The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting via conference call, Wednesday morning. The Board had planned to allow up to 21 people in their Boardroom/courtroom in Greenfield, but the Clerks of Court Office said the courtroom will NOT be available. Those wanting to attend by conference call, should call-in by 9-a.m. Wednesday, to (605)-313-6157, and enter access code 526272#.

On the agenda for the Adair County Board of Supervisors:

• Is a report from County Auditor Mandy Berg, with regard to a Redistricting Commission.
• County Treasurer Brenda Wallace will discuss a Postage Meter Agreement
• Neil Hyde, with Infomax will talk about IT – Complete Cloud Solution.
• County Attorney Melissa Larson will talk about the Solar Panel Decommissioning Plan and an Ordinance pertaining to Solar Farms
• and, Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman will present an award of contract for and N34 Richland Road Bridge Project; a Heartland Divide II Road Use Agreement; and a report on Maintenance and Activities.

The Adair County Supervisors will move into a Closed Session (as allowed by the Code of Iowa) near the end of their meeting, to discuss the Engineer’s Contract.

(Des Moines) – Auditor of State Rob Sand today (Tuesday) released an agreed-upon procedures report on the City of Walnut, Iowa, for the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. The agreed-upon procedures engagement was performed pursuant to the Code of Iowa. Sand reported eight findings related to the receipt and disbursement of taxpayer funds. They are found on pages 7 through 9 of the report.

The findings address issues such as a lack of segregation of duties, the lack of a depository resolution, utility bill forgiveness in violation of Chapter 388.6 of the Code of Iowa, and disbursements exceeding budgeted amounts. Sand provided the City with recommendations to address each of the findings.

Seven of the eight findings discussed above are repeated from the prior year. The City Council has a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the City’s operations and financial transactions. Oversight is typically defined as the “watchful and responsible care” a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity.

A copy of the agreed-upon procedures report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s web site at https://auditor.iowa.gov/audit-reports.

The Creston Police Department reports two men were arrested on separate charges, Monday. Officials say 33-year-old Clay Brammer, of Afton, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. Brammer was being held without bond in the Union County Jail, while awaiting a bond hearing.

And, 38-year-old Hoby Gatson, of Creston, was arrested Monday for Violation of a Protection Order. He was also being held in the Union County Jail, pending a bond hearing.

(Radio Iowa) – The third finalist in the search for a new University of Iowa president visited campus and held a public forum Monday. Wendy Hensel is currently the chief academic officer at Georgia State University — but says he has a Big Ten background — having graduated from Michigan State. She started her career in law, and took a job teaching law that she thought would be short-term until she decided what she wanted to do. “And it was not long before I realized that I had found my professional passion for the rest of my life. I love students. I love the mission of higher education,” Hensel says.

She says that would continue to be her focus at the U-I. “Students should be at the center of literally everything that we do. They’re the reason that we are here and their success is instrumental to our success,” according to Hensel. “I believe strongly, as I think all of you do too based on what I’ve heard today, that it is a moral imperative that anybody that we admit as sufficiently talented to be at this university — that we commit to get them through to graduation.” Hensel was asked about what appears to be a divide between the campus and the rest of the state on issues such as free speech.

Wendy Hensel

“We can come back to a respectful position in which everybody is on the team. Right now it feels very much like it is us and them. It’s the polar opposite. There’s very little in the middle, and I would pledge as president to commit to developing that relationship on a serious basis, ongoing and in advance of these serious disputes,” Hensel says. She was also asked about how she would deal with the Legislature and some of the bills targeting the universities. Handel says the first thing is not to stand up and say “No” to everything, but to find the issues where you can softly debate and talk about them. “If you take away tenure for example. That would be one that we’re never going to agree that it is acceptable to do that. That’s just fundamental to higher education, it allows the research enterprise to take on questions that otherwise would not be politically palatable,” she says. “Certainly in this environment it’s not hard to see how that might happen. most of it we can discuss as friends with data and common goals in mind”

Hensel will spend today (Tuesday) on campus meeting with more groups. The fourth and final candidate for the president’s job will be announced and visit campus later this week. The next president is expected to be hired on April 30th.