LEE COUNTY – A panel of three county officials has picked former Fort Madison Community School District Board president Dr. Tim Wondra, to fill the District 2 seat vacated with the resignation of former Supervisor Tom Schulz.
Wondra served on the board for three terms, including a stint as the board president. He was one of three individuals who applied for the position, including former Fort Madison City Councilman Chris Greenwald, and Schulz.
“I’m obviously excited for the opportunity,” Wondra said.
“This was one of those things where my wife and I talked about me getting back into public service for four or five months, and getting back into the community.”
Wondra said he needed a little break after the two terms on the school board and had thoughts of running for the open District 100 State House seat after the death of Rep. Martin Graber.
“I think that was too big of a move at this stage in my career. We put that on the back burner and then, when the supervisor spot opened up, that was a good opportunity for me to step back in at a level that made sense.”
But he said he realizes the Board of Supervisors is at a critical time right now with the budget and his years working with school finances reduces the learning curve.
“I felt like I could step in and not need the learning curve. You get the wrong voice or someone that doesn’t know what’s going on and that could hurt.”
Wondra will hold the District 2 seat until the end of 2026. At that point, he’ll decide if it’s something he wants to continue to do.
Lee County Auditor Sherri Yasenchok conducted the interviews per Iowa Code along with Lee County Treasurer Becky Gaylord and Lee County Recorder Nany Booten.
Yasenchok said the interviews were conducted at the Lee County offices in Fort Madison on Tuesday and all applicants were interviewed.
“This is a public position and we wanted it to be transparent, so we interviewed everyone that applied,” she said.
The interviews were not held in public and Yasenchok said Iowa code doesn’t require those interviews to be held in public.
The City of Fort Madison has made several council appointments in the past five years and all have been done in open sessions, including Tuesday’s appointment of Matt Emmett to fill a vacancy on that board.
“There’s no rule that said we needed to do it in public. When we filled the last vacancy with Chuck Holmes, we did it the same way,” Yasenchok said.
“Each applicant that came in, we interviewed. All three of us decided that we would, in total transparency, interview everyone that applied.”
The county had 40 days from Schulz’s resignation to appoint a replacement which would have been March 31, according to Yasenchok.
“We’re in the middle of budgets, so the sooner we get someone in that seat, the better off we are.”
Iowa code allows for a petition for a special election and time still remains for that. Yasenchok said, based on her conversations around the appointment, she is expecting a petition to be filed by Lee County Democrats, since Wondra is registered as a Republican.
A petition for a special election equal in number to at least 10% of the votes cast for the President at the last General Election, divided by the number of Supervisor Districts, can be filed with the Auditor within 14 days. That would set the deadline as March 19th and Yasenchok said the number of signatures needed for the petition is 324.
Greenwald said he went back and forth about serving the public again.
“I was teetering on this whole deal and did a lot of prayer on it. I really did,” he said.
“But this was an easy one because it was an appointment, and if I didn’t hear Him right, I wouldn’t get the job, and that was God’s will. So I have peace in that.”
But Greenwald said he has put the word out that he is not in favor of county Democrats petitioning for a special election because of the appointment of a Republican.
“With the spirit of things right now, if we all are in this to truly care about the county, we need to get that position filled and get moving. The appetite I don’t have is for the games. Let’s solve the problems. A special election will just draw this out and divide the county even more.”
Schulz said he believes Wondra will do a good job in the position, but didn’t rule out a run for supervisor again, even if they do have a special election.
“I believe people in my district still think I can do a good job representing them,” he said.
Yasenchok said a special election would cost between $7,000 and $8,000, but she’s just as worried about the wear and tear on county election equipment.
“At some point, we’ll need to replace it. That equipment is $500,000 to $750,000 and I need to get quotes right now. A lot of this equipment is 15 years old with 10-year life spans. That budget will come from the auditor and supervisors' budget,” she said.
“It’s outdated and every election puts more wear and tear on this equipment, including our poll pads.”
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