Iowa State Auditor Candidate Jon Neiderbach Looks To “Shake Up Iowa Government”

Iowa State Auditor candidate Jon Neiderbach (D)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The road to office is paved with handshakes, smiles and conversations over a cup of coffee. Iowa State Auditor candidate Jon Neiderbach (D) is no different than those other candidates seeking office.

The campaign to become state auditor isn’t filled with high dollars, high drama or a media spotlight and the scrutiny that comes with it. Most people can’t tell you what the Iowa Auditor does, but Neiderbach says he hopes to change that.

Neiderbach moved to Iowa in 1974 where he attended Grinnell College, graduating with a B.A. in political science in 1978. Neiderbach met his wife Mary while in Grinnell. Mary is from Newton and now works in Des Moines.

Neiderbach then attended law school in Oregon, graduating in 1981. His interest being in administrative law.

After law school, Neiderbach and his wife Mary settled in Des Moines where, for nearly 15 years, Neiderbach worked for the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau providing fiscal and policy information and analysis for legislators from both political parties (1981 to 1996). “I really enjoyed doing non-partisan work,” says Neiderbach. “I was an amazing perspective.”

Neiderbach then went to work for the Iowa Department of Human Services (1997 to 2012) as a Management Analyst. “I enjoyed implementing technology to improve programs and save money,” says Neiderbach of his time at DHS.

Neiderbach was also a member of the Des Moines School Board (2000 to 2004). Neiderbach describes himself as someone “who was an education activist type person”. Neiderbach had previously ran for the position in 1993 where he says he lost narrowly. “I really enjoyed being on the school board,” says Neiderbach.

Neiderbach visited Mahaska County on the heels of an audit at Mahaska County Soil and Water Conservation District that highlighted an alleged embezzlement of funds. The audit was released by the State Auditor’s office, after a stop-payment order was placed, alerting officials to potential problems.

Current Auditor of State Mary Mosiman (R) and is Neiderbach’s opponent in November’s election. “The reason I am running is because I don’t believe our money is being watched over very well,” explained Neiderbach.

“The Auditor is suppose to be the taxpayers watchdog, making sure money is well spent. Making sure we get good results for the money we spend.”

Neiderbach added, “I don’t think they are doing a good enough job making sure we get good value for the money we spend. I don’t think we’re doing a good enough job making sure things are operating efficiently.”

“But then, the recent events here [Mahaska County] show one of the most glaring things, that the audits aren’t really designed to find problems. They are designed to be a very cursory review.”

“There are times that thefts happen and they are done artfully and hard to find. This [Mahaska County embezzlement case] wasn’t done artfully or hard to find. Cash was taken out of the account, sometimes with astonishing frequency, and nobody reported it and nobody caught it,” said Neiderbach. “It was about the least sophisticated way of doing a theft you can get out of a public till.”

Neiderbach said he believes that this shows there is a problem with the way audits are being done. “What amazes me, on the most practical level, is how the bank never called anybody up saying, why is somebody coming so incredibly frequently to take out cash.”

“I read through the audit, and there was one 2-day period where she made 3 withdrawals totaling 3 thousand dollars,” said Neiderbach, who says that cash isn’t normally withdrawn on government accounts. “So it just amazes me the bank didn’t catch it.”

Neiderbach proposes changes in audits. “You need audits that are actually designed to find fraud and theft, not just make sure there’s no, what’s the phrase they use, material misrepresentation of their financial condition; which really doesn’t get to what most people expect audits to do. People expect audits to look at whether or not anything is happening awry. ”

“This one’s easy to figure out, obviously. Just add a question to a bank, even aside from reconciling statements,” says Neiderbach. “Are any cash payments being made? That would have caught this one incredibly early.”

“As Auditor, my goal is to shake up Iowa government. I did not wake up one day and say, I want to be State Auditor. I see it as a way to improve services and save money, and along the way, shaking up government to get us there,” says Neiderbach.

Early voting is ongoing until the General Election on November 4th.