Supervisor says county did not endorse veteran’s shelter proposal, rebukes fundraising claim

A member of the Des Moines County Board of Supervisors responded during public department reports on Aug. 19 to correct what he described as an inaccurate public claim that the board had endorsed a proposal to place a children’s homeless shelter in the former county health center. The supervisor said Joel Myers of Transitions DMC had been interviewed on local radio and had described discussions with the supervisors about using the old Des Moines County Health Center for a children’s shelter. The supervisor told the board he had met with Mr. Myers informally “once or twice” but said: “I told him the board hadn’t decided what we were going to do with the building and we’re waiting until the flat was completed…and we received final approval before we made that decision.” The supervisor said Mr. Myers “has never appeared before this board either in a formal meeting or work session” and the auditor told him Mr. Myers had not requested to be placed on a meeting agenda. “This board has never discussed any proposals, much less agreed on any particular disposition of that property,” the supervisor said, adding he was “particularly unhappy that Mister Myers is fundraising using the false claim of having an endorsement from this board of supervisors.” The statement put the county’s procedural position on the record: interested parties are welcome to present proposals to the board in a formal meeting or work session, but no endorsement has been given and no disposition decision has been made. The board took no formal action on the matter during the meeting.