Auditor urges transparency amid SICOG investigation

DES MOINES – Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand recently opened a special investigation of the Southern Iowa Council of Governments after allegations its executive director, Timothy Ostroski, misused agency funds for personal gain.

“Our office is involved, as it should be, anytime there’s misstep in public dollars in the state,” Sand said.

Aside from local law enforcement, Sand said other agencies typically involved in a case of this type are the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is not involved in the investigation against Ostroski.

Sand said his office will issue an official report once an investigation is complete, which will take time. When it will be complete is unknown.

“I’ve been part of too many investigations where you think you’re almost done then you talk to one more person and they tell you all kinds of things that mean you have to go interview 10 other people,” Sand said. “The trouble with giving time estimates is, if you have something else change in the investigation, then you have integrity of your time estimate competing with the integrity of the investigation ... We’re going to see how long this takes. You never know with an investigation how deep it goes.”

Sand said the case came to the attention of his office just over a month ago and it will assist in safeguarding SICOG records. It will also be will be working with Iowa Economic Development Authority to assure appropriate testing procedures are performed.

The IEDA has supported the Creston and communities across the state by facilitating a number of state and federal grants, in partnership with SICOG. SICOG serves seven counties and 53 cities in southwest Iowa. The state auditor’s office only investigates state dollars. If there is evidence of misuse of federal dollars, that investigation would fall under the jurisdiction of another agency.

Sand said as SICOG’s case comes to light, there are many lessons other agencies, organizations, public boards and councils can learn from it.

“I want anyone who reads about these kinds of cases – if they sit on city council, if they sit on the soil and water conservation board, if they sit on the ag extension board – to remember they should be looking at the big things every time they meet. They have the right to look at them, they should be asking to look at them, and it should sound alarm bells if they aren’t provided,” he said.

In small communities like Creston, Sand said there are instances when people trust others in positions of power because of long standing relationships, but requesting bank and credit card statements is not a matter of whether people are trusted or not.

“I know in Iowa we don’t want people to feel they aren’t trusted, but it’s a question of whether or not we want to potentially let them feel tempted, which is a bad thing,” Sand said. “And if you aren’t asking for those bank statements on a regular basis, they might end up feeling tempted.”

Sand said questioning discrepancies is a must and said its “extremely important” for boards or other authorities in the public sector to strive for transparency.

“Taxpayer dollars should be treated with the reverence they deserve. Everything we are doing in government really is an expression of the idea that we don’t need a king or a queen to have order. What that means is, ordinary people need to be treated like owners, like kings and queens, and have the right to have that information. And we need to have leaders that are very willing to engage with them and very willing to inform them when they’re allowed to.”

When asked if he sees more instances of exploitation of tax dollars in small communities, Sand said, “Absolutely.”

“We do. It’s not that we don’t know people, but it’s easy for us to get that none of us are perfect and anyone of us, put in the wrong situation, can make the choice to do the wrong thing. That’s why checks and balances are written into our constitution and written in to our law, and that’s why checks and balances are really important in the oversight of public dollars.”

Creston Police arrested Ostroski Wednesday evening from his office. He is charged with four counts of forgery and one count of first-degree theft. According to court records, between January 2002 and December 2021, Ostroski wrongfully obtained more than $10,000 from SICOG. Additionally, he admitted to signing the back of checks made payable to another person. Those checks were deposited in to accounts for personal enrichment.

Kirk Schuler of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, who is serving as counsel for SICOG, said SICOG is aware of the charges and will continue to serve its community while it cooperates with the investigation. Ostroski has retained Angela L. Campbell of Dickey, Campbell & Sahag Law Firm, P.L.C. as counsel.