A fresh crop of students in the Chinese Association of Iowa visited Adel recently as part of the association’s annual two-week sojourn in the U.S. The two dozen young people started their tour of the departments of county government by dropping in on the Dallas County Board of Supervisors, who were meeting in chambers.
Swallow Yan, executive director of the Chinese Association of Iowa, introduced the visiting members of the association to the Dallas County Board of Supervisors at their Tuesday morning meeting. Yan said the students, who range in age from 10 to 20, were getting an interesting view of U.S. politics this year.
“President Trump is making a lot of news — even fake news,” said Yan jokingly, apparently referring to the president’s sustained attacks on the Constitutionally protected free press in the U.S.
The Dallas County Board of Supervisors, all Republicans, did not disparage the beloved leader but instead turned to explaining to the young visitors some of the basics of local government funding. The Chinese students in turn asked questions about U.S. customs and practices.
Dallas County Attorney Wayne Reisetter, the sole Democrat among the county’s elected officeholders, later met with the young visitors in the courtroom of Fifth Judicial District Judge Virginia Cobb and explained to them the U.S. justice system and the system of local courts.
The student tourists also made their annual visits to the offices of the county assessor, treasurer and recorder before lunch, and then turned to the county jail for a tour.
This is the sixth year the Chinese Association of Iowa and the Iowa Youth Leadership International have sponsored the two-week journeys, said Dallas County Planning and Development Senior Planner Samuel Larson, who guided the visitors on the county-government leg of their tour.
