Election 2020

Republican Ken Beck respects limits of county's duties

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Ken Beck said his first term as supervisor has been boot camp for civic leadership.

The civil engineer had plenty of leadership experience before winning election in 2016. He’d served as president of the local Society of Professional Engineers Blackhawk Chapter, a Bettendorf Presbyterian Church elder, plus years of volunteering for the Festival of Praise, Hearts and Hammers and much more.

As a supervisor, Beck reflects on the leadership that led to hiring more deputies, supporting road work innovations, and a long-sought fix to Park View’s apartment problems.

“It’s been a long learning curve. I don’t know everything at this stage. But I know some things you can do, and the things you can’t do,” he said.

Beck believes supervisors’ No. 1 responsibility is the rural county. They should collaborate with city leaders. But urban issues are not among supervisors’ core duties.

“A lot of people don’t understand Iowa home rule law. We as supervisors have jurisdiction only in the rural areas,” he said.

That perspective drove his vote on a mask mandate. “All this talk about masks and sheltering-in-space orders. Even if we agreed that’s what we want to do, our powers only go over the rural county. We’re missing two thirds of the population.”

Justice system changes

Beck supports a broader view for juvenile and adult jail services and counsels patience with a management process that began before the pandemic hit.

“I’m not just about mortar and brick,” he said. He supports Juvenile Services director Jeremy Kaiser’s initiatives. “Jeremy has a group – court officials, judges, others – to look at programs to reduce recidivism. Optimally, they could go into the school system with a program about why a life of crime isn’t what you want to go into.”

New limits on housing juveniles with adult defendants will require more detention space for sure.

As for the adult jail expansion? Beck needs more information.

“Our jail study came back and indicated a need for expansion down the road. The sheriff doesn’t think that’s a priority at this point,” Beck said.

Mental health

As the supervisors’ representative on the Eastern Iowa Regional Mental Health board, Beck reports improved services and better collaboration among counties.

“We’ve all done a lot since I ran in 2016. The discussion then was not enough beds. That has changed.”

Beck applauds more beds provided by Genesis and the new Strategic Behavior Health’s Eagle Point hospital, and expanded crisis services that are reducing the need for inpatient visits.

“We now have mobile crisis teams in all counties. That’s a big saver,” he said.

He reports more peer drop-in and respite houses. “That’s not a silver bullet, but definitely a big step. People who are thinking of committing suicide, come in and talk to a peer,” he said.

Beck supports Gov. Reynolds’ plan to use a portion of a new 1-cent sales tax to fund a larger share of mental health. “I’d like to see a hybrid; use a local levy when sales tax doesn’t make enough,” he said.

Rural development

Beck was among supervisors who eliminated county road maintenance commitments for new rural subdivisions, and helped develop the Park View rental ordinance. He said rural living brings advantages and expenses.

“You can’t have the same expectations as when you live in city, and that would be having your roads plowed. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You have to pay for your services. Our rural road taxes  are there to maintain county main roads and structures, not private neighborhood drives,” he said.

He supports agricultural land preservation, and encouraged voters to consider it as an economic driver.

“When I think of the unincorporated county, it’s like an agriculture industrial park. Farming is an industry. They have their own area where they need to move from field to field, and get their implements down the road. You have to have the respect that’s what the rural area was originally meant to be. Development should be in those areas already developed. The rural area is there for farmers first, not just those who like to live in rural settings.”

Taxes

Beck said the county “runs pretty lean. Not a lot of wiggle room.” He joined supervisors unanimously backing a rare property tax rate increase earlier this year. Beck expects assessment growth will drive more property tax revenue without more rate increases. But he made no promises.

“We never can say we’re going to cut taxes. It’s a nice thing to say, but a lot of our folks are union, and union contracts include increases in wages of up to 3.5 percent over the years. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of services we want to cut back to make up that difference.”

Ken Beck, Scott County Board of Supervisors, Jeremy Kaiser, Eastern Iowa Regional Mental Health Board, Genesis, Strategic Behavior Health, Kim Reynolds

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