House lawmakers probing if Davenport's $2M employee settlements violated open meetings law

Iowa House lawmakers are digging into nearly $2 million in payments to former employees of the city of Davenport that may have been improperly approved in violation of the state's open meetings law.

The Iowa House Government Oversight Committee met Wednesday for the first time this year to hear testimony from several Iowans involved in lawsuits over the settlements and public records disputes with the city.

Last fall, Davenport approved a $1.6 million settlement agreement with former City Administrator Corri Spiegel that included $600,000 for lost wages and $1 million for emotional pain and suffering. The council cited "harassment" Spiegel had received in her role with the city, including from a former city alderman, the Quad City Times reported.

Two other city employees also received settlements, one for $157,000 and one for $140,500.

The agreements initially were approved behind closed doors, and the council met months later, after the contested November city elections, to approve the settlement agreements in open session.

Iowans testifying to committee say Davenport showed 'blatant disregard' for public meetings laws

Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, told lawmakers that Davenport's actions represent a "blatant disregard" for the state's public meetings laws.

"It should trouble every taxpaying citizen of Iowa and the members of this general assembly that the City Council and top administrators in Davenport worked out details to pay nearly $2 million in taxpayer money to three high-ranking city employees prior to the city election last November and yet never bothered to bring those settlements before the City Council for a public vote as required by Davenport’s own city code," Evans said.

Allen Diercks, a chiropractor from Davenport, is suing the city over the settlements, arguing they were enacted illegally and should be considered void.

"Something doesn’t smell right here, ladies and gentlemen," Diercks' attorney, Mike Meloy, told lawmakers. "Why is the city fighting so hard to keep these matters from the public eye? The public needs and wants answers as to how these large public expenditures were spent on three city employees."

Davenport takes resident to court after public records request

Davenport is also in court over a resident's records request seeking documents related to the settlements. The request was filed by retired University of Iowa computer science professor David Ezra Sidran.

That request includes a letter Spiegel sent to Davenport's former city attorney, mayor and City Council members on Sept. 15 that allegedly laid out instances of discrimination, harassment, bias, intimidation and retaliation and allegedly demanded payment from the city.

After Sidran requested the document, Davenport filed a lawsuit naming him as a defendant that seeks a judgment from a district court judge about whether the document is a public record the city must release or a confidential personnel record it must withhold.

"I just had the audacity to legally request a document, and I was sued by the city where I live," Sidran told lawmakers Wednesday. "I’m in good company, however, because the next day the city of Davenport sued the state auditor to quash his subpoena for the exact same document."

Officials with the city of Davenport declined to comment on the hearing when contacted by the Des Moines Register. But they pointed to a Feb. 16 news release from the city about Sidran's case.

The news release says the city is seeking information from the court about whether the records requested by Sidran should be considered public records and filed the lawsuit against him "only because he has requested copies of the records in question."

"Any suggestion that the filing of the declaratory judgment action and naming Dr. Sidran as a defendant is an attempt to intimidate Dr. Sidran or discourage open records requests is incorrect," the news release states. "The city will continue to process all open records requests as required by law."

Davenport seeking to block state auditor's subpoena for settlement documents

State Auditor Rob Sand said his office has opened an audit on the settlements to the former Davenport employees, saying he believes there are substantial unanswered questions about the process the city followed to approve the settlements.

When the auditor's office issued a subpoena for documents related to the settlement, Sand said the city filed a court motion to block his access to the documents.

"Look, it might be convenient to do things in closed session, but that's not how we should be determining how to spend taxpayer dollars," he said. "And certainly we have very real questions as to whether or not proper procedures, and the law, were followed in the determination of putting that money into those settlements."

What will Iowa lawmakers do next?

Rep. Brooke Boden, R-Indianola, who chairs the Government Oversight Committee, said lawmakers are gathering information about the situation in Davenport and may hold more hearings in the future.

She said if she does call representatives of the city she wants to make sure they would be able to answer lawmakers' questions, rather than citing the ongoing lawsuits as a reason not to answer.

"We absolutely have to be transparent to our citizens," she said. "We have to be respectful of taxpayers’ dollars, and I will be paying close attention and we’ll be watching those court cases."

House lawmakers passed a bill, House File 2539, on Feb. 22 that raises the penalties for violating the state's open meetings laws and requires elected and appointed government officials to undergo training on the open meetings law after taking office. The Senate has yet to take up the legislation.

Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, said she'd like to see a broader conversation about transparency across state government, citing settlement agreements approved for state employees in recent years.

"I think that this is an incredibly important conversation to be having on a state level," she said. "Not just for transparency in the Davenport situation but for our own transparency here on the state level."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: House lawmakers probing if Davenport payouts violated open meetings law