New Polk County supervisors plan to work at their full-time jobs while governing

Posted by Admin January 9, 2025 Jobs

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Newly elected Polk County Supervisors Mark Holm and Jill Altringer have indicated they intend to work at the jobs they had before the November election as well as their $150,000 a year full-time jobs as supervisors.

Neither mentioned that on the campaign trail.

In addition to overseeing the county and its budget, the board makes key decisions that impact regional economic development, establish tax levies, enact ordinances, appoint individuals who serve on boards and commissions, and make final decisions about who receives community grants from Prairie Meadows proceeds. The board has the ability to hire and fire department heads, including the county administrator.

Holm and Altringer made waves this week when news broke that they reportedly asked County Administrator John Norris to resign just 24 hours after they were sworn-in. That allegedly led to Supervisor Tom Hockensmith threatening to fight Holm and chair Matt McCoy.

Polk County supervisors’ salaries and benefits are among some of the most generous in the country, several Register reports have found. A majority of supervisors have voted to give themselves a raise every year for at least the past 16 years. Their last, for the fiscal year that began in July, was 4%.

The supervisors’ pay has been well in excess of those for county board members in similar-sized Midwestern counties. Their pay also eclipses that of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who makes $130,000 a year.

In addition to the state’s retirement program, elected officials in Polk County are eligible to participate in a deferred compensation program that offers an additional way to save for retirement. The county chips in $1 for every $2 contributed by the elected official up to a maximum of 6% of their base salary.

The county’s manual for elected officials says supervisors have the “flexibility to set their own hours so as to fulfill their duties.” But according to the county’s website, the supervisors’ most important function is to be “available to its constituency on a full-time basis and can respond to issues of importance to citizens.”

Holm works at the Iowa Department of Transportation and Altringer, a former Grimes councilmember and attorney, is a lobbyist representing agriculture groups at the Iowa Legislature. She said she took on a partner to help her work at the Capitol while she balances her new supervisor position.

“I’ve been lobbying for over 20 years, and built long-standing relationships with clients, some of whom I’ve worked with for decades. Throughout my career I’ve balanced serving 16 years on the Grimes City Council, raising four active kids, and recently running a campaign — all while maintaining a busy schedule well beyond 40 hours a week,” Altringer said in a statement.

Holm said he successfully served as mayor of Ankeny while working for the DOT. But as mayor he served a population of 74,458; the population of Polk County was 505,255 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

When asked about working two jobs, Holm told the Register he wasn’t convinced the supervisor position is full-time.

“I’m going to respectfully disagree with you on it being a full-time job,” he said, though he did agree he was receiving full-time pay.

He also will receive credit for his supervisor employment, as well as through the DOT for IPERS, the state retirement system, as long as he does both. He said he declined health benefits at one of the jobs.

Holm said while he “didn’t preach from the pulpit” he would be doing both jobs, he was asked about it by a donor and some others when he was running for office. He said he may make changes accordingly as he learns more about what the supervisor job entails, but that he always said it was just a four-year position.

Former supervisor Robert Brownell said Wednesday he didn’t want to disparage Holm or Altringer, but he thinks the taxpayers expect supervisors to work full-time. More than that, he said, “I find that if you’re trying to do two things at once, you’re going to do one of them poorly.”

The supervisor job requires a lot of meetings with constituents and other groups, Brownell said. He said early on as a supervisor, he had a business, but others ran it for him. He stepped away from that business in 2016.

Reached after a physical on Wednesday, Brownell said he was doing great in retirement. His doctor quipped that not being on the Polk County Board of Supervisors anymore should add three to five years to his life.