Get to know Henry County Supervisor candidates

MT. PLEASANT — While storms caused Henry County supervisor candidates to answer many questions in the dark last week at the supervisors forum hosted by the Government Relations Committee of the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce last week, the candidates still shed plenty of light on who they are and what they stand for.

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The four candidates Dan Cook, Steve Detrick, David Muhs, and Chad White answered 10 questions submitted by the committee. These four men are currently running against one another to fill two supervisors positions. Current supervisor Chad White’s seat on the Henry County Board of Supervisors is currently up for re-election. Additionally, current Board Chair Greg Moeller will retire from his position leaving a seat open for election.

“This is not a debate,” Chamber Executive Vice President Rachel Lindeen stated. “This is more of an opportunity for you guys to get to know the candidates.”

The forum started with the candidates introducing themselves followed by answering the 10 questions.

Cook introduced himself as a lifelong resident of the Mt. Pleasant community and a graduate of the Mt. Pleasant Community High School. His background includes eight years of service in the Army Nation Guard with a deployment to Desert Storm. He is a member of the Mt. Pleasant VFW and Honor Guard and serves as a chairman for the county Whitetails Unlimited. Cook works at Continental, is married, and has three children.

“I will work to improve Henry County as a place to live and thrive,” Cook said. “We need to recruit while supporting existing industry and improve the tax base, increase single family housing support, farming communities, and provide quality education for our youth.”

Detrick shared that he is a fifth generation resident of Henry County with his grandfather as one of the four founders of Midwest Old Threshers. His family history also includes his father Walt Detrick who has owned a business in southern Henry County for 40 years. Detrick also graduated from MPCHS. He then went on to attend Iowa State University and began a career with John Deere where he worked for over 35 years. According to Detrick his background includes agriculture as a whole. Detrick also shared that he has consistently attended Board of Supervisors meeting over the last eight months.

“John Deere gave me a great opportunity from a private industry perspective to learn and understand how to manage budgets, but also how to interact with people on a daily basis,” Detrick said.

Detrick stated that he wishes to run for supervisor to bring “real transparency back,” concerning public tax dollars.

Muhs set the record straight with his introduction that while he is not a native Iowan, he has lived in Iowa longer than he lived in Nebraska. Muhs has acted as the Henry County Hospital Chief Financial Officer for over thirty years. After 37 years in health care, Muhs says it is time for a change, but he wishes to continue to serve the public using all he learned from his CFO position.

“I got a lot of experience running a county entity,” Muhs said. “You can kind of say the auditor treasurer recorder all wrapped into one at the hospital. But I got a lot of knowledge on code and county budgets tax levies. … I’ve been a steward of your county tax dollars for 30 years.”

White reminded the audience that he has served as a Henry County Supervisor for the last four years. Additionally, White is a lifelong resident of Henry County and a graduate of MPCHS. He worked in the local sheriff’s office and in other law enforcement roles in Southeast Iowa throughout his career.

“I made a career of helping people out in various shapes and different ways,” he said. “I tried to be an active and energetic supervisor over the last couple years.”

During his time as supervisors White became a certified supervisor. He currently sits on the Southeast Iowa Crime Board, the Southern Iowa Juvenile Detention Board, Mississippi Valley Workforce Development Board, Emergency 911 Commission, and the Emergency Management Commission.

Questions from the board included questions about TIF, alternative energy, tourism, and the General Basic Levy.

One question asked the candidates about their opinions concerning TIF.

“I do support TIF,” Muhs answered. “I think it’s a good tool for economic development. I think you get a good economic generator. … its investing into your community.”

Detrick shared a similar opinion that TIF supports the community but said he did not have as strong of support for them in the cases of residential units.

“I’m not very strong on using TIFs for residentials units and the reason behind that is because it tends to allow lower housing income folks to come into our communities,” Detrick stated. “We have a large group of really, really successful individuals that own property and rent facilities within our community. They have a lot of open rental units as we speak today, and they deserve the opportunity as entrepreneurs and people of the chamber for example, that allows us to support them.”

White answered a question about how the county will lower the General Basic Levy with the least impact to services offered in the county.

“That’s a huge question with how File 718 requires the General Basic Levy be dropped from the current $4.72 to $3.50 per $1000 over the next four year,” White responded. “The county is a place where we can incrementally reduce that down. There are some services you just can’t do that like the sheriff’s office.”

White commented that the county government would need to shrink down into as small of government as possible to make these reductions.

Detrick responded to a question asking how he will stay consistent when faced with hard decisions as a county supervisor.

“I think when we get in those types of situations, we have to have some basic principles as we start to look at the decisions that we make and those decisions need to be down to really hard data that allows us to make the best decision at the time that we need to make those decisions,” Detrick answered. “So I think that kind of goes back to one of the things I said earlier as I introduced myself, we need to make good practical decisions based on our data so that we don't have to backtrack.”

As the candidates randomly drew questions, Cook received the opportunity to let the public know his stance on alternative energy.

“Wind energy provides 10.3% of electric to the United States,” Cook stated. “I’m not a big fan of that right now. Solar takes up a lot of farmland, quality farmland. I am not for wind energy at this time.”

Detrick also answered the question concerning support of alternative energy.

“I don’t support those because today the only reason those are even viable is because of the tax credits that are coming back to those people who are wanting to put those facilities within our counties,” Detrick explained. “And if you look at the individuals that are really benefiting from the wind energy and stuff from Henry County, maybe a few select individuals, I think 80 or 88 people now signed up for contracts. But the bulk of the citizens are really not in favor of that and I think we need to keep that in mind as we look at it.”

Muhs gave a similar reason to be against alternative energy, focusing more on the possibility of changing tax credits moving forward.

“I haven’t heard from one person that is for it unless they are getting the money,” Muhs stated.

The entirety of this supervisor forum is available for viewing on the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce Facebook page for voters wishing to learn more about the candidates before submitting their votes.

Early voting is currently available at Henry County Courthouse and will continue through June 3. Early votes may be submitted Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. 04:30 p.m. at the Henry County Courthouse, second floor conference room. Posted signs will direct voters. Regular voting will open on Election Day, June 4 at 7 a.m. Regular polling locations will remain open until 8 p.m.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com