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Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers announces resignation effective April 1; colleagues and residents praise 16 years of service
Summary
Supervisor Ben Rogers told the board March 26 that his seat is vacated April 1 and reflected on 16 years in office, citing work on the mental-health access center, winter shelter and allocation of ARPA funds. Multiple public commenters and board members offered tributes at the meeting.
Cedar Rapids — Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers told the Board of Supervisors on March 26 that March 26 was his last meeting and that his seat will be vacated on April 1.
Rogers used his remarks to reflect on 16 years in office and to list accomplishments the board and county had undertaken during his tenure. “The word that best captures the depth of my emotions at this moment is gratitude,” Rogers said. He cited helping the county recover from floods, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 derecho; approving major utility-scale solar projects; allocating $44,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds; and working on regional mental-health system challenges and homelessness interventions.
Public commenters and several board members praised Rogers earlier and during the public-comment period. One commenter who identified having campaigned for county supervisor with Rogers said of him: “Ben can be trusted. Ben leads by example and does the work. If he said he would do something, you could take it to the bank.”
Board members and staff described Rogers’s most visible legacy as the Linn County Mental Health Access Center and a winter weather shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Multiple colleagues thanked Rogers for leadership through difficult budget years and for supporting county staff and community partners.
Rogers also described personal elements of his service, including international travel and civic exchanges and public efforts to reduce stigma around mental illness; he referenced a 2019 guest editorial in which he wrote about his own recovery from alcohol to help reduce stigma.
Rogers said he will watch board work from the outside and expressed gratitude to colleagues, staff and family. The board did not take formal action tied to his resignation during the meeting; supervisors announced they would speak again in the public-comment section at the meeting’s end.
