GLENWOOD, Iowa (KMTV) — Two Mills County supervisors were sworn-in on Thursday: Lonnie Mayberry, who was re-elected, and 18-year-old Jack Sayers, who is likely the youngest county official in the state.
- His grandpa, Rod Roberts, served in the legislature and in the Reynolds administration: “It’s a pretty significant accomplishment on his part and he’s very mindful of the fact that he kind of blazes a trail for other young people."
- “There’s a lot at stake for young people in government,” Sayers said. “I mean, decisions that they make today affect us for decades down the line.”
- Previous stories:
Kerfuffle over supervisor-elect's age boils over in Mills County
Mills County 18-year-old wins GOP primary for board of supervisors
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Dana Carter: “Jack is 18, but the people spoke.”
It’s rare for an 18-year-old to run for public office let alone at the county level. I’m Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel in Mills County where 18-year-old Jack Sayers was just sworn in as the county’s newest supervisor.
Sayers: "I’ll make a motion...”
Thursday was Sayers’ first public meeting as an elected official. He’s not new to politics or public service, though.
“My grandpa put me in a wagon with my little brother with a ‘Rod Roberts for Governor’ shirt when I was four years old,” he said.
His grandpa, Rod Roberts, served in the legislature and in the Reynolds administration. He says, after doing some homework, he thinks Jack might be the youngest person ever elected to county government in Iowa.
“It’s a pretty significant accomplishment on his part and he’s very mindful of the fact that he kind of blazes a trail for other young people,” Roberts said.
On Monday, I reported on a controversy over Sayer’s age: whether he was old enough to represent Mills County on regional nonprofit boards, handling issues like housing and conservation.
The nonprofits I contacted told me they did not have age restrictions for board members, despite Sayers’ predecessor suggesting they did.
It was an early experience with the often-combative world of politics.
“But he also has a deep sense of public service,” Roberts said.
Neighbors showed up to support the new supervisor.
Tad McDowell: “Nobody should be treating him differently because he’s 18.”
Silver City Mayor Sharon McNutt: “Keep working together as I saw you work in the previous meeting that you just held.”
Sayers was nominated on Thursday to serve on the board of Golden Hills RC&D, the regional conservation group at the center of last week’s age-controversy.
“There’s a lot at stake for young people in government,” he said. “I mean, decisions that they make today affect us for decades down the line.”
Slowing the growth of the county budget and maintaining home healthcare services, Sayers told me, will be two of his priorities in office.
