State: Johnson County auditor wrong, but won't be disciplined for circulating petition in office

UPDATE: Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett should not have circulated his re-election petition at his office, the state's campaign ethics head said Wednesday, but she will not recommend he be disciplined.

Megan Tooker, executive director and legal counsel for the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board, said she spoke with Slockett about the matter and told him it was inappropriate.

The Gazette reported Monday that Slockett passed around his nomination petition at his office that day and included a checklist for employees to mark after they had seen it.

The petition is required for Slockett to be on the ballot in the June primary election. He is a Democrat and has been the Johnson County auditor and elections commissioner since 1977.

Slockett has maintained he did nothing wrong, but he said he would not do it again.

Iowa code prohibits the use of public resources for political purposes, including using public time, property or facilities for campaign work.

Tooker said she did not receive a complaint from anyone about Slockett, only an inquiry from The Gazette.

But this was the third time in the past couple of weeks she has been informed of such an incident. She also told those officials their actions were inappropriate and was assured by them it would not happen again. She said it would not be fair to treat Slockett any different only because his situation became a news story.

She declined to say which communities the other ones occurred in.

Tooker is going to propose an advisory opinion on the issue for the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board to consider at its next meeting, which has not yet been scheduled.