Lee Dimmitt reflects on time as supervisor

FAIRFIELD - Lee Dimmitt has attended his final meeting as a Jefferson County supervisor.

Dimmitt is stepping down from his post as a supervisor, a role he has filled for the past 12 years. He chose not to seek a fourth term this year, and will be replaced in January by incoming supervisor Susie Drish.

Dimmitt is not a Jefferson County native, but he has lived here for almost 50 years. He wanted to get into local politics many years ago and made a few unsuccessful attempts to run for Fairfield City Council and the Fairfield Community school board before striking gold in the 2008 Jefferson County supervisors' race. Jefferson County voters approved of the job Dimmitt did in office and reelected him in 2012 and again in 2016.

Dimmitt has even entertained the idea of moving up to state-level politics but ultimately didn't pull the trigger.

'I just don't want to be in Des Moines,” he said. 'I've had lots of opportunities to do that, and even discussed the possibility of serving out the final two years [of Iowa Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks' term], but the thought of spending three to four months in Des Moines did not appeal to me.”

Dimmitt was born just down the road from Fairfield in Ottumwa but spent most of his early years out west. His parents moved to Ontario, Calif, when he was about 6 years old, and that's where Dimmitt spent his formative years. At age 19, he decided to reconnect with his roots and moved back to southeast Iowa.

Why did he come back?

'I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill,” Dimmitt said. 'I did not like California. To my way of thinking, it was no place to raise a kid. I wanted a slower lifestyle, and I had relatives back here.”

Dimmitt worked a number of jobs upon his return, such as in the agricultural field working at grain bins and working with feed and fertilizer. He drove a liquid propane truck and a dump truck, among other things.

Locals may know him best for his long career working for Ross Walker, where he worked for 33 years until Walker's closed about five years ago. Dimmitt was a technician who, along with colleague Jerry Runyon, fixed typewriters and fax machines, and delivered furniture such as desks and cabinets.

Dimmitt said the work might not seem physically demanding but over time the constant kneeling did a number on his knees, and he decided to hang up his spurs when Walker did.

'When I heard Ross was going to close the business, I had no intention of looking for that type of employment anywhere else,” Dimmitt said.

Before the 2008 supervisor election, Dimmitt met with Supervisor Mike Pech. He told Pech that he didn't want to run against him, but if Pech were retiring, he'd like to run for the office. Pech was indeed preparing to step down, so Dimmitt ran for a spot on the board and won.

Why run for office?

Dimmitt said that, like most people who run, he felt he had something to contribute to the county.

'But it's a lot different once you're on the inside looking out,” he said. 'All the things you criticized the previous administration for, you realize the problems they struggled with.”

Dimmitt is a Republican, but he noted that party affiliation is not so important at the local level. He mentioned that he's worked well with Democrats on the board such as Becky Schmitz and Daryn Hamilton.

'You need to listen to different options before you can arrive at a good decision, and what you think would be a good decision doesn't always turn out to be that,” he said.

Among the accomplishments Dimmitt is most proud of is steering 10-15 Transit into calm waters after it had run aground.

'Most people are not aware of this, but it was about two weeks from having to close its doors, and 10 counties [including Jefferson County] would have been out of public transit,” Dimmitt said, noting that the service provides more than 1,200 rides per month in Jefferson County and more than 16,000 in its 10-county region.

The service offers low-cost rides by appointment including free rides to veterans. It takes people to their medical appointments in Iowa City. During the past six years while Dimmitt was chair of the transit board, the service has moved to a new location, separated from the city of Ottumwa, and the 'final feather in the cap” was assuming all the fixed routes in Ottumwa.

'We were like a phoenix rising from the ashes,” Dimmitt said.

Dimmitt is proud of the work he's done on the ambulance service. He's been a member of the Jefferson County Ambulance Board. His preference was to turn the ambulance into a public service, but he's satisfied that the board now possesses its own ambulances and has contracted with a trustworthy private partner in CARE Ambulance, which assumed ambulance duties in October. Under the new contract negotiated between CARE and the ambulance board, every ambulance must have a paramedic on it, which was not previous part of the contract.

Another project Dimmitt is pleased the supervisors accomplished was the major paving project earlier this year when portions of Pleasant Plain, Germanville, Brookville and Packwood roads, along with Vetch Boulevard, were repaved in one of the county's largest projects in the past decade. Dimmitt also mentioned that he was glad the supervisors could work with Heartland Coop, which built a grain elevator east of Fairfield.

'That was the single greatest investment of any business in Jefferson County history at nearly $27 million,” Dimmitt said.

What's next for the soon to be former supervisor?

Dimmitt said he won't retire completely, but he's also not planning to work at a structured job for 40 hours a week. He enjoys camping, and bought a new recreational vehicle earlier this year.

'I want to do that as much as possible,” he said.

Dimmitt is looking forward to having more free time to spend with his wife, Thelma, their five children, Gina, Travis, Carla, Brandon and Darrin, and their eight grandchildren.