Roxanna Moritz, the Scott County Auditor, decided to unilaterally pay poll workers $15 an hour for work during the June primary.
According to the Quad-City Times, Moritz admitted she should have gone to the Scott County board of supervisors for approval.
Previous approval had been granted to pay between $10 and $12 an hour.
Moritz altered timesheets of workers to equate to a $15 an hour wage.
“In some cases, the records reflect that a worker logged more than 24 hours in a single day,” said board chair Tony Knobbe.
Moritz suggested the board retroactively approve the increase to absolve the infraction.
Knobbe said Moritz suggested the board would have approved the increase anyway, but noted nobody would ever know since they were not asked.
“As President of the Iowa County Auditor’s Association, (Moritz’s) leadership role presumes superior knowledge of both the law and of common-sense ethics. This action appears to violate both,” Knobbe said.
In all, her decision costs the county $9,400.
Throughout the article, Knobbe notes the “mistake” that Moritz made.
But this isn’t a mistake. This is an elected official breaking the law and falsifying records.
Iowa Code 331.904(4) states:
“The board shall determine the compensation of extra help and clerks appointed by the principal county officers.”
Not only did Moritz break that section of law, she also broke Iowa Code 721.1 and likely committed a class D felony.
Iowa Code 721.1 – felonious misconduct in office:
“Makes or gives any false entry, false return, false certifice or false receipt, where such entires, returns, certificates or receipts are authorized by law. Falsifies any public record, or issues any document falsely purporting to be a public document. Falsifies a writing, or knowingly delivers a falsified writing, with the knowledge that the writing is falsified and that the writing will become a public record of a government body.”
This incident certainly calls into question the character and integrity of Moritz. It reveals disrespect for the law and a flippant attitude toward the process.
There was an avenue Moritz could have taken that would have made that $15 an hour legal. But she chose not to bother.
Instead, she broke the law and falsified records.
It leads to a dangerous question…if the person in charge of elections in Scott County is willing to break the law and ignore process when it comes to pay election workers, what might they be willing to do when it comes to election ballots?
Remember, Scott County has been at the center of the Second Congressional District’s controversial finish.
