Jeff Abbas announces his candidacy for Allamakee County Board of Supervisors

Jeff Abbas ...
Jeff Abbas ...

Jeff Abbas, a county resident for 11 years, is announcing his candidacy for a seat on the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors. Abbas is the fourth declared candidate vying for the two Supervisor seats that will be up for election in this year’s general election scheduled for early November.

Abbas and his wife, Mary, live on Bear Creek near Dorchester and are supporters and members of the Community Rights Movement which advocates more local control for citizens. They were both leaders of the successful fight against frac sand mining in Allamakee County.

He acknowledges the diligent work by County officials in that fight as being crucial to the success of that campaign.

“Without the incredible efforts by the Board of Supervisors, the Zoning Board and everyone involved at the County level, that campaign would have failed,” Abbas says.

It is the hard work and well-researched efforts by County officials that have inspired him to make this run. “I also owe the local Republican Senator a great deal in making this decision. I attended two town halls in Waukon at which that Senator was in attendance. At the first meeting in 2016, the subject of CAFOs came up. A lot of different opinions were being expressed, and the discussion became quite heated. At one point while addressing water quality issues, the Senator called for a halt to the debate by proclaiming the Allamakee County Board of Supervisor is not intelligent enough to make the decisions necessary when it came to water quality issues in the county. I was incensed, and left the meeting then and there, fearing I might say something I would regret,” Abbas said. “A year later, in 2017, I asked that Senator if he still stood by his statement that the Board of Supervisors was not intelligent enough to make decisions regarding water quality issues in the county. He answered that he continued to stand by that statement.”

“That is what lies at the heart of my campaign,” Abbas explained. “I want to see more local control on all issues affecting Allamakee County. The State or Federal Government should not be able to dictate what happens to Allamakee County residents without our consent or agreement. I believe our Board of Supervisors is intelligent enough to make those decisions and I want to bring a non-partisan voice to the table. Both the Federal Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Iowa guarantee our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When you take away our local input in the decision-making process at the local level, those guarantees become meaningless.”

For more information about Abbas’ campaign, go to JeffAbbas.com.