ChetChase 2010 -- Muzzle Puzzle

Iowa's race for governor, muzzled for its own good. Mmmmph mmmmph.

The Des Moines Register has been hammering away at news that Gov. Chet Culver's administration may have violated federal law by requiring the state's top long-term care advocate to get official permission to speak freely before doing any politically touchy ombudsumaning.

From today's instalment, by Clark Kauffman:

Iowa's chief advocate for the elderly was told in February that she could not express an opinion on state or federal legislation without the approval of Gov. Chet Culver's office - a potential violation of federal law.

Federal officials told the Iowa Department on Aging last month that its policy of restricting statements made by Long-Term Care Ombudsman Jeanne Yordi violated the federal Older Americans Act.

That law is intended to ensure the independence of all of the nation's long-term care ombudsmen. The U.S. Administration on Aging ordered department director John McCalley to change the policy.

The Register also trumpets its struggle to get red hot staff e-mails detailing these problems. The governor's office put a $744 price tag on filling the open records request. But then Kauffman got e-mails anyway, from "a person who does not work in the governor's office." Gotta love persons.

So Culver's office saved $744.

And yet, there was a political price:

Branstad calls on Culver to remove the director of the Iowa Department on Aging

Says Iowa seniors deserve a director who will advocate for seniors and the public

(URBANDALE) – Former Gov. Terry Branstad today called for Gov. Culver to remove John McCalley as director of the Department on Aging and replace him with someone who will advocate for seniors and work with the commission and the area agencies on aging.

“This new controversy surrounding the Department on Aging once again shows the current administration is bent on keeping Iowans in the dark when it comes to the work of state government,” said Branstad. “This current situation is wrong on a number of levels, including:

“First, it is wrong that it takes an order from the federal government for John McCalley and the Culver Administration to enforce rules that allow our state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman to do her job and advocate for senior citizens.

“Second, this is additional evidence that Governor Culver has populated key state agencies with leaders less interested in serving Iowans and more interested in keeping Iowans in the dark about the activities of his administration. For that reason, Mr. McCalley needs to go and Iowa seniors need a leader who listens in that office,” said Branstad.

Branstad renewed his call for the creation of a separate division within the Attorney General's office to strictly enforce Iowa's open records and open meetings laws and promote greater openness and transparency within state government.

Thank goodness, Terry Branstad is here. Wait...did you hear something? It sounded like archives being searched.

Not so fast, TB. From the Culver campaign:

BRANSTAD SWINGS, KNOCKS HIMSELF OUT

DES MOINES - Branstad attacked Governor Culver and called on him to fire the director of the Iowa Department on Aging (IDA) even when in 1995, then-Governor Branstad dealt with a similar situation regarding the same federal regulation and chose not to fire his department director.

"Branstad's statement on the IDA ombudsman is inaccurate and his suggestion that the Governor's Office fire the IDA Director is hypocritical. Branstad hopes people have forgotten his record and that reporters won't bother to fact check his statements. Be assured our campaign will continue to help keep him honest," said Culver/ Judge Campaign Manager Donn Stanley.

In 1995, the Register reported on the muzzling of the State's Long-Term Care Ombudsman after he wrote reports critical of the Branstad Administration's oversight of nursing homes. This after Branstad had received a number of campaign contributions from nursing home operators.

BACKGROUND

"The state ombudsman for the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs will be relieved of his high-profile advocacy duties - action that comes days after he issued a report critical of the state's oversight of nursing homes. Carl McPherson, the state long-term-care ombudsman for the past 15 years, authored the 1994 report that was first publicized Jan. 23.'They've given me new duties. Muzzle duties,' McPherson said during an interview Wednesday. 'I will not be able to speak publicly to the issues, when you look at my reassignment plan. This move will assure that a report like this does not come out next year. I have been mouthy.' [...] Betty Grandquist, executive director of the McPherson Department of Elder Affairs, denied any connection between McPherson's release of critical reports and his reassignment." [Des Moines Register, 2/2/1995]

Hey, wasn't Ron Corbett House speaker back then. Wonder what he thought?

"House Speaker Ron Corbett, R-Cedar Rapids, said the reassignment of the elder affairs ombudsman could discourage other state employees from reporting problems. 'It probably sends a bad message to the rest of employees in state government, and that's not what we're trying to accomplish here,' Corbett said. 'We want input from the general public, and we want input from the state workers on how we can make this state operate more efficiently and effectively on behalf of the taxpayers.'" [Des Moines Register, 2/3/1995]

So we've got muzzling ripped from today's headlines and muzzling unearthed from the archives.

So what are the takeaways?

Yet again, we discover that governors of every stripe will do foolish things in an effort to avoid having to answer for even more foolish things.

We can take some solace in the fact that the federal government pays attention when its laws are bent/broken. And this is a good, important law. Independence is a essential for the advocate to do her job.

I think this saga is a bigger problem for Culver. It feeds the notion, one more time, that he's more interested in politics and appearances than proper oversight. It's also fodder for TV attack ads focused on elderly voters. 

Still, it shows, one more time, how it's tough for Branstad to attack when he's got such a massive record filled with fodder for a counterattack. And nowadays,  hypocrisy is but a few clicks away.

Branstad wants a division in the Attorney General's Office to enforce meetings/records laws. But first you need an attorney general who is interested. The Register notes that the $744 price tag is part of a policy endorsed by Attorney General Tom Miller.

Culver and Miller also have continued to assert that government records they consider to be "drafts" or works in progress - including e-mails that have been signed and delivered to people outside of government - can be withheld from public disclosure.

The old draft dodge. You can see the final product, gentle taxpayers, but not the process we used to arrive at that product, even though the process is the most important part of governing. Yes, I'd say the AG's office is primed to go to battle for openness.

I don't have much more hope for Miller's GOP opponent, Brenna Findley, who wants to use the AG's office to boost the economy (?) and sue the federal government to stop socialist health care from coming.

But in this case, she is on the case:

“There are serious questions about whether the law allows the Attorney General to impose these fees on concerned citizens. Iowa taxpayers are already paying for their government. I don't think taxpayers should have to pay twice when they request public records that they are entitled to under law. It is time for a new crew in the AG's office because AG Miller has forgotten that he works for you-the taxpayers.”