Full-time questions hit Polk races as GOP vets challengers
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Polk County Democrats running for supervisor are beginning to clarify whether they would make the job their full-time professional focus.
Why it matters: Republicans are weighing general-election challenges, and the issue could play a role in whether Democrats retain control of the five-member board.
Catch up quick: The question of outside employment became a county issue after Republican supervisors Mark Holm and Jill Altringer took office in January while keeping their jobs.
- Supervisors earn about $149,000 a year, and the county describes the role as one in which members are expected to be available to constituents full-time — an expectation that Holm and Altringer say they are meeting even while juggling other jobs.
State of play: No Republicans ran in the June 2 primaries for any of the three open supervisor seats.
- The Republican Party of Polk County has until Aug. 26 to name potential candidates and some have expressed interest in running, chairperson Andrew Ventling tells Axios.
Zoom in: Two of the three Democratic nominees tell Axios they would make the supervisor job their full-time professional focus.
- John Forbes, who defeated incumbent Matt McCoy in District 1, is retired from his Urbandale pharmacy practice and tells Axios he would stop doing occasional relief pharmacist work for a friend once his term begins.
- Heather Jones-Brown, who won the District 4 primary against Des Moines Councilperson Joe Gatto, tells Axios she would leave her job as the assistant chief diversity officer at Grinnell College and work full-time as a supervisor.
The unanswered question: State Sen. Izaah Knox, who was unopposed in the District 5 Democratic primary to replace retiring Supervisor Angela Connolly, did not respond to multiple Axios requests about whether he would leave his job if elected.
- Knox is executive director of Urban Dreams, where the nonprofit's most recently filed tax return lists him as working 40 hours per week and receiving $139,650 in reportable compensation in 2024.
The intrigue: Forbes says he would support exploring a policy that would reduce supervisors' pay by half for members who maintain other full-time employment, while acknowledging there may be legal questions.
- The current group of supervisors did not act on a similar request from a former Polk County administrator last year.
What we're watching: Whether Knox clarifies his Urban Dreams plans before November.