Accusations Fly, Relationship Between 2 Elected Linn County Officials 'Gone Up in Flames'

A rift between two elected officials in Linn County has flared up with very public accusations of wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The last straw before Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson said his relationship with County Auditor Joel Miller had "gone up in flames" was a $2,500 bonus paid to a deputy auditor, which Oleson said was the only bonus paid by the county.

"That was the last straw for me after hiring his personal friend outside of the HR process and paying him $40,000.00 to end up not getting any work product for the taxpayer money," Oleson wrote, among other criticisms on Facebook after a meeting where the issue came up.

The supervisors and Miller have also been caught up in lengthy and pricy lawsuit. Miller responded that supervisors gave themselves hefty raises and appointed a "crony" to a six-figure position. 

Miller, in an interview afterwords, said Oleson's ire was due to pointing out several supervisors had "lousy" attendance at board meetings, a review Miller said was done in hopes of eliminating meetings and saving taxpayers money.

Another point of friction, both agree, is a commission Miller wants to convene to evaluate how the county is organized, with a possible end game of combining offices.  

"Now he wants to establish a "commission" to study county government, potentially costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars with likely no changing result," Oleson wrote.

Moves like these haven't made Miller popular among peers.

"Peers kiss up to the board to get what they want," Miller said. "I'm not good at that. That's not who I am. They go and tell the board they are doing a good job when they are not. I'm the auditor, not the cheerleader. It's not a 'make everybody happy position.' I'm going to ask questions and continue to ask questions."

Miller said the board is looking to "micro-manage" or "blackmail me into conforming." Oleson said the board has little recourse in dealing with Miller, other than eliminating deputies, which they aren't ready to do, and cutting his budget. 

Oleson says Miller has a "non-working or a completely nonfunctional relationship" with many colleagues, but Miller said despite their differences they are still able to get the job done. 

"Do I have a working relationship?" Miller said. "I work with them when I need to work with them, and they do the same."