Auditor questions supervisors’ decisions

To the editor:

As Linn county auditor, I have firsthand knowledge of the decisions made by the Linn County Board of Supervisors. When I share those decisions with you - the taxpayers - you get upset. Here are some examples:

l Supervisors approved a $44K-$54K contract with McGladrey LLP to study how the treasurer's office should be organized. Isn't that what you re-elected the treasurer to do?

l Supervisors gave $100K to a non-profit and Supervisor Ben Rogers sits on the non-profit's board of directors. Did the supervisors give the non-profit $100K because of Rogers?

l On Feb. 8, 2012, supervisors voted to lease 121 acres of county-owned land to Prospect Meadows for $1 per year. Prospect Meadows appears to have re-leased the land for at least $135,000 since inception of its lease with the county. Was this a good deal for the taxpayers?

l During the board's March 2 meeting, some supervisors abstained from voting on several Witwer Trust grant awards because they had potential conflicts of interest. Based upon that abstaining, my staff started segregating the claims for those grantees/vendors to give the supervisors the opportunity to avoid voting on claims when they might have a potential conflict of interest.

On April 1, during the board's public comment period, Supervisor Brent Oleson threatened to downsize my office if I don't stop segregating claims and asking questions - listen at http://linncounty.org/agendacenter.

Do you want me to stop asking questions? I wonder: Will Iowa's new anti-bullying law apply to Linn County's supervisors?

Joel D. Miller

Cedar Rapids