Secretary says she wasn't ordered to dump records
By Charlotte Eby Journal Des Moines Bureau | Posted: Friday, April 21, 2006
DES MOINES -- A secretary at Iowa Workforce Development caught disposing of records in a Dumpster behind the agency's headquarters said she had not been ordered to do so by her supervisors, who had been forced to resign the night before.
Laurie Rieck, who had worked for IWD Deputy Director Jane Barto, said in a written statement she chose to get rid of old documents that Barto previously asked her to sort.
But Rieck denied tossing any records related to the jobs training scandal that forced her bosses to quit.
Rieck said she came into the office the morning of April 6 around 4:30, and began throwing out old records. The afternoon before, Gov. Tom Vilsack had asked for the resignation of Barto and IWD Director Richard Running.
"I was unable to sleep well that night and I awoke early," Rieck wrote. "I proceeded to get up and go into work as I know my cubicle needed to be organized and the boxes of old files reviewed."
She reported that two female custodians helped her.
"They kept bringing me trash barrels and taking them away and dumping them," she wrote.
State troopers found Rieck getting rid of documents after an anonymous tipster called the auditor's office just before 6 a.m.
Rieck, who is currently on administrative leave, gave her written statement to members of the Legislature's Government Oversight Committee. The committee has asked her to testify at its hearings about a salary scandal at a local jobs training center.
Rep. Dwayne Alons, a Hull Republican who chairs the committee, said he still wants Rieck to testify in person and to answer questions.
"It's kind of odd how she thought of this at 4:30 in the morning right after the director and deputy director resigned," Alons said.
He said they're hoping to bring her in next week. Rieck's attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The IWD had been responsible for overseeing the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, or CIETC. But a report issued by the state auditor's office last month found CIETC's top executives were found making exorbitant salaries that reached $360,000 a year.
Rieck said she had been informed by Barto earlier that week that an investigation was being conducted on CIETC and had helped assemble informational packets for state lawmakers, who also were looking into the matter.
The day Running and Barto resigned, Rieck said she and other employees helped pack up their personal items and put them into an unoccupied office for safekeeping. She said during that time she saw 25-30 boxes of old files in a storage closet in Barto's office.
She and two other employees worked until about 8 p.m. that night taking the boxes out of a storage closet and placing them under an empty secretary's desk.
She said later that night she contacted another IWD employee and told her some of the files contained confidential personnel information about staff members for former Gov. Terry Branstad that should be set aside for shredding.
But Rieck said in her statement she did not get rid of any documents related to the CIETC investigation.
"I did not throw anything away that mentioned CIETC. In fact, I found a few documents that had the name CIETC on them and those I placed on my desk," she wrote.
Rieck has worked for the state of Iowa for nearly 19 years, the last 7 of those at IWD. Rieck had served as Barto's administrative assistant for the past six years and also had worked in Running's office.
Rieck said in her statement that she has cooperated and been interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Charlotte Eby can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.
Laurie Rieck, who had worked for IWD Deputy Director Jane Barto, said in a written statement she chose to get rid of old documents that Barto previously asked her to sort.
But Rieck denied tossing any records related to the jobs training scandal that forced her bosses to quit.
Rieck said she came into the office the morning of April 6 around 4:30, and began throwing out old records. The afternoon before, Gov. Tom Vilsack had asked for the resignation of Barto and IWD Director Richard Running.
"I was unable to sleep well that night and I awoke early," Rieck wrote. "I proceeded to get up and go into work as I know my cubicle needed to be organized and the boxes of old files reviewed."
She reported that two female custodians helped her.
"They kept bringing me trash barrels and taking them away and dumping them," she wrote.
State troopers found Rieck getting rid of documents after an anonymous tipster called the auditor's office just before 6 a.m.
Rieck, who is currently on administrative leave, gave her written statement to members of the Legislature's Government Oversight Committee. The committee has asked her to testify at its hearings about a salary scandal at a local jobs training center.
Rep. Dwayne Alons, a Hull Republican who chairs the committee, said he still wants Rieck to testify in person and to answer questions.
"It's kind of odd how she thought of this at 4:30 in the morning right after the director and deputy director resigned," Alons said.
He said they're hoping to bring her in next week. Rieck's attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The IWD had been responsible for overseeing the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, or CIETC. But a report issued by the state auditor's office last month found CIETC's top executives were found making exorbitant salaries that reached $360,000 a year.
Rieck said she had been informed by Barto earlier that week that an investigation was being conducted on CIETC and had helped assemble informational packets for state lawmakers, who also were looking into the matter.
The day Running and Barto resigned, Rieck said she and other employees helped pack up their personal items and put them into an unoccupied office for safekeeping. She said during that time she saw 25-30 boxes of old files in a storage closet in Barto's office.
She and two other employees worked until about 8 p.m. that night taking the boxes out of a storage closet and placing them under an empty secretary's desk.
She said later that night she contacted another IWD employee and told her some of the files contained confidential personnel information about staff members for former Gov. Terry Branstad that should be set aside for shredding.
But Rieck said in her statement she did not get rid of any documents related to the CIETC investigation.
"I did not throw anything away that mentioned CIETC. In fact, I found a few documents that had the name CIETC on them and those I placed on my desk," she wrote.
Rieck has worked for the state of Iowa for nearly 19 years, the last 7 of those at IWD. Rieck had served as Barto's administrative assistant for the past six years and also had worked in Running's office.
Rieck said in her statement that she has cooperated and been interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Charlotte Eby can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.
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