Rants questions Vander Plaats 'turnaround CEO' credentials

By James Q. Lynch

By James Q. Lynch

The Gazette

Bob Vander Plaats claim of being the “turnaround CEO” Iowa needs to lead the state out of its financial problem is being challenged by Rep. Chris Rants, a rival for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

“In every speech he gives, Bob says he was a ‘turnaround' CEO at Opportunities Unlimited,” Rep. Chris Rants of Sioux City said Tuesday, but “the facts show Opportunities Unlimited tanked financially during his tenure as CEO and Chairman.”

Turning an operating surplus into a deficit “is something our current governor has already perfected,” Rants said. “State government doesn't need a CEO who specializes in downturns.”

Rumors about Vander Plaats' leadership at Opportunities Unlimited have circulated for some time, but Rants is the first to voice them on the record.

The attack on a rival seems early and risky, but, perhaps, necessary to slow any momentum Vander Plaats has gained as the putative frontrunner, according to political observers.

“Rants may be trying to get his name back in the news after all this talk about former Gov. Terry Branstad getting into the race,” University of Northern Iowa political scientist Chris Larimer said. Polls this summer show Branstad as the only Republican likely to defeat first-term Democrat Gov. Chet Culver in 2010 and Vander Plaats as the frontrunner if Branstad doesn't enter the race.

Branstad has indicated he will decide next month whether to seek a fifth term. Until he decides, GOP observers say the race is in a state of suspended animation with activists and donors reluctant to take sides.

Rants' attack on Vander Plaats could be an attempt to sidetrack Branstad, said Tim Hagle, who teaches political science at the University of Iowa.

 “If Branstad is getting in and his chief argument is experience, Rants may be saying what we need are new ideas and new approaches to the problems Iowa faces today,” Hagle said.

Vander Plaats spokesman Eric Woolson called Rants' allegations “wholly inaccurate,” but Rants stuck by his charges.

Rants said Opportunities Unlimited's tax returns during Vander Plaats' tenure showed it went from a $471,455 operating surplus to a $630,655 deficit and total operating revenue dropped from $4.2 million to $3.9 million while long-term debt doubled from $2.4 million to $4.7 million.

However, Woolson said that under Vander Plaats' leadership, Opportunities Unlimited, which provides services to people with brain injuries, saw its net assets increase 430 percent from an ending balance of $621,000 in fiscal 1996 to $2.69 million in fiscal 2000.

Typically it is dangerous to be the first candidate to attack another, Larimer said. It's also unusual for the candidate to level the attack himself, Hagle added.

Rants may be trying to give early-deciding Republicans a reason to reconsider their support of Vander Plaats, Hagle said. A July poll that didn't mention Branstad found 46 percent of Republicans supported Vander Plaats, 27 percent were undecided and 14 percent favored Rants.

His attack opens the door for other candidates to go negative, Larimer said. They can go negative indirectly simply by saying they agree with the questions raised by Rants.

The long-term impact is hard to predict because interest in the race is mostly likely limited to Republican activists at this point, Larimer said.