DAVENPORT, Iowa — Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is investigating three settlement agreements made with former Davenport city employees last year.
One of those agreements was with former administrator Corri Spiegel following her departure from the role on Nov. 16. In a Nov. 22 news release from the city of Davenport 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 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 raised by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council on Dec. 14 after the city council agenda for the following Wednesday was published.
According to the agenda, the council was scheduled to hold a closed session "to discuss strategy with counsel in matters involving litigation."
Sand said 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."
Sand said his office has requested information from the city and will make a report publicly available when they complete their investigation.
Read the details of Spiegel's settlement agreement below:
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel