CCI Asks Rastetter To Resign From Board of Regents for AgriSol Dealings

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement called on Bruce Rastetter to resign his position as a member of the Iowa Board of Regents in a complaint filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board today.

The group, which has long been an advocate for family farms in Iowa, said Rastetter mixed his corporate farming interests with his executive position on the board using his influence to encourage a partnership between and AgriSol Energy.

In the executive summary of the complaint, CCI said it was also upset that Rastetter listed himself as a self-employed farmer in a financial disclosure statement with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board and failed to disclose his involvement in AgriSol and Summit Group until after an article in the Des Moines Register noted his involvement.

The group claims Rastetter violated Iowa Code and the Board of Regents conflict of interest policy.

“Bruce Rastetter knew that what he was doing was a conflict of interest,” said Adam Mason, Iowa CCI Statewide Organizing Policy Director.

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board oversees campaign finances and executive ethics. The board will review the complaint and determine whether it is valid and do an investigation or could dismiss it altogether.

A spokesman for Rastetter, Joe Murphy, released a statement, which said Rastetter welcomed the ethics review and planned to cooperate fully.

"We welcome this type of review and we will cooperate fully.  Bruce operates with the highest degree of integrity and has long been an advocate for education and agriculture.  He also has a strong tradition of providing support and gifts to the Regent institutions.  At the same time, Bruce has a deep commitment to helping lift people out of poverty by adopting sustainable agricultural practices," Murphy wrote.

Rastetter, who was appointed to the Board of Regents in 2011, had been working on a deal between AgriSol and Iowa State University since 2009 to develop 800,000 acres of land in Tanzania into a grain and livestock operation. The land had been home to Burundi refugees in Tanzania, but the government has been relocating them.

Mason said this was an example of corporations putting profits before people.

Iowa State planned to seek a $4-to $10-million grant with AgriSol for the project, but backed out in September because of misunderstandings over the project.

Read the full executive summary of CCI's complaint attached to this story.