Hamilton, Dimmitt participate in supervisor forum

FAIRFIELD — The two candidates vying to become Jefferson County Supervisor participated in a forum Monday night at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

The forum featured incumbent Democrat Daryn Hamilton and Republican challenger Lee Dimmitt. It was hosted by Jefferson County Farm Bureau, and moderated by its president, Joe Ledger. Ledger read questions to the two candidates, and gave each one a chance to answer.

Hamilton has been a supervisor since his election in 2018, when he defeated Dick Reed. Dimmitt was a supervisor for 12 years until he stepped down at the end of 2020. The forum touched on how the two men approached various county issues, which sometimes covered policies that they worked on together when they were both on the board.

In response to a question about how the supervisors were going to protect taxpayers, Hamilton responded that he and supervisor Dee Sandquist found $200,000 to cut from the budget. During his turn, Dimmitt said he was also a member of the board when the supervisors cut the budget. He added that it is a tricky balance to provide services while also keeping taxes down. He said the county should look for additional revenue opportunities, and mentioned that he’s spoken to state legislators about the state government reimbursing counties for holding prisoners in their jails.

On the subject of roads, both Hamilton and Dimmitt praised the work of County Engineer DeWayne Heintz, who was hired in July of 2021. Under his leadership, the county has increased the amount of gravel it puts down per mile, and has done a good job preserving newly paved roads.

The candidates were asked whether they supported county zoning. Neither came out firmly for or against, but they agreed that the supervisors should prioritize the preservation of agricultural land for farming. Dimmitt said there were plusses and minuses to zoning, though he said he would like the county to have control over “extraterritorial zoning,” a 2-mile radius around cities.

Hamilton said that he wanted farmers to know that, even under current law, local governments cannot zone ag land, which can only be zoned by the state.

A question later in the forum asked specifically about extraterritorial zoning, given that the city of Fairfield has expressed interest in zoning in the 2-mile radius outside its city limits. Dimmitt said the city of Fairfield is within its rights to exercise zoning in this area, though he wishes it wouldn’t, and that he’d rather have the county in charge of zoning such an area. Hamilton said extraterritorial zoning only applies to new construction within the 2-mile radius. He said a better solution to controlling what is built in the area would be to have new construction to follow building permits from the county.

Hamilton and Dimmitt were asked for their thoughts on an emergency management levy to fund 911 dispatch. Neither of them were for it. Hamilton told the audience that such a levy would increase a county resident’s property taxes 75-80 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

In a follow-up questions, Ledger asked the two candidates what they thought of the county’s 28E agreement with the city of Fairfield to provide emergency services. Hamilton said he feels the agreement is working. The agreement states that the city is responsible for paying for dispatchers’ salaries, but the city has let those climb out of control. He said the two sides have pitched ideas back and forth, with the county offering to take over the service and pay for it, but the city has not agreed to that.

Dimmitt said he feels the best solution to the dilemma is for the county to assume responsibility for dispatch.

“There is room for us to move in that direction, if we put aside our differences with the city,” he said.

One of the questions asked the supervisors if all county projects should go out for bids. Current law requires the county to seek bids on projects estimated to cost over $139,000. Hamilton said requiring all projects to be bid would be an “exercise in futility” because gathering the bids for every little project, like replacing tires on a pickup, would be so cumbersome. Dimmitt said that he’d like the supervisors to do business locally as much as possible, but added that the bidding process is a good thing because it ensures the county gets the best deal possible.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com