Jeff Peterson's Appointment to the BOA

At the June meeting of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, Chair Bryan Beseler appointed Jeff Peterson to the Board of Adjustment. Other people were also appointed at the June meeting to other positions on various committees. The Board voted at the June meeting to confirm Peterson's appointment to the BOA. This month, part of Agenda item XIV, labeled "Appointments", was a "Motion for Reconsideration of June 2008 Appointments". No written motion signed by a supervisor accompanied the agenda, so it was unclear exactly which member of the Board of Supervisors was the one making the motion. In any event, when the item came before the Board of Supervisors for discussion, it quickly became obvious that the intent of the motion was to remove newly-appointed member of the Board of Adjustment Jeff Peterson.
Local builder Chris Nelson urged the Board of Supervisors to remove Peterson from the BOA. Randy Freer, who happens to be Supervisor Brown's brother-in-law, also spoke in favor of removing Peterson. Two other individuals, Messrs. Jensen and Hibbs, asked that Peterson be replaced. One of these gentleman commented that Peterson had been replaced on the County Board and was no longer his Supervisor, apparently reasoning that Peterson, having lost the election to Supervisor Brown, should no longer be involved in County business.
Mr. Nelson's opposition to Peterson's appointment appears to come from Mr. Nelson's perception that Peterson will be too strict in his interpretation of the ordinances the Board of Adjustment is charged to interpret and apply. As near as I could tell, the remaining speakers simply desired to have someone else appointed to the position without stating any reason why Peterson was unacceptable.
Land and Water director Tim Ritten told me in June that he had assured Mr. Nelson that Peterson would be reasonable to work with, and would apply the law properly and without favor or prejudice. Mr. Nelson was not convinced.
When it came time to vote, four Supervisors voted to reconsider the Peterson appointment to the BOA: Joan Peterson, Herschel Brown, James Edgell and Brian Masters. Nineteen Supervisors voted against reconsidering the appointment.
There are several reasons why motions to reconsider Board decisions should not be taken lightly. How much of the County's business can get done if Board time is consumed with re-thinking decisions made only thirty days earlier? When does a decision ever become final? On that grounds alone, the Board was wise to decline the motion to reconsider Peterson's appointment to the Board of Adjustment.
But there is a better, far more compelling, reason to leave Peterson on the BOA: Peterson will do a fine job in that position. Those of us who served with Jeff on the Polk County Board of Supervisors know that he is intelligent, committed to the environment, and fair-minded. He'll listen to applicants and apply the law evenly. The BOA has had some trouble in the past with claims that it failed to follow its own procedures and guidelines in making decisions. That's not likely to happen again with Peterson serving on the BOA.