Linn County Auditor Candidate from Marion Rips Opponent's 'Frivolous Lawsuit'

Q: Why have you decided to run?

A: I am running for (Linn) County Auditor because I believe my years of experience in both county government and the auditor’s office will allow me to provide better leadership and better fiscal management than what we have seen since (Linn County Auditor) Joel Miller took office.

Q: What do you feel like is the problem with Miller's leadership?

A: He launched a frivolous lawsuit at the (Linn County) Board of Supervisors, costing thousands of dollars in private legal fees. 

Q: How was that frivolous?

A: The Iowa code specifically state that the board of supervisors have the authority to determine the amount of deputies the auditor has. 

The auditor had three deputies — one of them was the elections deputy and he was getting close to retirement. (Miller) asked if he could get a forth deputy until the elections deputy retired.  The board allowed him to hire and then he turns around and fires the elections deputy, so it brings him back to three deputies.
Then he wanted to add this fourth person, who just did auditing (of other county departments). The board said no and he sued.

Q: What about fiscally irresponsibility?

A: When you have internal auditing going on already and you are going to hire another auditor for approximately $90,000 that sounds to me like a duplication of duties.

The auditor's office currently reviews claims prior to processing payment. Elected officials and department heads already review the spending of their budgets. Also, the county finance and budget directors audit their budgets daily.

Q: And what do you think his reasoning is for that?

A: His argument is that he is going to continue to do auditing, because he feels strongly about doing that. And, the other things that he states is that because he his doing this auditing, it is not his goal to have good working relationships with other elected officials or department heads. But at a time of poor economic conditions when the public expects more out of the government, he is adding barriers. He doesn’t’ get along with the sheriff he doesn’t get along with the treasurer he didn’t get along with the recorder and he claims this is all to do with conducting these internal audits. 

So he has put up all these additional barriers not only with the board and county attorneys. It create a working environment that is difficult on a day to day basis.

Q: What is your history in the Auditor’s office?

A: I was hired in 1999 by former auditor Linda Langenburg as the facilities manager. I oversaw the county facilities of half a million square feet consisting of 12 plus buildings with a operating budget of approximately $3 million and a staff of thirty plus. I was also very involved in the election process. 

Also, in my 13 plus years in working in county government, I have good working relationships with mangers and elected officials. Since 2008 I have been working in flood recovery and in that role I am working closely with many county departments, so I have a good understanding of county government and how it operates.

I also have a bachelors of arts in business form mount mercy and that would obviously help me in overseeing the accounting and payroll functions of the auditor’s office. So I feel like I have a well rounded background.

Q: What are your goals should you take office?

A: One of the first goals I would have is to work on improving the working relationships with the auditors office. 

One of the other things I would look at doing is improving our attendance system. Some of the other departments are doing manual entry. Since some of the departments are budgeted with approximately 95 percent of the budget going to staff salaries it is probably a pretty important thing to make it more efficient.

Also, since I was the previous facilities manger and since we have all of these new county buildings, three of which are LEED certified, they have a sophistication that requires an knowledgeable understanding of how they operate. I would look at what training is required in order to know the most efficient way of using these buildings.