Iowa Capital Dispatch
Clark Kauffman
The Iowa Supreme Court is considering a case that could answer the question of whether elected officials are bound by decisions made by their predecessors.
The case revolves around the efforts of the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors to scuttle an agreement with two Iowa cities to construct a new regional airport in south-central Iowa. In briefs recently filed with the Iowa Supreme Court, the cities argue the county and a group of landowners are pursuing a “provincial and narrow-minded challenge” to a state law that allows governmental agencies to work together to pursue important development projects.
If the county and landowners are successful, the cities argue, that law will be “dramatically diminished in force and effect,” and will “put sand in the gears of an engine of progress.”
