DAVENPORT, Iowa — A judge has ordered the City of Davenport to release the closed-session recordings demanded in a Feb. 7 subpoena from Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand.
Sand told News 8 earlier this year that his office would be investigating three settlement agreements made with former Davenport city employees totaling almost $2 million. Court documents show the auditor issued a subpoena on Feb. 7 for the following items:
- Meeting minutes and recordings for the closed session meetings on Sept. 27, Oct. 4, Oct. 25, Dec. 6 and Dec. 14
- Any communication discussing the settlement agreements (i.e. emails, memorandums, payments, documents)
- Employment agreements for the three employees
- The signed settlement agreements involving the three employees
On Feb. 15, the City filed a motion to modify the subpoena to exclude recordings for four of the closed session meetings (Oct. 4, Oct. 25, Dec. 6 and Dec. 14). The Sept. 27 meeting was canceled and didn't happen, according to court documents. The City says it and its attorneys discussed litigation during those sessions and argued giving them to the auditor would violate attorney-client privilege under Iowa Code.
However, a judge in the case ordered on May 20 that the City must release the recordings of the four closed sessions for a judge to review. From there, the court will determine the relevancy of the recordings to the auditor's investigation.
The auditor's office provided the following statement to News 8 on the recent ruling:
We are awaiting the judge’s decision following his in-camera review of the closed session tapes. No further updates on the investigation.
One of the separation agreements was with former City Administrator Corri Spiegel following her departure from the role on Nov. 16. In a Nov. 22 news release from the City containing Spiegel's separation agreement, it was announced that the city would be paying Spiegel a lump sum payment totaling $1.6 million for "emotional pain and suffering."
The auditor's office confirmed to News 8 that it had received a request on Dec. 28 to look into the settlements. In it, an elected Davenport city official expressed several concerns, including the process and timing of settlement agreements reached with three former city employees. The official also wrote about the potential violation of open meetings laws, a concern also raised by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council in December.
Sand said back in January that his office is following procedure with this investigation.
"We can't just dive in at the local level anytime we want," Sand said. "If we see something that looks fishy, we have to first have a qualifying request that gives us the legal ability to do so. But in this situation for these settlements that were paid out by the City of Davenport, we've had a qualifying request come in."
Read the City's initial Feb. 15 motion to block the records
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