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Jefferson Co. Supervisors discuss removing member of Board of Health
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD — The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors plan to hold a public hearing later in March on removing a person from the Board of Health.
The Board of Health is a five-member board appointed by the supervisors to oversee both the Jefferson County Public Health Department and Jefferson County Environmental Health Department. Supervisor Joe Ledger said he learned in September 2025 that one of the members of the board was no longer living in the county, and was living in Israel, where he has been for the past seven months.
The name of the board member was not mentioned during the supervisors’ meeting on Monday, March 2 when this topic was discussed. Ledger submitted a letter to fellow supervisors Lee Dimmitt and Susie Drish recommending the removal of this person from the Board of Health, and explained the process for doing so. After some back and forth, the supervisors agreed to put the matter on their next agenda for March 9, when they could then schedule a public hearing on the removal of this board member for March 23. Ledger said that, if the board member shows up in person for the hearing, he would drop his request for removal.
Ledger told The Union in a subsequent interview why he’s pursuing this course.
“He has no interest in this county if he doesn’t live here,” Ledger said about the unnamed board member. “If there are any responsibilities, he’s not here physically to help out. Most people appointed to a county board either live or work in the county.”
Ledger said he reached out to the county attorney’s office about this matter three weeks ago but did not receive a response. Assistant County Attorney Ed Kelly, who was present at Monday’s meeting, said he was not aware of the issue until he saw it on the agenda. He said the supervisors had the right to remove a member from a board they appoint, but recommended holding a public hearing first.
Ledger stated, and Kelly agreed, that the supervisors do not have to give a reason for removing a person from an appointed board.
Drish was not warm to the idea of removing a board member in this fashion.
“I would hate for this to be something [where] a new board could get rid of people that they felt like getting rid of,” she said.
“I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong,” Ledger responded.
Public Health Administrator Chris Estle said that, in her 18 years in the position, she has never had a Board of Health member who did not live in the county, though she added that there is no policy requiring this.
“The people on the board have always lived or worked in Jefferson County,” she said.
Environmental Health Sanitarian Jerry Leonard said it was true that this board member has been attending Board of Health meetings over Zoom, but insisted that he was concerned about health matters affecting the county’s residents, and that despite his remote participation in the meetings, his physical absence has not caused him to “waiver in his commitment to the county.” Furthermore, Leonard said the member still owns property in the county, had left the country to visit his son, and planned to return. Dimmitt said the property this member owns is up for sale.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
