Washington County mulls board of health memberships

WASHINGTON — Washington County supervisors said they were open to replacing Washington County board of health members Jack Seward Jr. and Cathy Buffington as their terms come to an end in 2024, but have not committed to doing so.

While neither board member has explicitly stated whether they wish to be reappointed, Seward said he was open to the idea of making room for a new face at the table, assuming it’s for someone qualified.

"I would like to see if other people are interested, and if they would be good for the board,“ he said at a meeting Nov. 7. ”I’ve got enough on my plate, and I could just about see myself saying, ‘Please take it.’“

Seward — who is also a county supervisor — said he was worried that anticipated, but yet-undefined changes to the state’s public health system in the coming months and years may prove too complex for a new board member to navigate. Health officials have previously floated the idea of reappointing both current members on temporary, six-month terms to ease any potential transition.

Public Health Director Emily Tokheim said she hoped to continue working with people who understood the stakes of the county office, given Washington County’s sometimes precarious relationship with state decision-makers in recent years.

“It’s incredibly important that we do have board of health members who are going to be good advocates for our departments,” she said. “We need to ensure that we fill the board of health appropriately.”

At least one person has already expressed interest in one of the positions, according to Tokheim, as of a board of health meeting on Oct. 26.

The five-member local government body was thrust from a position of relative obscurity and into the spotlight in 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status, the government response to which was often politicized.

Mostly conservative county decision-makers found themselves frequently at odds with subject matter experts — including then-Public health director Danielle Pettit-Majewski — who encouraged mask-wearing and vaccination efforts. Former board of health member Connie Larsen was unexpectedly denied a reappointment at the end of 2022, in a move some believed was retaliation for her less conservative opinions to the same effect.

“It was a very tumultuous time,” Supervisor Marcus Fedler said at Tuesday’s meeting. “It was so frustrating because we’re not experts, but we’re hearing from experts that we’d normally trust, under any normal circumstances … so it’s like, ‘Where do my allegiances lie?’”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Seward said it would be important to pick board members who would “think critically.”

“As far as I’m concerned, what we need and what we want in the board of health is people who are concerned about health issues,” he said. “But that also have a certain capacity to think for themselves, and … ask questions, and not just accept what’s come down the line, either from HHS, and the federal government, or CDC, or whatever.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com