This is a must-watch episode of Southeast Iowa Today. John Bain sits down with Jefferson County supervisor candidate Jerry Leonard — a former Democrat now running as an Independent — and gets straight to why he left the two-party lane. Leonard says voters are fed up with both parties and that neither one is doing enough for ordinary people. At the county level, he argues, party label doesn’t matter. “When you vote for Jerry, you’re not voting for a party but an individual who will work for you.” He describes himself as “the most conservative Liberal you’ll ever meet and the most liberal Conservative you’ll ever know.” Topics include county organization, gender, data centers, solar, conservation, and the tax base. It all happened September 24, 2026.

A full week after the September 17, 2026 Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting, Kadie Johannson of KILJ used this show’s video to write her story—then spent more energy nitpicking the word “lawsuit” than explaining why the board accused Auditor Robin Detrick of withholding information.

This episode plays the meeting footage, compares same-week coverage from Tracy Lamm of the Burlington Hawkeye (who also described a civil liberties lawsuit tied to a former employee), and asks why terminology became the story while taxpayers still face the bill. Joe Buffington’s delayed retirement date is already costing the county. Whether the former employee’s civil liberties claim becomes a full lawsuit or is handled through ICAP, the public is on the hook.

The bigger issue isn’t a court case number. It’s what the board says it wasn’t told—and why local coverage arrived late, leaned on someone else’s video, and still didn’t go deeper.