Sand delivers message of government efficiency

State Auditor Rob Sand sounds like an evangelist preaching efficiency in government.

Wednesday, Sand came to Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield delivering his message.

“I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican, I care that you’re doing the right thing,” Sand said in Mt. Pleasant, speaking to the Noon Rotary Club.

Earlier in the day, he spoke at a town hall in Fairfield’s Central Park. Sand told the crowd of about 20 people that an auditor is the one position that can make comfortable people feel uncomfortable.

There has been speculation that Sand is considering a run for governor in 2022.

Sand said improving efficiency in government is one of his main goals, and he wants to create awards for local governments who “pinch pennies” and save taxpayers’ money.

He mentioned a project Dickinson County in northwest Iowa undertook to reduce its electricity bills. Its courthouse produces ice at night when electricity costs are low, then during the day runs air over the ice to cool the rooms in the building. Sand said that’s exactly the sort of thing he wants to honor local governments for doing.

“There’s people that do well to, and there needs to be more recognition for that,” Sand said in his Mt. Pleasant presentation. “It’s really easy to point out all the bad stuff because that’s the public’s business … but there’s lots of people in local politics that work really hard.”

Sand spoke about his displeasure with a program called TestIowa. TestIowa was supposed to relay the results of COVID-19 tests from the lab to the state, but Sand said the results went through three private companies first, which he said was head-scratching.

Jefferson County Public Health Administrator Chris Estle said she and other public health administrators were blindsided when Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the rollout of TestIowa. They didn’t know about it until hearing her speak about it during a news conference. Estle said she was fielding calls about the program even before Reynolds was done with her speech.

Estle thanked Sand for being responsive to setting up meetings and answering questions that she and her employees had.

During his speech at the Mt. Pleasant Noon Rotary Club, Sand talked of his initiatives for the state auditor’s office during his tenure.

Sand said efficiency often takes place away from red or blue, away from partisan politics. He said it can be found in a place where taxpayers’ needs are addressed.

“That’s the place where politics has the least to do with the decision-making, thank goodness,” Sand said. “They’re working really hard to find the right thing to do.”

Sand said he hates the theft of taxpayer dollars and has been urging the Legislature to require jail time for theft of public dollars.

“It makes me mad when people steal taxpayer money,” Sand said. “It’s an affront to everything we do together. When people like that steal money like that it undermines our ability to trust in ourselves to self govern.”

Sand emphasized how he urged the Legislature to make the sentence for theft of public money a required prison sentence, explaining that if thefts get off with probation there is no incentive to stop it.

“If we don’t take it seriously the rate is just going to keep going up,” Sand said.

Sand cited his achievements toward the state auditor’s office goal of “waking up the watchdog,” citing his recent achievement in the Iowa State Supreme Court where the court found that the auditor’s office has access to all state documents.

“If there isn’t at least at one office that can see everything in the state how do we have any accountability,” Sand said.

Sand told the crowd in Fairfield that he wanted to review the list of investors involved in the University of Iowa’s decision to approve a 50-year deal letting a private collaborative operate its utilities system. He said he wanted to ensure there was no conflict of interest, something his office does all the time.

However, the university did not turn over the documents he asked for, and failed to comply with a subpoena, so his office took the matter to court.

Sand preached his ability to set aside politics to do his job.

“If I did that it would be about me, I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about public service, I want government again to be about all of us, not just some of us,” Sand said.