Opinion: Hiring of zoning director fraught with problems

Opinion by Charlene Sims, Journal staff

At the Linn County Commission meeting on Tuesday, May 27. Ben Souza was hired to be the new planning and zoning administrator, a post that had been vacant for several weeks. Ben is the spouse of Danielle Souza, who was appointed to the Linn County Clerk post earlier this year.

The decision to hire Ben Souza has prompted many calls to the Journal’s office about whether the hire was legal or not. Legal, yes, but also fraught with potential problems.

After Jason Hightower was elected commissioner in 2022, Commissioner Jim Johnson complained every week about the nepotism because Jessica Hightower was the economic development director when her husband, Jason Hightower, was elected by voters who were well aware of his wife’s position with the county.

Johnson continued to bring this complaint into many of the meetings, blaming the Hightowers for ruining the county. He made several motions to fire Jessica, none of which received a second and died on the table, and asked Jason to resign.

A couple notable quotes from Johnson at earlier meetings about nepotism:

In the July 31, 2023 meeting, Johnson had said that Jason put the county in a difficult position because he (Johnson) and McCullough are at odds on everything. He said they shouldn’t be in this situation. At the meeting, Johnson told Jason, “I did not do what you did to me. You did it to the whole county by doing what you did.” 

Apparently what Jason Hightower had done was to run for office.

Johnson complained at the Oct. 2, 2023, meeting that the Hightowers had messed up the county business and flow chart and she should have resigned when her husband won the election.

Johnson said that even though Jessica was not directly under the supervision of the commissioners but instead under the supervision of Public Works Director Shaun West, it still interfered with the flow chart of the county.

He asked how Jason Hightower could evaluate West and then West would evaluate Jessica. He saw that as being a conflict. But, that was taken care of by West turning in his sealed evaluation of Jessica to County Clerk David Lamb before his evaluation so that the commissioners would not know what was in it and then they could evaluate West. 

But, professionally, Jason Hightower removed himself from West’s evaluation.

Commissioner Hightower pushed back against Johnson's allegations in an open meeting. He pointed out that the very definition of nepotism included showing favoritism to not only family but friends as well.

Those claims have been borne out as work for the county has been pushed toward Johnson's associates without the commission receiving competitive bids.

Johnson also pushed the nepotism issue with Darin Wilson and his wife Darcy Wilson. Darin, the planning and zoning administrator, was supervised by West. Before being hired to work in the county clerk's office, Darcy worked in the public works department on housing and administrative duties. Her supervisor was also West.

Johnson harassed these employees so much that it led to grievances by these employees and an ouster being filed by West. But nothing has happened to Johnson, but all four employees have either quit or been fired. Johnson got his way.

At the same time, a group of very competent and qualified employees in the Public Works Department either resigned or were terminated.

What Johnson predicted happening with nepotism and evaluations did not happen, because these employees handled their positions professionally.

But now, Johnson and the other commissioners have hired Ben Souza.

Danielle Souza as county clerk and an elected official (actually in this case an appointed official) does not answer to the commissioners. Nor did former county clerk David Lamb, but several times Johnson blamed Lamb for problems on several fronts.

Before Ben Souza was hired, the commissioners interviewed and hired a planning and zoning director, Kent Harris, who did not have the kind of zoning experience needed and who was apparently directed not to seek help from previous planning and zoning director. 

Harris was not informed of all of the requirements of being the planning and zoning director when hired, including that he get a waste water operator license so he could supervise the Centerville sewage lagoon. And because Harris was hired directly by the commissioners, who also weren’t knowledgeable about zoning issues and did not consult with West, the county’s zoning office was quickly in disarray.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Jason Hightower and newly elected Commissioner Alison Hamilton admitted in a meeting that they should not have been the people interviewing the applicant for the planning and zoning job because they were not able to give him all of the information needed.

Ben Souza was interviewed and recommended by Public Works Administrator Jesse Walton, who was just recently thrown into his current job when West was fired. Like Harris, Walton had little previous knowledge of the statutes required for planning and zoning. Walton was the road foreman for Linn County’s northern road shop and had recently been made road operations manager for the county.

As a consequence applications for building permits and conditional use permits have experienced a backlog that is stopping new projects in their tracks.     

Darin Wilson, on the other hand, had been interviewed and hired by West, who had some experience in planning and zoning and then Wilson had six months to work with the previous planning and zoning director to learn the requirements of the job.

To be clear, Ben Souza may have the necessary skills to do the zoning administrators job. Obviously no one outside the commission, Walton and County Counselor Jacklyn Paletta has seen his résumé or has sat in on his interview. Also to be clear, hiring Ben Souza was not a case of nepotism. Ben does not (professionally) report to Danielle Souza in any way, shape or form.

Also to be clear, Danielle Souza has gained our respect since she took office as county clerk. She had little training when she was appointed and has diligently been working to overcome that deficit. She has made it apparent that she intends to follow state statutes and county regulations and keep her office from undue influence by the county commission.

None of the past charges of nepotism by Johnson have had any merit. Because neither one reported to the other, Darcy and Darin Wilson’s working in the same office did not constitute nepotism.

Nor did the election of Jason Hightower as commissioner while his wife worked in the public works department. A step suggested by former county counselor Gary Thompson to take Jessica Hightower’s economic development directors post out of direct supervision by the county commission and charge West with being her supervisor kept their relationship from conflicting with county policy.

However, Johnson has been the target of several grievances and has had a complaint of ouster filed against him. He allegedly harassed both West and Darin Wilson when they followed regulations instead of his wishes. 

Meanwhile, there are reports of Johnson and Hamilton accepting ex parte information on proposed conditional use permit applications and prejudging those applications without an impartial hearing. Those actions create the climate for potential lawsuits against the county.

Previous planning and zoning director Darin Wilson had to balance between what his duties were and threats from a commissioner about who he should have follow regulations and who he should overlook.

The director of county planning and zoning position should not be a political position. The director should carefully follow state statutes and county regulations. Instead Johnson pressured Darin Wilson into disregarding zoning violations of his friends and supporters. Wilson has stated that because he refused to break the law, he chose to leave that position.

Now, Ben Souza will be facing the same decisions. Did he know what he was getting into when he applied? Does he realize that making the wrong decision could affect his family’s income? Will the county clerk overlook missteps by the commissioners? What pressure will the Souza family face from commissioners who seem more willing to follow their own rules than following county regulations?

Our hope is that all of these questions are moot. But we still have to ask ourselves the question: Why didn’t Johnson see the incongruity of his nepotism charges in the past with his vote to hire the spouse of a county official?