News : Nepotism, Veterans Preference and Lawyering Up

It was just another run-of-the-mill Benton County Supervisor meeting that took place on Tuesday, October 11...for the most part. But to get the full picture we have to back up to the meeting held on September 30, 2022.

During the September meeting, the Benton County Board of Supervisors appointed a new Benton County Roadside Manager, George "Wes" Haefner. Haefner has been with the county part-time from June 1, 2020-September 14, 2021 working as Roadside Intern. Last fall he became the Assistant Roadside Manager full time from September 14, 2021-September 26,2022 until he became the Roadside Manager, Department Head. In all of these hirings, Supervisor Rick Primmer, abstained as he is Haefner's grandfather, although in the first two appointments, he wouldn't have needed to.

(A case of nepotism came up following a marriage between county employees back in 2015, Click HERE to read that story. Benton County has a strict policy concerning the hiring of relatives.)

The Benton County Employee Handbook Section 2.4 is pretty clear on hiring family members to positions who must be supervised by a relative.

From the Benton County Employee Handbook:

EMPLOYMENT OF RELATIVES 2.4

"Relatives of current employees are eligible for employment with the County, subject to limitations of and the terms of this policy.

To avoid the appearance of favoritism and difficulties in administering discipline, the County will not hire, appoint, transfer, promote, or otherwise place an individual in a position that involves the supervision of, or by, a family member. For purposes of this policy, "family member" includes the individual's spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, grandchild..."

Benton County Attorney David Thompson would have been in on creating the Benton County Handbook making sure everything was legal. He would also be the one to make sure the rules set forth were followed. In other words, it keeps that "good old boys club" in check. Vinton Today just ran our candidate profiles which addressed the idea of "good old boys" by Benton County Attorney, David Thompson.

He said, "...Benton County, Iowa will be a county that follows proper law and procedure (rather than being a county that adheres to the "good old boy" system of doing things)."

I asked Benton County Attorney David Thompson about this appointment and he said, "There is no nepotism violation as Rick Primmer will always have no supervisory authority over this position...I confirmed with the Iowa AGs office. The Board and Rick Primmer have agreed that he will have no supervisory authority over Wes or this department."

At the October 11 meeting, Haefner had to go to the supervisors for approval to make a purchase for his department. So for this to work, Primmer will have to abstain from all business relating to this department. Because Benton County only has three supervisors, should we be short one supervisor, no business could be conducted for this department. While Thompson agreed with this, he believes that it would be rare.

The hiring committee for this position was made up of Benton County Attorney, David Thompson, Benton County Director of Human Resources Kirsten Nelson, Shelby Williams, Conservation Director, Jeff Ralston and Benton County Supervisor Gary Bierschenk.

Thompson went on to say in his profile, "Sometimes I have to tell a County Official to stop what they are doing in order to avoid a law violation or avoid the risk of Benton County being held civilly liable."

"In these instances, it is not personal -- it is part of the job. Under Iowa Law, the County Attorney is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the County. That is a role I take seriously."

There is another catch with this hiring. With the hiring of Haefner, the Supervisors also overlooked a veteran who applied for the job.

A 22-year military veteran, with a purple heart and other military awards, Kevin Atkinson came before the board and asked the board for a copy of the file stating why he was not hired.

Iowa law is a pesky little gnat sometimes. Citing Iowa Law section 35C.1 "In every public department and upon all public works in the state, and of the counties...veterans...are entitled to preference in...employment over other applicants of no greater qualifications.

Let me add here, that not only did Atkinson serve and protect our country for over two decades, but as part of that service, but he was also here, in Vinton during the flood of 2008 with his fellow troops trying to save the county jail. Later that year, he became a Benton County employee and has served Benton County for 14 years.

Iowa law goes on to say in 35C.3, "Duty to investigate and appoint"

"When any preferred person applies for appointment or employment under this chapter, the...board, or person whose duty it is...to appoint or employ a person to fill the position...shall, before appointing or employing a person...make an investigation as to the qualifications of the applicant for the place or position, and if the applicant is of good moral character and can perform the duties of the position applied for, the board...shall appoint the applicant to the position, place, or employment."

The word "Shall" indicates that you HAVE TO appoint.

The law continues to explain that there are other requirements when hiring or in this case NOT hiring a veteran.

"The appointing...board...shall set forth in writing and file for public inspection the specific grounds upon which it appointed or refused to appoint the person. At the time of application or at an interview for the position, an applicant may request notification of refusal only or notification of refusal and the specific grounds for refusal. The notification shall be sent within ten days after the successful applicant is selected."

When I spoke to Atkinson, he simply wanted to know why he was not hired, and what skills he did not have to be able to maintain ditches in the county.

At the time of Tuesday's meeting, more than 10 days had passed, and Atkinson has yet to receive the specific grounds for refusal. He went to the supervisor's meeting on Tuesday to request the information, but the supervisors didn't have the information.

Thompson said that the decision to hire Haefner was made "because he had the experience, the education, all the cerifications/licenses, the communication skills, the work ethic, the performance reviews while on the job, the working knowledge of the grants being administered and applied for, knows many of the landowners across the entire county he will be dealing with, and the fact that he was already acting as the interim director. "

In the ad posted for this job indicated that applicants could receive any necessary certification within six months to meet the qualifications for the job. It begs the question that if the committee felt that the veteran did not have any of the other skills like communication, or a work ethic, and bad performance reviews while on the job the last 14 years.

Atkinson began asking questions concerning the law, asking the supervisors if they thought his moral character was such that he couldn't handle leading the department. Supervisor Gary Bierschenck said that they never discussed moral character at all.

The supervisors were asked if they felt like he was not capable of doing the job as Roadside Manager. Beirschenk said, "I guess I never really, we really never discussed whether you were NOT qualified." Supervisor Tracy Seeman clarified again that they have a hiring committee. Atkinson asked the Supervisors if they decide who is qualified and the Tracy Seeman indicated that the hiring committee decides that.

Atkinson pushed back and clarified that the Supervisors made a decision based only on the information given by the committee. Seeman replied, "Yes."

He then asked about the Veteran Preference in the hiring process and if THAT was discussed. Bierschenk replied, "nope."

Atkinson asked, "Who made the decision not to use Veteran Preference, who made that decision for you?" Bierschenk said, "I guess I was responsible and I didn't know that there WAS a special preference for veterans at the time."

Thompson said about this, "The hiring committee was fully apprised on Chapter 35C Veteran's preference on all three occasions that we met (despite what Bierschenk said in last week's meeting)."

The Veteran asked again, "So you guys have never seen my resume?" and they responded, "no."

Thompson said when asked, "Supervisors Seeman and Biershenk had all candidate resumes and Seeman was kept apprised of the interviews."

The law continues to explain that there are other requirements when hiring or in this case not hiring a veteran.

Atkinson asked Bierschenk as a member of the hiring committee "did you come up with a list of reasons why I wasn't qualified? You did not produce that documentation?" Bierschenck said, "No we didn't."

"So as a committee, you did not produce that documentation?" Atkinson reiterated. Bieschenck answered, "no." Bierschenk clarified that not all the members were at all of the committee meetings and that he had not seen all of Atkinson's qualifications.

Clarifying with the board, Atkinson said that he had heard no reasons why the county didn't hire him and he would request the information from H.R.

At the time of the story:

-the county has retained a lawyer to represent Benton County in the case.

-Tuesday's Supervisor's Meeting will include a "Possible Closed Session" for a "Strategy discussion" pursuant to Iowa Code 21.5(1)c

21.5 Closed session.

1. A governmental body may hold a closed session only by affirmative public vote of either two-thirds of the members of the body or all of the members present at the meeting. A governmental body may hold a closed session only to the extent a closed session is necessary for any of the following reasons:

c. To discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation.

Watch the meeting (at about the 48 minute mark.)