Quid pro quo?

On Wednesday, the Union County Board of Supervisors will appoint a special prosecutor at the recommendation of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office to investigate allegations of election misconduct in Creston’s mayoral race.

On Nov. 6, Union County officials received a complaint from former Creston resident Jonathan Ehrlich of Oskaloosa, Kansas. who pointed out potential election misconduct.

Union County Attorney Tim Kenyon said, upon receiving the complaint, Sandy Hysell, Union County auditor, reviewed the matter with the Secretary of State’s Office, while he independently reviewed the matter with the Office of the Attorney General.

“Based upon preliminary assessment, it has been determined that the allegations contain specific details regarding identified statutes. As such, the allegations and the factual material submitted warrant formal investigation,” Kenyon said.

Background

After Ward 1 Representative Ron Higgins and his wife Erin purchased her maternal grandmother’s home outside his ward, he decided to run for the council’s At-Large seat – currently held by MaKenzi Vonk, who resides in the city’s third ward. Gabe Carroll is currently the representative for Ward 3. Vonk’s term is set to expire Nov. 15.

On the morning of Oct. 25, Katie Davidson – a Creston resident – posted the following public post on her personal Facebook page:

“OK Creston friends. Something has been bugging me. I think MaKenzi Vonk and Ron Higgins are both fantastic members of City Council and the way things are looking we might lose one of them. So here’s a solution: Write-in Gabe Carroll for mayor. MaKenzi is in his ward and could take his seat. Then Ron could take the at-large seat. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t super thrilled with our mayoral options. All nice guys. Not who Creston needs to move forward. If you can get on board with this plan, please share this post and show up to vote November 5th. These three individuals are phenomenal leaders. Let’s get them all in office and let them do their thing,” Davidson wrote.

Before the post, Davidson said she approached Carroll and asked him if he would accept the nomination. Davidson said she made her personal post public because she wanted others to share it.

“That wasn’t Gabe saying, ‘MaKenzi can have my seat as a potential mayor.’ That was me saying, ‘This is what could happen. I like this option better,’” Davidson said.

Davidson said neither she, nor the individuals who reached out to help her were approached or compensated by Carroll or anyone affiliated with him – it was simply a grassroots effort by like-minded individuals.

On Oct. 27, a “Gabe Carroll for Mayor” Facebook page was created with the following post:

“Hi everyone. Gabe will accept the position of Mayor of Creston if enough people write him in. This allows us to not have to decide between MaKenzi Vonk and Ron Higgins for the City Council at large position because MaKenzi could be appointed to Gabe’s seat on Council. Let’s keep Creston’s forward momentum going and write-in Gabe for mayor next Tuesday, November 5th.”

In an interview with Creston News Advertiser Friday, Davidson said – since both Higgins and Vonk were running for the same city council position – she saw an opportunity to keep both candidates on the council, should they apply. She also said it was always a possibility other candidates could apply, too, for Carroll’s ward and that nothing was a guarantee or promise to Vonk or any other person by Gabe or the the network of individuals.

“I don’t have any shame in saying I want something better for our town. I didn’t think those candidates were good,” Davidson said. “This wasn’t Gabe at all.”

Davidson said knew she wasn’t alone in her thinking.

“It’s obvious because that’s what 600 people said,” she said.

On Nov. 5, Higgins won the Creston City Council At-Large seat with 1,075 votes to Vonk’s 455. Carroll went on to beat incumbent Mayor Steve Wintermute, 620 to 484. Some voters anticipated this outcome based on Higgin’s experience on the council. Higgins has served as Creston’s Ward 1 representative since his appointment by the Creston City Council in July 2016, and was reelected to the position in 2017, whereas Vonk was appointed to her seat by the council in June.

Quid pro quo?

Allegations of quid-pro-quo resulted after an Oct. 25 post on her personal account, where Carroll commented, “Good God. I leave for two days and now I’m being volunteered for mayor? Katie Davidson you’re now my official campaign manager.”

The potential campaign misconduct was brought to the attention of Union County officials by former Creston resident Johnathan Ehrlich, now of Oskaloosa, Kansas. He said he reads the Creston News Advertiser daily and after reading about the election, thought something seemed “kind of funky.”

Ehrlich – who does not use social media – said it wasn’t until after he read about the election on Nov. 6 in the Creston News Advertiser when some people he knows had contacted him to share what they had seen on Facebook, Ehrlich said he asked them to send him screenshots of the posts and comments.

“I have campaign experience ... and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. You can’t do that,’” he said.

Ehrlich said the verbiage used in an article published Nov. 6 in the CNA didn’t raise any red flags for him: “The idea was to move Carroll out of District 3, hope Higgins won and then hope Vonk is appointed to Carroll’s vacant seat should he win.” However, when he saw the Facebook posts from the Gabe Carroll for Mayor Facebook page and Davidson’s and Vonk’s messages of support, he felt it was serious enough to warrant an investigation. After a review of the statutes within Iowa Chapter 39A, he said he felt the elements for campaign misconduct were met.

“So that’s when I sent the email to the county attorney and the election commissioner,” Ehrlich said.

Iowa Chapter 39A prohibits a candidate from making a promise – directly or indirectly – to name or appoint another person to a position in exchange for voter support. Violations can mean serious misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fines of up to $1,875.

When Ehrlich was asked why the posts triggered concerns for him, as local legal advisors such as the city and county attorneys failed to identify or report the potential conflict of interest, Ehrlich said didn’t know.

“My first thought was, ‘How can they not know about this?’ Then I was like, well they – they being the campaign – they are enthusiastic people and they are doing good things, and I think that let them get ahead of their diligence,” Ehrlich said.

Ehrlich said had he known about the efforts before the election, he would have called Carroll.

“I would have said, ‘Look, you can’t do that.’ I don’t know if he knew that or not. Some of the ways he talked suggested, in ways, that he knew it was wrong. I’m not making that conclusion. I’m just saying I wish someone would have advised him in advance.”

It’s important to note, according to section 15.03 of Creston’s code of ordinances, mayor-elect Carroll doesn’t have the power to appoint individuals to the council. He can, however, should Vonk be interested in the vacant seat, he could make a recommendation.

Carroll and Vonk declined to comment at the time of publication.

The Union County Supervisors meet 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Union County Courthouse, 300 N. Pine St.