Kris Miller
Hiawatha World
A Hiawatha resident made a public comment protesting voting machines at the Brown County Courthouse at the beginning of Monday’s Brown County commission meeting.
During the early portion of the meeting, Hiawatha resident Virgil Hallauer spoke up to protest against the decision made previously by the commission to purchase new voting machines. He argued that Brown County was relying on someone else’s software and said that boxes in blue states would not let people look inside and perform an analysis. Hallauer also argued that counting votes by hand was the “American thing” and that even recounting was necessary. Brown County Clerk Nikki Lee later commented that different security factors were put in place to prevent voter fraud from happening and expressed being offended by Hallauer’s comments and claims about voter fraud and hand counting votes.
Later during the meeting, Lehmkuhl and Shoemaker passed a motion to approve the health insurance coverage plan for Brown County employees, with Pollock voting against the measure; Pollock was accused by Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill of trying to propose a plan that would benefit Chris Kroll of Holton Direct Care to get the employees to enroll with HDC, which would not help the health insurance rate issue; it was discussed earlier that health insurance rates had risen. Shoemaker argued that the health insurance plan needed to benefit everyone, not just those enrolled with HDC.
Below are some other items that were discussed during the meeting:
• Register of Deeds Nellie M. Brockhoff came in about the possibility of forming a planning committee for the Brown County Courthouse’s 100th anniversary. Commissioner Shoemaker thanked Brockhoff for volunteering to head the committee and agreed that the anniversary needed to be celebrated.
• All commissioners voted to pass a motion for approving an engineering contract with BG Consultants for bridge FAS-51 and authorization of an engineering document.
• All commissioners approved a contract with Hiawatha attorney Elizabeth Olson.
• Commissioners Lehmkuhl and Pollock pass a motion to approve a landfill/tonnage contract but Shoemaker declined citing cost concerns.
• The commissioners also met with new KANZA CEO Krista Eylar.
