The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met Thursday morning.

The Board approved a motion to take public comments and questions during action items, with the possibility of having a public forum at the beginning or end of the meeting, instead of having just a public forum at the beginning of the meeting. Board Chair Brian Johnson was the only one to vote no, as he had set up having the public forum at the beginning of meetings.

They also discussed the detention glass in the law enforcement center. The glass isn’t up to code at this point in time, as the contractor put in the wrong glass, so the Board would like to get the correct glass and install it. A decision was tabled until tomorrow, with the possibility of a special meeting if it was needed. There was also a motion that passed to make Supervisor Mike Dickson the Board’s representative for the project. Dickson had been working on the project previously, but those duties fell to Johnson when he became Chair. The other Supervisors wanted to have Dickson as the representative because of his familiarity and experience on the project.

The Board tabled a decision on selection of official county papers, and entered a budget work session. The Board approved most of the budgets presented with little to no changes, and tabled others to wait for more information.

Then the Board discussed whether or not to rescind a motion from Tuesday’s meeting on temporary trustees. Dickson questioned if the motion met Iowa Code, and after looking it up found that it did not. Trustees are appointed on four year terms, not 90 day terms. The motion passed 4-1 with Johnson as the lone no vote. A motion to rescind the motion to rescind approval of county official papers was canceled. After some discussion, Dickson and the other Supervisors felt this motion was no longer necessary.

A motion was made by Dickson to rescind the motion that approved the En Bloc approval of annual appointments from January 5th’s meeting. Dickson was comfortable voting En Bloc, but if the Board does that, they should list everything that will be voted on in that bloc. Dickson and Supervisor JD Kuster voted yes on the motion, while Johnson and Supervisors Maggie Armstrong and Steve Smith voted no, and the motion failed.

A motion to rescind the motion to approve the Board of Supervisors Chair was made by Dickson. Dickson alleged that Johnson gathered a quorum before he was appointed chair to garner support for the position. Then in texts from December 29, 2022 presented by Dickson to the Board, Johnson inferred to Dickson that “when” he became Chair, there would be a few things he would do differently, and they would happen because he was Chair.

Dickson talked with the Guthrie County Attorney and some other sources, and believes that the quorum was in violation of Iowa Code Chapter 12 as an Open Meetings Violation. Johnson has also talked with his own sources, and believes it was not a violation, as he was not an acting Supervisor at the time. The motion was voted on and failed, with Dickson and Kuster voting yes, and Johnson, Armstrong and Smith voting no.