Mitchellville’s City Council concluded Tuesday that Mayor Tony Jensen was ineligible to serve after considering information from city and county assessors indicating he did not live in the city, KCCI reported. Jensen did not attend the meeting. He told KCCI he had bought a house in nearby Bondurant but was staying in Mitchellville in an RV with friends. He also said his family wanted to leave town because of harassment; KCCI’s account did not identify who was responsible.
As council members considered the residency issue, Jensen sent a text resigning, KCCI reported. He told the station he expected to lose a challenge to the finding and did not want to take on the expense of hiring an attorney. Jensen had been elected less than a year earlier.
The council chose to fill the vacancy by appointment rather than hold a special election, citing the expense and the need for stability after months of turmoil. Councilwoman Morgan Lunn told KCCI that repeated leadership changes had unsettled residents and said Jensen’s departure brought relief. The council has not set a date for the appointment.
How the vacancy can be filled
Iowa Code §372.13 gives a city council the option to fill a vacancy in an elective city office by appointment or special election, according to the Iowa Legislature.
The dispute followed earlier disagreements between Jensen and the council. KCCI reported in August that members unanimously asked him to resign, citing missed meetings and his handling of city employees, including his firing of Fire Chief Mike Twohey. The Des Moines Register reported that Twohey was reinstated in May, more than two months after the firing, and that the dispute led to city code changes limiting the mayor’s appointment powers.
Sources: KCCI’s report on Tuesday’s meeting; KCCI’s earlier report on the council’s resignation request; and the Des Moines Register’s report on Twohey’s reinstatement.
