Washington County auditor looks back on 12 years in office

WASHINGTON — For virtually any course of action in local government, there is an established procedure to follow. Methodical rules not spelled out in local ordinances are — almost universally — instead written in administrative handbooks, or already etched into state code, or carved out by federal statutes, or some permutation of the above.

If Washington County Auditor Dan Widmer wasn’t a methodical person when he swore in on Jan. 31, 2012, he certainly is now.

"I really appreciate, respect and enjoy systems and processes and methods,“ he said. ”’Here’s how you do it, steps A through Q,’ or steps one through 388. I like that, I find security in that … I like that there’s a system, and this is the way it’s done.“

Leaving behind a career in bank finances, Widmer said he had gravitated toward government employment, driven by the general appeal of public-facing work and a specific fascination with politics.

The auditor was surprised, then, by the job’s lack of political intrigue. Washington County’s decision-makers proved far less adversarial than one might expect, based on TV and movies, or even local news coverage. Instead, Widmer found a reasonably well-oiled machine of government management.

Once again, there was the recurring theme of established rules, and people who followed them: a refined system of checks and balances that urged decision-makers to collaborate in good faith, even when they disagreed.

The revelation wasn’t necessarily unwelcome. He has since learned of other counties where major players end up in long-running, antagonistic spats, making compromises difficult or impossible to achieve.

”I’ve learned that we are very fortunate,“ Widmer said. ”I’ve talked to auditors that [told me] there’s other elected officials they don’t speak to, for whatever reason … Even though we might have a difference of opinion, the elected officials here do, for the most part, get along.“

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Employees at the Washington County Auditor’s office joke that their duties amount to “sorting the mail.” It’s an apt metaphor for the staff, whose cubicle-filled, paper-packed room on the second floor of the courthouse is the site of numerous duties, all of them important, if seemingly unrelated.

The list includes administering elections, managing human resource issues, keeping meeting minutes, maintaining countless records, and conducting reviews of the county’s every bill and receipt. In a way, the department acts as a glue, helping other branches of the local government remain cohesive.

They do also, in a literal sense, pick up the mail each morning, and sort it by recipient. There’s a preordained contingency plan baked into that process, too, albeit an informal one.

“There’s always some things left over,” Widmer said. “And if you can’t find anywhere else to send it, give it to the auditor’s office. We’ll deal with it.”

The auditor credits his team’s versatility to the other people on it, even more so than the carefully considered rules they follow. Over the course of a 60-minute interview, he expressed heartfelt gratitude for their work several times, at length, each of them unprompted.

"I have a fantastic staff, and that makes it easier to step down, because I know things are in good hands,“ he said.

The overall attention to detail at the auditor’s office has evidently paid off.

Since being appointed to complete the term of Bill Fredrick, Widmer has won each bid for re-election with zero challengers in primary or general races.

He considers election night of 2020 among the auditor’s office’s greatest accomplishments during his tenure. Not because the name "Daniel L. Widmer“ appeared unopposed on the ballot, but because even after extensive recounts and some public scrutiny, Washington County’s general election results showed zero errors.

The finding followed back-to-back days of work, with three staff re-scanning ballots for eight hours at a time, one by one, on top of a standard single-precinct election audit. Widmer said it was a relief to see the system working as intended in a year where some national candidates — including presidential incumbent Donald Trump, who lost the election — claimed it was rife with corruption.

”It’s something that I am more and more proud of, and it’s something that I respect a great deal more than I did 15, 20, 25 years ago,“ the auditor said. ”Especially now that I’m aware of a lot of the behind-the-scenes work to ensure the integrity and the reliability of our election process.

“You know, people talk about election fraud, and that sort of thing, and I just don’t see it being as much of a problem … I have a lot more respect for the process, knowing some of the safeguards that are built in. I could go through that list and bore you to death, but it’s just a great system.“

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The auditor said he considered his other greatest accomplishment, in contrast, to be the department’s navigation of COVID-19.

When the pandemic changed virtually every facet of public life — and by extension government services — seemingly overnight, Widmer said the lack of precedent was daunting, turning his affinity for procedural adherence from a bureaucratic strength into a fatal flaw.

"It was such an unknown. There wasn’t any big thick book that I could pull off of the shelf, and blow the dust off, and the title of the book is, ‘How to get through a COVID situation,’“ he said. “That’s probably what really bugged me about that whole thing … There was no book. It was like, ‘Fly by the seat of your pants, and if it feels good, do it.’”

Still, even he admits, systems can fail from time to time.

In some cases, a combination of human error, miscommunication, and — heaven forbid — poorly designed processes, cause trouble that standard procedure can’t account for.

One of Widmer’s worst days at the office, he said, involved calls from statewide outlets, including The Cedar Rapids Gazette and Iowa Public Radio, about a voter who claimed they were wrongfully denied a chance to register in 2018, a year after new voter ID laws were enacted by the state.

“We had not made a mistake, they were turned away because they couldn’t prove their identity,” Widmer recounted. “And rather than calling me and discussing it, they evidently provided their information to the media, and we received some adverse publicity. I was indignant, because we were doing exactly what code says that we were to be doing, and it was a lack of understanding.

“Even though I was not pleased, I used it as an example for poll worker training, and also for our staff, that we still need to educate, educate, educate voters.”

Widmer announced earlier this month that he wouldn’t seek re-election this year. Nor does he plan to work another day for the county after Dec. 31, 2024.

Instead, the outgoing auditor plans to retire, spending more time with family, and volunteering in the community.

"I think I’m old enough, or to the point in my life, where I do need to slow down, do some of the things that I’ve always looked forward to doing,“ he said. ”It’s time to start doing some of those things, and checking some of those things off before I’m not able to any longer … I can’t see myself sitting at home, watching game shows, and not getting out into the public.“

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com