MASON CITY – NIT and the Cerro Gordo county board of supervisors this week discussed a publicly-funded economic development agency and the process by which its board members are chosen, specifically their appointment of Brett Schoneman to that board.
The discussion between Publisher Matt Marquardt and the supervisors revolved around the North Iowa Corridor – Cerro Gordo county’s lone economic development agency – which is funded with over $200,000 in taxpayer dollars each year. Mason City, Clear Lake, and CG County are the main contributors to this agency and trust it to lure new jobs and industry to our county and then retain what we do have. Many have questioned the fairness of appointments to the board, the process by which certain persons are chosen, as well as the agency’s overall performance – not to mention is lack of transparency, i.e., it’s previous refusal to disclose to NIT for reporting to the public how it spends those public dollars.
Supervisor Casey Callanan answered questions Wednesday morning from NorthIowaToday.com Publisher Matt Marquardt on the process of selecting board members and making appointments to the North Iowa Corridor as a Mason City man – Brett Schoneman – was recently appointed by the board of supervisors to the Corridor’s board of directors. In this interview, Marquardt follows up with Callanan after interviews Tuesday with fellow supervisors Jay Urdahl and Phil Dougherty, both of whom admitted Tuesday they knew little or nothing about Brett Schoneman – a financial contributor to Urdahl’s election campaign – who is now running for Mason City council.
Some in the community – both rural residents and some in Clear Lake – have expressed concern that should Schoneman defeat Josh Masson in the Ward Three City Council race, the Corridor’s board would be too heavily skewed in favor of Mason City – which already has a council member (Travis Hickey) on the board. The rest of the Corridor’s board – officers and ex-officios – are also heavily skewed in Mason City’s favor with a few members from Clear Lake. The rural areas of the county appear to be unrepresented.
All three supervisors (other than Urdahl) claim no knowledge of Schoneman other than his name and that he is a realtor. Urdhal claimed to know slightly more – that he was appointed to the Visit Mason City agency – but none knew he was a member of the Mason City Airport Commission. None of the three were aware Schoneman was late paying his taxes 21 times over 5 years, nor that he is routinely absent from Airport Commission meetings.
All three supervisors refused to rule out ousting Schoneman from the Corridor Board of Directors should he defeat Josh Masson for the ward three council seat.
Watch all three interviews:
Interview with Casey Callanan:
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Interview with supervisor Casey CallananSupervisor Casey Callanan answered questions Wednesday morning from NorthIowaToday.com Publisher Matt Marquardt on the process of selecting board members and making appointments to the North Iowa Corridor – Cerro Gordo county’s lone economic development agency. Mason City, Clear Lake, and CG County give $200,000+ each year to this agency and trust it to lure new jobs and industry to our county and then retain what we do have. Many have questioned the fairness of appointments to the board, the process by which certain persons are chosen, as well as the agency’s overall performance. Further questions have been raised by some as employers such as Winnebago have shown interest in Mason City, but the Corridor and local elected officials (mayor and city council) failed to close the deal as it chose Waverly instead for a recent expansion. In this interview, Marquardt follows up with Callanan after interviews Tuesday with fellow supervisors Jay Urdahl and Phil Dougherty, both of whom admitted they knew little or nothing about their latest appointment to the Corridor Board of Directors, Brett Schoneman – a financial contributor to Urdahl’s election campaign who is now running for city council. All three supervisors refused to rule out ousting Schoneman from the Corridor Board of Directors should he defeat Josh Masson in the Ward Three City Council race.
Posted by NorthIowaToday.com on Wednesday, October 14, 2015
