(Pottawattamie County, IA) –  This (Wednesday) morning, petition signatures to trigger a special election were submitted to the County Auditor by the Western Iowa Labor Federation (WILF AFL-CIO) and the Concerned Citizens of Pottawattamie County (CCPC) coalition. The petition will begin the process for an August 1st, 2023 vote where Pottawattamie County residents, for the first time, will be given the opportunity to decide how they want to elect their County Board of Supervisors.

In a statement issued following the petition submission, Jennifer Pellant, President of the Western Iowa Labor Federation, AFL-CIO said “In the last few months, we’ve talked to more than 4,000 Pottawattamie County residents about switching to Plan Three, and the overwhelming response to those conversations was ‘that makes sense. Today, we have given the voters of Pottawattamie County the chance to choose for themselves. We have given them a chance to choose a plan where they will get better representation from someone who understands, firsthand, the challenges in their part of the county. That Plan is Plan Three.”

Geri Frederiksen with Concerned Citizens of Pottawattamie County believes that a county [the size of Pott.County], the second largest in Iowa, makes it more difficult to compete as the population density growth of the county has been primarily the Council Bluffs metro – the furthest western edge. “A rural school teacher from Oakland who might want to run for office cannot currently compete with the political machine of Council Bluffs. Districting is an opportunity to let the citizens of rural communities believe it IS possible to run for office and win in a county as big as Pottawattamie County!,” Fredericksen said.

Doug Irwin, Business Consultant and Co-Chair of CCPC said of the petition, “The change that we are asking for is uncomfortable for certain people, primarily the current Board, and voters are asking for more input on how that Board is selected.” Officials say 2,919 total signatures (10% of the previous 2022 general election turnout) were required to activate the election, and the coalition ultimately turned in 3,993 signatures. Most of those signatures were collected through an aggressive canvassing campaign at the courthouse and community events across the entire county in the last three months.

“Plan Three makes the most sense to represent all voters of Pottawattamie County.  We all live here, and we all deserve representation, even rural residents like myself,” says Shawna Anderson, business owner, member of CCPC, and rural Pottawattamie County resident.