County board expects training over meeting procedures

Union County Emergency Management Commission Chairman Dennis Brown said he expects the commission to receive a plan for public meeting procedure and agenda training after complaints were filed of how certain commission meetings were held.

The Iowa Public Information Board reviewed the complaints during their April 18 meeting. The complaints were made during the time of commission director Jo Duckworth and former employee Bonnie Castillo, who was originally hired to be trained and replace Duckworth who was planning to retire. Duckworth eventually rescinded her intention to retire and the commission agreed for Duckworth to continue in the position.

Castillo resigned March 20 and has since been named director of emergency management in Harrison County. She filed the complaints to the Iowa Public Information Board.

“There are things we should do different,” Brown said earlier this week after the meeting he and Duckworth had with the public information board via teleconference. “We have not formally received anything yet, but I expect it to be training regarding agendas and meetings.”

During the hearing with the public information board, Castillo, who also attended via teleconference, claimed the commission did not have certain board meeting minutes and requested meeting minutes that were not immediately provided. She also said the commission’s action to go into closed session by the county attorney was not listed on the agenda or announced in advance during that portion of the meeting.

The public information board stated Duckworth said the meeting minutes were provided the same day as requested. The public information board said Duckworth said a closed session was held because the county attorney did not tell her about it in advance.

Castillo said she had made the request to Duckworth for the meeting minutes after Duckworth announced she had planned to no longer retire and claimed she did not provide a resignation letter or date.

“The commission had never voted to approve her retirement,” Castillo said Duckworth claimed.

Castillo said Duckworth did provide a group of minutes, but Duckworth stated December 2022 and December 2023 meetings were not held and minutes did not exist.

Castillo said the commission met in February when a member said he found December 2022 and January 2023 meeting minutes that included the missing resignation letter, date of resignation and the vote to approve the retirement which Duckworth had said had not happened.

“I have a great concern the meeting minutes were able to be lost and if a commission member had not retained them himself they would not have been discovered,” Castillo said. That commission member, Chris Knouse, has since resigned.

Duckworth said there was no December 2022 meeting as it was canceled. The commission did meet Jan. 4, 2023, but Duckworth said she is unable to find that agenda. Duckworth said Knouse did find an agenda and showed Duckworth. It included minutes from the November meeting and budget discussion.

Duckworth said the Jan. 18 meeting was canceled on Jan. 17, and all commission members were notified via email.

Castillo also filed the complaint about the closed session Feb. 28 that was not on the agenda. She claimed Brown said the closed session had not occurred and those who left, left willingly.

In terms of the closed session issue, Duckworth said people were asked to leave the meeting. “I was not aware the county attorney (Shane O’Toole) was coming in. He came in about five minutes after it was called to order and asked for everyone not on the commission to leave. And nobody said anything. Everyone not a commission member got up and left, no one said anything. I never thought it was a closed session, I thought it was a meeting between an attorney and his clients. Simply that. Never thought of it as being a closed session. That is the way I answered the complaint. That is still how I feel about it.”

Duckworth takes minutes for the meetings.

“If I’ve done anything wrong, I’m truly sorry. There were no evil intentions,” she said.

Union County Human Resources representative Paul Greufe also spoke via teleconference. He attended the meeting via teleconference where people were asked to leave.

“It was no mandate, it was no closed session. I stayed. I know it’s odd to have an open meeting where people are asked to voluntarily leave, it’s odd, but it isn’t unheard of,” he said. Greufe said the phrase closed session was never used.

Greufe said a county compensation board, which he said he has attended, have elected officials asked to leave the meeting for discussion about their pay.

“It’s always a request, never a mandate,” he said.

Greufe suggested the public information board table the decision to allow time for more investigation.

Public information board member E.J. Giovannetti said it was “splitting hairs” if it was a closed session or not. “Training, to say the least, is appropriate.”

Public information board member Monica McHugh questioned the county attorney walking in and asked others to leave.

“If county attorney doesn’t know laws on public meetings, my red flags immediately went up,” she said. McHugh said she is familiar with county compensation board meetings where elected officials are asked not to speak at times but not leave the meeting.

“I think there is some training that definitely needs to go on in this county,” she said.

Duckworth claimed her innocence.

“I had no control over this,” she said about being held responsible for the closed session action. McHugh did not blame Duckworth.

“You were just as surprised as I was at the county attorney,” Castillo told Duckworth. “We will agree.”