By Sam Parsons

The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors held their first regular meeting of the new calendar year this morning. The board re-elected Mark Groenendyk as Chair of the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors, while Steve Wanders was elected as Vice Chair.

The board also saw Tracy Ver Steegh get sworn in as the new Mahaska County Recorder. Former Mahaska County Recorder Jody Van Patten was elected as Mahaska County Auditor in the November general election, and Ver Steegh filled the vacancy at County Recorder via appointment.

Additionally, the board discussed wage increases for elected officials for Fiscal Year 2025-26. For budgeting purposes, all offices except for the Auditor’s office were nominally given a 5% wage increase, while the Auditor received a 10% increase. Full approval of the wage increases is expected to take place later this year.

And the board discussed moving duties from the office of General Relief to the office of Veteran’s Affairs. Under the new arrangement, all duties from General Relief would be absorbed by Veteran’s Affairs, removing the office of General Relief in the process. General Relief director Kim Newendorp, however, said she was not notified of this change.

Newendorp went on to allege that VA director Curt Grandia receiving her job duties, instead of the other way around, was discriminatory, but board chair Mark Groenendyk said that the decision boiled down to saving the county $17,522 per year. Ultimately, the proposal was approved unanimously by the board and it will become effective on January 20.