When public comment crosses into Harassment

For several months, Henry County Board of Supervisors meetings have followed a troubling and escalating pattern that warrants public attention. During the public comment period, the County Auditor, a separately elected official and the only woman elected countywide, has been repeatedly targeted with prolonged personal attacks, accusations, and insinuations that go far beyond legitimate policy disagreement.

The Auditor is not subordinate to the Board. She is an equal elected official, accountable directly to the voters. The Board does, however, control the conduct of meetings, including enforcement of time limits, relevance, and decorum. That responsibility has not been exercised.

Public comment in Henry County is limited to three minutes. Yet over multiple meetings, a single speaker has been allowed to exceed that limit by a wide margin while directing increasingly aggressive remarks almost exclusively at the Auditor. These remarks have included unfounded allegations of criminal conduct, references to anonymous and sexually explicit accusations, offers of money for information, and threats to further publicize such material. In the most recent meeting, the speaker suggested reading explicit content aloud at a future session.

At no point were the rules enforced. At no point was the speaker redirected. And at no point did the Board intervene to halt the escalation.

This behavior has now moved beyond the meeting room. The same individual has published multiple letters attacking the Auditor by name, most recently framed as “Damage Control, Part 2.” Serial publication, repetition of allegations, and fixation on a single official are not hallmarks of civic accountability. They are markers of harassment.

Under Iowa Code 708.7 and 718.4, repeated, targeted conduct intended to intimidate or interfere with a public officer’s ability to perform their duties carries legal significance. At minimum, this situation raises serious ethical and governance concerns.

This local pattern does not exist in isolation. Nationally, the normalization of degrading rhetoric toward women in public roles has been on full display. When such behavior goes unchecked at the highest levels of government, it emboldens similar conduct elsewhere. That dynamic is now visible here at home.

This has been happening for months. It is escalating. And the continued silence from those responsible for running these meetings signals acceptance.

Civility is not weakness. Enforcing rules is not censorship. And ignoring sustained harassment is not neutrality.

It is institutional failure … and it is appalling.

Henry County deserves better.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kasey Conrad, Mt. Pleasant