On the Side | Brad Hicks

Earlier this month, the board of directors of the Iowa Finance Authority gathered for a public board meeting.

 During this meeting, they launched investigations into how the state agency handled its funds, and the impact of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ firing of Dave Jamison, its director, for alleged sexual improprieties with staff members.

Alarmingly, five of the six voting members of the board of directors and a non-voting member met privately for an hour prior to the start of the public meeting, according to a report in The Des Moines Register.

The agency is subject to the Iowa Open Meetings Law, but the directors appeared to have been trying to skirt the law by splitting into two groups of three, avoiding a five-member quorum. Board Chairman Jeff Heil told the Register that the committee meetings give the board a chance to ask questions of the staff, particularly if they are digging into a matter for which the information may not be clear. He said the committees usually have separate agendas; this time, the agendas were the same and thus, there is an appearance of impropriety.

Governments are held to a higher standard because the funding of them is not optional for the public. If you don’t like the way a business operates, you can veto with your pocketbook.

That’s not the case with the government, so the rules and expectations must be higher. One of those in Iowa is for meetings to be open, unless the matter meets specific exceptions that allows them to be closed.

The Iowa Finance Authority has done, and will continue to do a great amount of good in Iowa, promoting housing, many times for those in need. But it must – like all government agencies – abide by the letter and spirit of the state’s laws regarding open meetings. It’s understandable that there are times when the truths are embarrassing and people would rather circle the wagons. Embarrassment is not one of the exceptions to openness in Iowa.

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council issued a statement condemning what the IFA Board of Directors did. We join that, and expect the Iowa Public Information Board to review that meeting.

Brad Hicks is the former publisher of the Express. Reach him at news@redoakexpress.com.