IOWA CITY

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors will vote Thursday on pay increases of 22% for supervisors in the county’s ambulance department.

Fiona Johnson, Ambulance Director, recommended the increase to the board at its June 21 work session.

Johnson pointed out that 20% pay increases for ambulance EMTs and paramedics, which the board agreed to last November, set up a scenario in which some ambulance staffers would be making more salary than the supervisors they work for.

In order to be able to attract more staffers to an understaffed ambulance department, the board agreed to 20% raises, half of which began Nov. 28, 2022. The remaining 10% will go into effect July 1.

“That, thankfully, was a success,” Johnson said. “We are fully staffed, we have people waiting to get a job. It’s accomplished our mission.”

The proposed pay increases for ambulance field supervisors would push their hourly rate over $40 while staffers would earn between $30 and $40 an hour, depending on years of service.

Johnson Tribute

Dr. Rebecca Conard, a Middle Tennessee State associate professor of history emeritus who lives in Coralville, told the board that storyboarding for the planned Lulu Merle Johnson exhibit should begin in July.

Two years ago, the board voted to rename Johnson County after Lulu Merle Johnson, an African-American woman who earned three degrees at the University of Iowa, was the first Black to earn a doctorate degree in Iowa and became a civil rights pioneer in her education career. She died in 1995.

“We’re getting a much fuller picture of her as a person and really as a professional,” said Conard, who has been researching Johnson’s history with an intern and interviewing members of Lulu Merle Johnson’s family (a nephew and three grand nieces) in the Des Moines area.

The board has allocated $60,000 for research and an exhibit design.

Board Action

The Board approved the establishment, and eligibility and selection requirements for a child care assistance incentive program, and an infant and toddler scholarship program. The funds would be provided through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money, beginning with $191,000 in 2023, and $192,000 in 2024 and 2025.

The Board approved a Fiscal Year 2024 agreement with Linn County for juvenile detention services. The cost for FY 2023 is approaching $400,000.

The Board set 5:30 p.m. July 13 as the monthly evening meeting date for public hearings associated with a number of rezoning and platting applications.

Next board meeting: The board will hold its next formal meeting at 9 a.m. June 29.