Attorney Taylor Wettach announced on Monday he has quit the race for the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, and is running for Iowa Auditor of State instead. “These past few weeks have been an incredible reminder of exactly why I decided to run for office,” Wettach said in a video announcing the change […]
Iowa State Auditor’s Office
Posted inCentral Iowa
Trial date set for Ian Roberts; Rob Sand announces audit of DMPS
On Wednesday, a federal magistrate judge set a trial date for Ian Roberts, the former Des Moines Public School Superintendent. Roberts is charged with illegally possessing firearms while being in the country without legal authorization, and for knowingly making a false statement on a federal form he submitted to the Des Moines School Board. Magistrate […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Jackie Norris ends Senate bid, will focus on Des Moines School Board issues
Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris has dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Norris, who launched her campaign for Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat on Aug. 5, announced her decision in a news release on Thursday. Norris’s withdrawal came one day after Axios Des Moines reported Norris had confirmed […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Auditor: More than $400,000 in public money misspent through state-run program
Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand issued a report Thursday that says more than $400,000 in taxpayer money was improperly spent through a program run by Iowa Workforce Development. At a press conference Thursday, Sand characterized the matter as a case of “embezzlement” that involves programs funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and administered […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Lawmakers express outrage over City of Davenport’s ‘disgraceful’ actions
The Iowa House Committee on Government Oversight held a rare meeting Wednesday to discuss the City of Davenport’s refusal to disclose information tied to $1.9 million in settlements paid to former city employees. The city is opposing a subpoena that Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand has issued for records related to settlements with the […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Davenport takes state auditor to court over subpoenaed tapes as he investigates taxpayer-funded settlements
The City of Davenport is taking the state auditor to court over an investigation into $1.9 million in settlements paid out to former city employees. The city is opposing a subpoena that Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand has issued for records related to conversations that Davenport city officials had with staff attorneys and contracted […]
Posted inCommunity/News
New phone scam involves caller claiming to work for Iowa Auditor of State’s Office
Phone scams continue to proliferate, and on Monday the Iowa Auditor of State’s Office (AOS) reported a new one. “A concerned citizen notified the AOS Office on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, that they had received a phone call from a person inquiring about their mortgage,” the office said in a news release. “The caller also […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Auditor concludes Gov. Reynolds has failed to justify almost $450,000 in pandemic relief spent on staff pay
Just hours before Gov. Kim Reynolds boasted about her handling of the pandemic (“we honored your freedoms”) in the Republican response to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, Iowa Auditor Rob Sand published a report that reiterated his finding from last October that the governor had misappropriated almost $450,000 in federal pandemic relief […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rob Sand is running for a second term as state auditor, squashing speculation he’d seek higher office
Almost as soon as Rob Sand was elected Iowa State Auditor in 2018, political writers and the Iowa Republican Party began publicly speculating on what office he would run for in 2022. Would Sand, the only Democrat elected to statewide office that year who wasn’t already a longtime incumbent (Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald has been in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Audit: Gov. Reynolds misused almost $450,000 of COVID aid to pay her office staff
Gov. Kim Reynolds misappropriated almost $450,000 in federal pandemic relief funds to cover the salaries and benefits of 21 employees in her office, according to a report published by the Iowa State Auditor’s Office on Monday. This is not the first time Auditor Rob Sand has issued a report alleging Reynolds misused CARES dollars meant […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds says no to vaccine incentives, yes to running for reelection; State Auditor says she misused pandemic aid again
“I am really happy with where we’re at,” Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters on Thursday, explaining that Iowa doesn’t need to follow the example of other states and create lotteries or other incentives to persuade people to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In April, the governor announced a goal of having 65 percent of eligible Iowans […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa is spending $10m in federal pandemic aid on state police salaries
After insisting for two months that spending $21 million in federal pandemic aid on a new computer system unrelated to COVID-19 was a legitimate use of that money, Gov. Kim Reynolds reversed her position on Monday and ordered those funds returned to the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. Iowa Auditor Rob Sand first informed the Reynolds […]
