More than 800 county officials will be traveling to Cedar Rapids this week for an educational conference sponsored by the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC). County officials from Linn County attending include: Linn County Supervisors Linda Langston, John Harris and Jim Houser; Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner; Linn County Recorder Joan McCalmant; Linn County Auditor Joel Miller; Deputy Auditors Becky Shoop and Stacey Law; Linn County Treasurer Sharon Gonzalez; Deputy Treasurer Tracy Houdeshell; Linn County Engineer Steve Gannon; Conservation Director Dan Biechler; Conservation Deputy Director Dennis Goemaat; Director of Policy and Administration Darren Gage; Planning and Development Director Les Beck; East Central Region CEO Mechelle Dhondt; and Emergency Management Director Mike Goldberg.
ISAC’s legislative priorities are debated and approved at the conference. The top priorities package recommended by the ISAC Board of Directors include: Delinquent Court Debt, Distracted Driving, E911 Funding, Food Safety, and Mental Health and Disability Services. The priorities are the basis for ISAC’s lobbying efforts during the upcoming legislative session.
The conference will also feature 2016 presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum who will be speaking as part of the Counties Connect America Presidential Candidate Forum. Counties Connect America is a non-partisan initiative aimed at promoting the importance of county government.
"In addition to our membership establishing our legislative priorities for the upcoming legislative session, county officials from across the state can choose from over 80 educational sessions designed to help them do the best job possible of serving the citizens in their communities," said Bill Peterson, ISAC Executive Director.
Linn County Recorder Joan McCalmant will be introduced as the 2016 incoming president of ISAC. She will be officially sworn into this leadership role during ISAC’s January board meeting.
ISAC’s 71st Fall School of Instruction will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cedar Rapids Convention Complex in Cedar Rapids on November 18-20. ISAC’s business meetings will be held Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. The conference keynote speakers will be Carol Grannis and Cindy Maher from Leading Edge Coaching and Development.
Further conference information can be found on the ISAC website, www.iowacounties.org.
The Iowa State Association of Counties is a private, nonprofit corporation whose members are county officials from the 99 counties in Iowa. ISAC’s mission is to promote effective and responsible county government for the people of Iowa.