Governor appoints three to Iowa public information board

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad on Friday appointed three new members to the Iowa Public Information Board, replacing members who left the board when they were elected to the Iowa Legislature in November.

The new appointees are E.J. Giovannetti, a Republican and former Urbandale mayor; Rick Morain, an independent and retired editor and publisher of the Jefferson Herald; and Julie Pottorff, a Des Moines Democrat.

The nine-member board may have no more than two media representatives or no more than two representatives of government agencies.

Republicans Gary Mohr, of Bettendorf, and Andy McKean, of Anamosa, both left the board in November when they were elected to the Iowa House of Representatives. The third member who stepped down in 2016 was Jo Martin, a Spirit Lake Democrat. The board still has one vacancy.

The Iowa Public Information Board enforces Iowa's open records and open meetings laws and has the power to impose civil penalties of up to $2,500 for knowing violations.

The board has charged the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Burlington Police Department with breaking Iowa's Open Records Law for not releasing all investigative materials from an officer-involved shooting in 2015 in Burlington. That case is scheduled for a contested hearing in April.

l Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com