Johnson County Board of Supervisors candidate Jon Green in Iowa City, May 22, 2021. Photo Credit – Izabela Zaluska/Little Village
Jon Green should be re-elected in the newly created Johnson County Supervisor District 2.
He was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2021. As board chair, Green led the process of gaining consensus on a jail proposal. When you see the jail referendum on the November ballot, Jon’s fingerprints will be all over it. We should re-elect him to finish this important work.
New districts are creating tumult in supervisor elections and can eventually be expected to impact governance. At least one incumbent won’t be returning. Others may lose their primary. The Republican hope was they could elect at least one supervisor under the district system. Change is coming, like it or not.
Jon has the sense to know changing a governance process already in transition would be tampering with an otherwise stable system. He opposes changing the form of government to using a county administrator. It is the right call.
For these reasons and more, I urge you to vote for Democrat Jon Green in the June 2 primary election for District 2 supervisor.
~ Published as a letter to the editor of Little Village on April 29, 2026.
On April 18, the Johnson County League of Women Voters hosted a forum with three Democratic candidates running for county supervisor in District 2. One topic was the potential to add a county administrator, appointed by the board.
The discussion began with Janet Godwin, who said she had knocked on hundreds of doors in District 2 and found that “many believe that a county administrator is part of that solution,” referring to Senate File 75, in which the Republican-controlled Iowa legislature required Johnson County to divide into districts with voters choosing one supervisor each.
Godwin appeared to favor an administrator, incumbent Jon Green opposed one, and Jessica Andino said she wanted to learn more after the election, arguing change in board governance would be necessary.
County governance will change, and that’s the main point against hiring an administrator now. Because of Senate File 75, there will be changes among the supervisors. At least one incumbent won’t be returning and others may lose the primary. It will be a board in tumult. Changing governance now would add to that, reflecting unnecessary tampering with a stable system.
My proposal would be to get past the election and see where things stand. What, if any, problems does election by district cause to board governance? It would be difficult to address a problem if we can’t answer that question.
One thing Green got right in the Daily Iowan was, “I don’t support that change, both because of the disruption, but I think it critically misreads the political moment that we find ourselves in. Hiring an unelected county administrator simply places more distance between the will of the voters and the execution of county government.”
Isn’t the will of the voters what this is all about?
At a political event in Iowa City on April 11, 2026.
Traveling to the county seat on a Saturday afternoon is unlikely for me. However, I needed to speak with my candidate about the upcoming June 2 primary election, so there I was. About 75 people crowded into a self-described “cozy nook” at the Green House. Framed as a “botanical retreat,” the establishment serves plant-infused specialty cocktails, local beer, and non-alcoholic drinks crafted with local tinctures and herbs. I had none of those as I had come with limited funds and to talk.
Whenever I visit Iowa City I encounter people I have known for years. This makes a sociable visit no matter what the agenda. This event was a joint fund raiser for Democratic congressional candidate Travis Terrell and my candidate for county supervisor Jon Green. There were a lot of speakers.
The flavor of the event was based on two people I have known for years and were there, John Dabeet and Newman Abuissa. John was born in Jerusalem and is a board member of the U.S. Palestinian Council, an organization “that aims to represent, educate and advocate on issues of concern to Palestinian Americans, strengthen ties between the US and Palestine, and push forward a vision based on liberty, justice, and human rights for all,” according to their website. John spoke at the event. Newman was born in Damascus, Syria and “is a prominent Syrian-American activist, civil engineer, and political organizer based in Iowa City, known for his vocal advocacy for Palestinian rights and his leadership within the Arab American caucus of the Iowa Democratic Party,” according to Google search results. Both identify as Democrats, and have been active in Iowa politics.
Two speakers discussed AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee based in Washington, D.C. Terrell criticized Christina Bohannan, also a Democratic candidate for the Congress, for accepting a six-figure campaign donation from AIPAC. He also criticized Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks for accepting a lesser six-figure amount. What is AIPAC doing in this race? They are not favoring either candidate. Rather, they are guaranteeing the outcome of a member of Congress favorable to Israel, regardless who wins. Terrell hopes to leverage that to win the Democratic primary.
I don’t get out much and the conversations I had about plumbing, farming, compost, contractors, politics, and local culture at the event helped make it a positive evening. There is more to being a progressive than one’s stance on Israel and Palestine. However, that afternoon, those issues were in focus. It’s part and parcel of the diversity within the Democratic Party.
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