He said he ran on this issue after his partner was tear-gassed by law enforcement while participating in the protest that crossed Interstate 80 in 2020.

"This is not how we want to interact with our public and this is not how we want to interact with the people we purport to serve," he said.

Green said he is proud Johnson County denied Kunkel's request for a BearCat and said he wished the sheriff would get rid of the MRAP.

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Green, Fixmer-Oraiz and Zimmermann float ideas on affordable housing

The three candidates were asked about affordable housing in Johnson County and how to ensure more comes available.

Fixmer-Oraiz, who is the vice president of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, said they are passionate about this issue and that workforce development is crucial to having affordable housing.

"When I say affordable housing, I mean we need to have housing where people live and work and have their children go to the same schools so that they're not driving in and out of town," they said. "That's how you empower local citizenry is to have people living and working where they are."

Fixmer-Oraiz said they want to work with developers and cities to make sure Johnson County has more affordable housing options. They said the county should explore different types of development, including finding ways to protect mobile home residents.

Green said Johnson County does have a lack of affordable housing and needs to build more and build intelligently. He said the county needs to focus on more attainable price points and pointed to building permit data from 2021 that said price points were getting more expensive.

"That is not going to help out the folks that need help," he said. "V is absolutely right, this is something that impacts our workforce."

Green said Johnson County is in danger of becoming similar to some of the most expensive counties in the country, like Teton County, Wyoming, where he said people have to commute two hours just to get to work.

Zimmermann said he thinks Johnson County needs to recognize that there is an affordable housing crisis that ripples through the entire economy to the workforce, access to food and other issues.

"We do need to work hard on coming up with solutions, and I think one thing that ... we really need to think about is keeping people near the services that everybody needs," he said.

Zimmermann said people need to be given options for affordable housing where they can access these services they require.

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More candidate forums planned before primary

One more forum is scheduled for Thursday for the six Republicans running for House District 91 at 6 p.m. in the Clear Creek Amana Middle School cafeteria. Last week, two forums were held for the two Democrats running for House District 89 and the three Democrats running for House District 90.

More information on the primary election, how to register to vote and how to vote early are available on the Johnson County Auditor's website: https://johnsoncountyiowa.gov/auditor/elections.

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George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Democrats V Fixmer-Oraiz, Jon Green and Seth Zimmermann debate issues