Democrats hit new Iowa auditor with ethics complaint

DES MOINES – A little more than 24 hours after she was appointed State Auditor, Mary Mosiman became the subject of an ethics complaint.

The Iowa Democratic Party Tuesday alleged that Mosiman used more than $1,000 from her campaign for Story County Auditor, a position she was elected to three times, to pay for personal expenses after leaving office.

IDP Executive Director Troy Price said 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.

“The State Auditor's responsibility is to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used properly,” Price said. “If Mary Mosiman can't spent (sic) her own money properly, how can we trust her with ours?”

Mosiman, who was appointed May 13 by Gov. Terry Branstad has appointed Mosiman Monday to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Auditor David Vaudt, denied the allegation.

“I believe these were allowable expenses because I have been a candidate in the past and I intend to be a candidate in the future,” Mosiman said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. She plans to seek election as auditor in 2014. “I will work with the (ethics) board and abide by any decisions it makes.”

In 2012, after going to work as deputy of elections in the Secretary of State's Office, she spent $1,095 – most of it on training in local government finance, ethics and fraud, and a state Department of Revenue legislative update and seminar. She spent about $150 was spent reimbursing herself for travel to the GOP conventions.

Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board Executive Director Megan Tooker was unavailable Tuesday, but typically conducts a preliminary review of complaints to determine if the board has jurisdiction. If it does, she conducts a legal review to determine whether the allegations, if proved true, would constitute a violation. If it meets that test, she presents the complaint to the ethics board. It can order a staff investigation and if the board determines there was a violation, it has options ranging from an admonishment to civil penalties.

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