Forum: Iowa regents need public comment time, ethics complaint process

The state Board of Regents must hold public comment time at meetings and develop a clear process for complaints about ethics violations by board members if the regents want to build public trust, numerous speakers at a transparency forum said Wednesday.

Those were two of the frequently mentioned suggestions from speakers at the forum, which was held by the new transparency task force, appointed by the regents this spring to address transparency issues of the board and the state's three public universities. The nine-member task force will make recommendations to the board.

Of the 14 people who spoke during the forum, almost all of them identified themselves as members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, a group that has raised numerous complaints in recent months regarding the regents, and specifically Regent Bruce Rastetter.

The same points were mentioned by many of the Iowa CCI members during the forum: the need for public comment time at every regents meeting and occasional public forums around the state; the need for a ethics complaint process regarding the regents; and the need to end what the speakers called numerous links between corporate interests, the regents and the state universities.

"We really need transparency, and not just in words only," said Pat Bowen, of West Des Moines.

Boosting transparency starts at the top, and that starts with the regents themselves, several speakers said.

The task force talks about transparency at the three universities, but "what we really need to be focusing on is transparency within the board of regents," said Jess Mazour, of Des Moines. "That's where the problem is."

Mazour noted that CCI members went to a regents meeting last year, wanting to address the board about CCI member concerns about Rastetter. The group argues that Rastetter acted unethically in trying to use ISU's involvement to further his company's proposed land deal in Tanzania.

"The regents, when we tried to approach this and talk about conflict of interest, turned us away," Mazour said.

Protesters were removed from a regents meeting last summer after board members said they were being disruptive. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board last summer discussed an ethics complaint against Rastetter, a high-profile Republican businessman and GOP fundraiser, but dismissed the allegations.

Several speakers Wednesday also noted the closure last year of the Price Lab School at the University of Northern Iowa. They argue there was too little public input into that decision and a lack of transparency until it was too late.

The task force is an opportunity to regain the trust of Iowans, though there is skepticism, several speakers said.

"There are many people who are already cynical about what will come from this process," UNI Professor Joe Gorton said. "Hopefully this task force will make meaningful recommendations" to ensure a more democratic process.

The next public forum will be held April 30 in Muscatine, followed by forums May 2 in Council Bluffs and May 7 in Dubuque.