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Local nonprofit's letter accuses supervisors and sheriff of undermining youth shelter effort; board receives correspondence
Summary
A correspondent read a letter from Dale Allison criticizing Supervisors and the sheriff for allegedly attempting to 'torpedo' Transition's plan for a youth shelter; the letter disputes board statements about Transition's fundraising and attendance at prior meetings.
The Des Moines County Board of Supervisors received a lengthy letter Sept. 2 from a community member that accused board members and the sheriff of undermining a local nonprofit’s effort to establish a youth shelter.
A correspondent read the letter aloud at the meeting and identified the letter’s author as Dale Allison. The letter says Transition’s DMC (Divine Mercy in Christ) inquired May 20 about repurposing the former public health building at 522 North Third Street as a shelter for unaccompanied minors and that board staff and the county attorney had been involved in follow-up. The letter disputes statements Supervisors made at later meetings that Transition had not appeared before the board and that Transition was fundraising using a claimed endorsement.
The correspondent quoted the letter: “I must stress that these are my views and mine alone,” and the letter characterizes statements made by Supervisor Tom Broker at an Aug. 19 meeting and by the sheriff as a "gross misunderstanding" that caused reputational harm to Transition’s CEO Joseph Meyers. The author said the nonprofit relied on school-district counts and its own service data to estimate unmet need; the letter cited Transition’s figures, including a claim of roughly 3,500 overnight stays at its shelter last year.
The letter also criticized a board member for questioning the numbers Transition used at public events and said a Hawkeye article later published a clarification. The correspondent asked that the letter, its cited attachments (minutes, interview, articles, video) and supporting materials be entered into the county record and offered to provide the materials electronically.
Board staff requested that the correspondent email the attachments so the board can process them. The matter was received as correspondence; no vote or formal action on the content was taken that day.
