Trustees
The idea of townships began in the New England Colonies and at the time counties were subordinate to townships. In other words, townships were responsible for property tax assessment, tax collection, schools, cemeteries, bridges, proper drainage and animal disease control. The township duties also included serving as law enforcement, guardians of the poor, overseers of highways, fence viewers and assessors of damage done from livestock that got loose. In later years roles reversed and a County Board of Supervisors was created to replace the old county board that consisted of reprensentatives of the various townships. This allowed the county to take over responsibilities such as law enforcement, property tax assessment, tax collection, bridges and highways.
Iowa residents living in rural areas outside of incorporated cities continue to rely on their local township government to provide a broad range of services, from vital functions such as fire protection and emergency medical service, to maintenance of public cemeteries and the resolution of fence disputes. If such things as township halls, parks, libraries, community centers and playgrounds exist in the township and are not already operated by a city/town, they are responsible for those as well. Currently, Squaw Creek Township does not have anything that falls under the latter category.
Trustees have a term of four (4) years beginning on the 1st day of January following a general election. The Township Clerk has a term of four (4) years beginning on the 1st day of January following a general election held in an even year. Township Trustees and the Township Clerk are elected by only those township residents living outside of incorporated cities and towns. The Township Clerk serves as the secretary to the Township Trustees, as well as the chief financial officer for the township. Under the Trustees' supervision, the Clerk prepares the budget and annual reports. The Clerk is responsible for receiving and paying out township funds, preparing, recording and retaining certificates of interment rights as well as preparing agendas and official minutes of all township meetings. The three (3) elected Township Trustees and the Township Clerk are required by law to meet at least twice a year. Once to adopt a budget and establish a tax levy rate and again to approve the Annual Report which reflects the financial activities for the prior fiscal year.
I've always been curious as to how many votes were received for each of our board members and if there are any write-ins. Check out these fun statistics from the November 2022 election regarding our Township Board members. For those who wrote their names in....Thank you for your interest in becoming a member.
To all...Feel free to join us at our meetings!
Misti Kosman was appointed as the Clerk for Squaw Creek Township during the December 2021 Trustee meeting. Misti and her husband Ben purchased their property in 2001 and built their home in 2004. The original owners of their property were the Simmerman family who purchased it from the Federal Government in the 1800's and it remained in their family until the 1990's; the Kosman's are the fourth family to own this property which still retains the original windmill and hand hatcheted/wood pinned barn.
Misti and Ben are blessed with five children, two are still at home while the others visit often! Over the years, the children have been involved in all types of activities from restoring tractors to gymnastics, swimming, softball, baseball, football, dance, speech, 4-H, and lots more. The family has always enjoyed gardening, conversations over bonfires, riding ATV's, church, traveling and volunteering.
Along with family life, volunteering and traveling, Misti is employed as the City Clerk/Treasurer with the City of Milo. She brings 8 years of clerk experience to the Township Clerk position and is looking forward to serving with the Trustees on the Squaw Creek Township Board.
Sheri Jandik has been a Trustee for Squaw Creek Township since January 18, 2018. Outside the 'normal' township trustee duties she has been assisting with cleaning trees out of fence lines at Indian Valley and Mt Tabor cemeteries. Sheri has also been researching the history of the township, the three cemeteries and the residents of the cemeteries in order to create our website. Because of her research, she is currently assisting the Clerk with those who are wanting to be buried in our cemeteries. If you are wishing to be interred in one of our cemeteries, please contact Sheri.
Sheri and her husband Jim bought their farm in 1996 and shortly after, moved into the home they built. They plant a few crops each spring, however in the fall they don't harvest those crops, instead they reap the benefits of their planting by filling their freezer with a couple of deer and turkey. They have also been trying to revive the native prairie grasses on their farm to enhance wildlife such as turkey, pheasants and quail. They have also accommodated the ducks and geese by building a couple of marsh areas. In their efforts to provide for the wildlife, they have discovered several beautiful and some unique native wildflowers as well.
Sheri and her husband both love to cook and grill. Each year they plant a garden in hopes of not only providing vegetables to go with the wild cuisine in the summer months, but also allowing Sheri to make salsa and freeze sweet corn to enjoy year-round. Sheri also enjoys baking, especially during the holidays but also when the zucchini gets out of control in the garden. They don't have children unless you count critters. They currently have one 'child', a very spoiled farm cat, but over the years they raised three black labs and several other spoiled farm cats. They both enjoy hunting, fishing, working on the farm, working on the 'toys', and cruising the country side in a Corvette to go hiking and fishing. They also race a second Corvette on road courses around the Midwest.
Steven Lawyer has been a township trustee since 2003 and a township resident since 1997. However, Lawyer family ancestors first moved into southern Warren County in the 1890's where they have maintained a presence ever since. Steve lives on G76 highway with his three children and numerous pets on a property owned by his family since 1962.
Steve is a solo practice attorney who maintains his law office in West Des Moines. In addition to his work as an attorney, Steve is a fitness instructor at the Indianola YMCA and ferry pilot for a regional airplane dealership. He enjoys traveling domestically and internationally with his children and counts skydiving, scuba diving, and cycling among his numerous hobbies.
Kimberly Smith grew up in Squaw Creek Township on the farm her Great Grand father(3) Henry Adkin Callaway purchased and built a home on in the mid 1800's. He passed away on that farm March 23, 1918. The land has since stayed in her family. Fun fact: The family farm was less than a mile away from the Hossack farm.
Kimberly married her husband Erik D. Smith in 1993 at the New Virginia Methodist church. They then bought their property in Cool, Iowa in 1995 and proceeded to continue to build their house to final completion in 2017.
Kimberly and her husband Erik have 10 children, 3 girls and 7 boys, ages 7 to 29. In that span of time she also enjoyed raising White German Shepherds for about 8 years. Fun fact: One puppy of which went to the Mike Johanns family, at that time the Governor of Nebraska. Kimberly's family have had an array of pets over the years including Cockatiels, horses, rabbits, pigmy fainting goats and chickens with a side of barn cats.
Her family's hobbies include 4 wheeling, camping, boating, tubing and jet skiing. However, the family's main hobbies now a days mostly exists of fixing, building and riding 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers, go carts, dirt bikes, buggies and street bikes but really anything motorized will do. Kimberly's interests are water skiing, riding her motorcycle, target shooting and a love for snorkeling. Kimberly's highlight is spending family summer time fun swimming in their pool and sitting by the camp fire with family and friends.
Kimberly is looking forward to this opportunity to serve as a Trustee and to learn more about her Township's history.
If you are wanting to find contact information for the above board members or Trustees and Clerks for other Warren County Townships, they can be found on the Warren County Iowa Auditor under the link of Township Officers.
Attention Funeral Homes, per section 3.4 of our Cemetery Rules, we need to be contacted for each service conducted at the cemeteries. The whole of Section 3 will explain why. For the most up to date contact information, please refer to the Township Officers link on Warren County Iowa Auditor page. You may also send an email to: Squaw Creek Township which is then forwarded to each member of the board.