Tell critical details behind the spat

By The Gazette Editorial Board

Who is playing politics with revelations of misspending at the state alcoholic beverages commission, Gov. Chet Culver or State Auditor David Vaudt?

We suspect both are.

But we're not much interested in the recent flap between their offices over who leaked a draft audit report outlining the commission's improper spending under former Director Lynn Walding or what motivated the auditor's office to release the fiscal year report this month - the bones Vaudt and Culver's offices are picking with each other as they both face re-election.

What we are interested in are these critical details: How the agency's misspending came to light and why it took so long for Iowans to learn about it.

The fiscal 2009 audit of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, which regulates the distribution and sale of alcohol in Iowa, sheds some light on the abuse of public funds, but other questions remain.

Why didn't the governor fully explain his reasons when he decided not to reappoint Walding to the post last February? Did he really not have enough grounds to remove Walding, when a Department of Management internal review found enough grounding to take “immediate and ongoing corrective actions and strict cost and personnel controls” on the agency when allegations surfaced?

The rest is little more than a tempest in a teapot. Iowans deserve answers from state leaders, not political finger-pointing.

The 2009 audit revealed improper spending in the state's alcoholic beverages division under then-director Lynn Walding: bicycles, a high-end dishwasher, high-definition televisions and expensive artwork - taxpayer money apparently wasted - and a failure to follow the state bidding process. Auditors also questioned the meteoric rise of one employee from administrative intern to operations manager, with a corresponding surge in salary.

On one hand, it's more egg on the face of an administration already plagued by several scandals involving state agencies. But Culver's office has said new policies and a new director have been effective in fixing past problems at the alcoholic beverages division.

Since these revelations were made public, Culver and Vaudt have been trying to draw the public's focus with some petty political hand-slapping. Culver's office questioned the auditor's timing in releasing the report.

Vaudt's office said that's because it was having trouble getting information from Walding and accused the governor's office of prematurely releasing the report to the news media, also threatening to withhold from the administration courtesy copies of future reports.

The governor's office denies being the source of the leak.

And in the midst of this horseplay, important questions remain.