Allegations of Johnston School Election Misconduct Could be Reviewed by State Ethics Board in Late August

State officials could schedule a date next week to review an ethics  accusing board members, administrators and staff of misconduct during the fall 2011 board electionon.

Dutcher filed the complaint last month with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board and included more than 400 pages of emails as evidence. He claims that district employees used public resources last year to advocate for the election of four school board candidates, Deb Henry, Jill Morrill, Mike Farrell and Greg Dockum. All four were elected in September 2011.

Board members Henry and Dockum said they had no comment on the complaint and were waiting to see what action the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Board would take. That board could at its Aug. 23 meeting decide when to review Dutcher's complaint.

When reached by the Des Moines Register in July, Farrell and Morrill said they could not recall using district email for campaigning last year.

Dutcher said he had heard rumors district employees worked on the 2011 campaigns using district resources and equipment. Expressly advocating for or against a ballot issue or candidate is prohibited by Iowa law.

Board Member Concerned Abour Fair Election

"I did take an oath to uphold the Federal Constitution and the Constitution of Iowa. I have to inform authorities responsible," he said. "I consider my role done, I did what was my responsibility. Whatever the investigation shows, whatever the board decides to do with that information they will decide to do with that information."

Dutcher said he hasn't taken a stand on the upcoming Sept. 11 special bond election that would pave the way for a new Johnston High School. Making sure the upcoming vote is fair was one reason he filed the ethics complaint, he said.

"I want to make sure it's a clean election and looking at what the last election, I wouldn't call that a clean election from a legal standpoint," Dutcher said. "It raises awareness in regards to utilization of district resouces."

Megan Tooker, executive director and legal counsel for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board and legal counsel, said if the board found the complaint to be valid, it could call for an investigation. If that proves valid, the board could impose penalties in the form of a public reprimand or fine.

"Each case is different," she said. "Two thousand dollars is a severe penalty and not what we typically issue. The board has a lot of discretion and weighs the facts of every case."

Tooker said the board does not have the jurisdiction to remove anyone from office.

She could not speak specifically to the complaint filed by Dutcher.

Terms of Records Request

Dutcher submitted an open records request for emails that obtained the following search terms:

• Guthmiller (Clay)
• Dutcher (John)
• Farrell (Mike)
• Morrill (Jill)
• Dockum (Greg)
• Henry (Deb)
• Vote
• September 13 or Sept. 13
• School Board
• Election
• JEA or Johnston Education Association

The district spent $754.40 in legal fees, $2,613.20 on staff wages to sort through and compile emails, and additional fees were incurred for the cost of administration time spent on Dutcher's records request, said Jan Miller-Hook, executive director of financial services for the district.

Dutcher did not ask for the names of the three losing candidates, Jim Gorsche, Lisa Larson and Tracey Orman. He said their names would likely have been picked up through search terms related to the election.

Several of the emails submitted include discussion of a letter of support for the four candidates to be printed in the Des Moines Register and requests for yard signs, some sent on district email accounts. 

Previous Encounters With State Ethics Board

This is not the first time Dutcher has been involved with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

In April 2010, Dutcher was found to have violated Iowa Ethics Code 68A.405, for failing to note financing on flyers handed out during the August 2008 school board election. Dutcher issued a correction with the correct attribution noting he had paid for the flyers himself. 

Last May, Dutcher spurred a re-audit of the district.

In December, the found the district had not kept adequate minutes and employee contracts had not been signed by the board president at times, but those problems were remedied state authorities determined during the re-audit.

See the full re-audit report.

At the time, Dutcher called for Superintendent Clay Guthmmiller, as well as Farrell and Morrill, to resign because of their "demonstrated, repeated careless disregard for Iowa Law".

Earlier in July, Dutcher questioned the district's policy on when discussing a new, two-year contract for Guthmiller.