Members of the Cass County Conference Board met during a special session Wednesday evening at the Courthouse in Atlantic, to act on an order to rescind their Sept. 3rd vote against appointing County Assessor Brenda Nelson for another six years.

Cass County Conference Board meeting, 9-23-15

After 90-minutes of discussion and public input, the Conference Board votes were tabulated and announced. Cass County Attorney Dave Wiederstein said the vote was 3-0 in favor of reappointing Nelson. The announcement was met was thunderous applause and tears from Nelson, as well as her supporters, who hugged her after the decision was announced.

Brenda Nelson gets a hug after the 3-0 decision to reappoint, from Kenner Baxter, who serves on the Cass County Board of Review.

The decision means the board reversed its Sept. 3rd decision not to reappoint her. The action followed the tabulation of a roll call vote of each member of the three entities which comprise the Board (Schools, Mayors and Board of Supervisors), and during which a vast majority were in favor of reappointment. All three school board representatives, and all but two of the Mayors (Reinke, of Massena, and Coughlin, of Cumberland) as well as Supervisors Rieken, Wedemeyer, and Schelling, voted in favor of reappointment for their respective representing entities, with Supervisors McFadden and Frank Waters, voted against.

Even Supervisors Mark Wedemeyer and Chuck Rieken changed their minds. Rieken said it was because Nelson agreed to work with the Conference Board to keep open the lines of communication, which many agreed was sorely lacking among each of the entities involved in the process. Wedemeyer changed his mind after it was made clear Nelson could NOT reapply for her position, according to Iowa Code. She could only be reappointed. Wedemeyer said his original vote on Sept. 3rd was with the understanding she COULD reapply for her job.

Nelson had a cadre of supporters during the meeting, including County Assessors from around southwest Iowa, local realtors and land appraisers, and others. But there were also a handful of people who packed the Courthouse conference room Wednesday evening, who were not in her corner. They included two people whose case against her office’ appraisal is in litigation. Others, including Ardelle McCunn, of Massena, said Nelson’s office staff showed what amounted to a lack respect.

The Board, in its deliberations, agreed part of the problem with its oversight of Nelsons office, whether it be with regard to how the public is treated, budgetary reports and concerns, and other matters, is the how few times each year they actually meet, to receive complaints and ask questions of her. To remedy that, they agreed to begin meeting quarterly. All parties involved seemed to agree there were numerous instances of breakdown in communication, which could have headed-off action taken Sept. 3rd. Nelson said after the meeting, that she was glad the “emotional rollercoaster” of the last three weeks not knowing her future, was finally over. And, she agreed to address the concerns brought up during the meeting.

She said the proposed quarterly Conference Board meetings will help, but also “If there is a problem, it needs to be taken care of immediately. And I think the Conference Board needs to be aware of it immediately, and so if there’s something I can do, that it can be addressed before another quarter goes by.”