Ethics Board resolves complaint against Iowa state auditor

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board accepted an agreement Thursday whereby State Auditor Mary Mosiman repaid funds she used from an old campaign account to cover personal expenses.

Mosiman, who left her job as Story County Auditor in 2011 to become deputy secretary of state, was appointed in May by Gov. Terry Branstad to serve as state auditor after David Vaudt resigned the elective office to take another position.

Shortly after she assumed her duties as state auditor, the Iowa Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint, contending  Mosiman spent campaign funds on certified public accountant training and travel to Republican county conventions. That's a violation of a state prohibition on public officials spending campaign money when they are neither in elected office nor a candidate for elected office. At the time of the expenditures, Mosiman was an employee of the Secretary of State.

During Thursday's meeting, board members said Iowa law was “ambiguous” in the area that was raised and decided not to pursue the complaint further since Moisman had agreed to correct the situation.

“I am pleased the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board found no wrong doing on my part and duly dismissed the complaint,” said Mosiman, who was Story County's Auditor for 10 years and has indicated she intends to seek reelection as state auditor in 2014. “With this situation behind me, I look forward to continuing my work as the Taxpayers' Watchdog in Iowa.”

In other action Thursday, the board approved a proposed advisory opinion by which social media accounts created for political purposes would have to include a disclosure known as a "paid for by" attribution somewhere on the profile page.

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