Benton County Board needs consistency, order

VINTON — Born and raised in Iowa, Nicholas Volk thinks his experience on boards can help bring consistency and order to the Benton County Board of Supervisors.

Volk faces Bruce Volz for a seat on the board in the Nov. 5 General Election.

“I’m an Iowa resident my entire life,” said Volk. Born in rural Johnson County, Volk grew up in Jones County on a dairy farm. He took part in 4-H and exhibited livestock projects.

After high school, Volk attended the University of Northern Iowa for two years before finishing his bachelor’s degree in finance at the University of Iowa.

Volk spent six years as a bank examiner for the Iowa Division of Banking before moving back to Benton County.

“I’ve been here for 44 years now,” said Volk. “I was in two community banks here until I retired.”

Volk has been married almost 50 year and has five adult children.

Volk has been involved locally in the Democratic Party and has been party chair for four years. Other than a run for the Iowa State Senate in 2012, Volk hasn’t been a candidate for election.

“My job as chairman is to find other people to run,” Volk said.

People approached by Volk declined to run, so Volk decided he’d do it himself.

“Things at the courthouse are not correctly being done,” said Volk. On his website he calls it drama.

“We’ve had some issues that came up,” Volk said. “I thought maybe they need different leadership.”

A sexual harassment lawsuit cost the county $250,000, and the dismissal of two different human resources directors cost the county $170,000.

Earlier this year, the board let the entire board of health go. “They just dismissed them and put on a whole new board,” Volk said.

“I’m OK with you switching up people, but usually you do it over a period of time,” said Volk. And the lack of a public explanation is “concerning.”

The incidents taken together give a bad impression of Benton County, said Volk, and makes the leadership look incompetent.

County supervisors should be unbiased and judge issues reasonably to make the county run smoothly, Volk said. The board should make decisions in a reasoned manner with the best interest of the county in mind.

“I’ve been on boards,” said Volk. Boards have to operate in a competent manner. “I can do that.”

As a former bank examiner, Volk will work with the county auditor to find areas in which the county can reduce expenses, he said.

“I’m all for having a rainy day reserve,” said Volk. If something comes up, such as the 2020 derecho, the county will have money to work with.

“But again, you can have too much rainy day money,” Volk said.

Volk’s main goal, however, is to help the county operate competently. “I’m there for responsibility, and I’m there for transparency,” he said.

“That’s who I am. That’s what I think. You really hold a trust to the people you’re supposed to represent.”

(“On the Ballot” is a Hometown Current series profiling candidates in Benton, Iowa and Poweshiek Counties. Articles will run as candidates are interviewed. Candidates who do not respond to requests for interviews will not be included in the series.)