Linn County supervisors put kibosh on internal auditor, again

A fight between the Linn County supervisors and auditor over internal auditing could go on for months, and a county employee has almost lost her job.

The supervisors voted 4-0 Wednesday to reject Auditor Joel Miller's appointment of Karen Heiderscheit as a temporary deputy auditor.

Miller promoted Heiderscheit in January in part so she could audit county spending. She was set to replace longtime deputy auditor Sue Wold, whom Miller fired in December, but the supervisors pushed back.

First they took away one of Miller's deputy positions, and on Wednesday they voted not to fund a temporary deputy position Miller hoped to give Heiderscheit, leaving her technically without a job or a paycheck.

“We did not approve the claim,” Supervisor Ben Rogers said. “I just think it was a terrible gamble on a valuable employee's livelihood.”

Supervisor Linda Langston said it would have been fine for Miller to make Heiderscheit a manager - technically different from a deputy in county government. All he had to do was write a job description, she said.

Miller, who argues that the supervisors have overstepped their authority by interfering in his department, rejects Langston's notion. Three people would have to report to Heiderscheit if she were made into a manager, he said, which makes little sense.

“I would basically have to bastardize the organization,” Miller said.

Heiderscheit will return to her union position as an account technician, after negotiations Wednesday between the union and the county's human resources department.

“I viewed it as an opportunity that presented itself, and the rest is between Joel and the board,” Heiderscheit said.

Miller is seeking an attorney general's opinion on the question of whether he can appoint a temporary deputy despite not having an open deputy position, and has asked the supervisors to pay for legal counsel to represent his office in the matter.

“You cannot continue to have the supervisors exercising total control over the other county offices,” he said.