News : \'Unanimous\' council supports City Administrator Chris Ward

The morning after a closed-meeting session with the Vinton City Council, City Administrator Chris Ward continued working on projects he had discussed with the council during Thursday’s regular meeting: The waste water treatment plant studies, a possible grant to help replace a bridge on the east end of 13th Street, and the housing study the city is working with ECICOG on initiating.

The City Council is strongly supporting Ward, despite the political and legal troubles from his last job that continue to plague him.

“Chris has done an excellent job for us, and I have no doubt he will continue to do so,” said council member and Mayor Pro Tem Tami Stark.

The council hired Ward in May of 2014, a few months after he was fired from the same position in West Liberty, a town of around 3,400. Officials there cited complaints about the city recycling program when they dismissed him by a 4-1 vote.

Vinton leaders were well-aware of the issues in West Liberty before hiring Ward.

“We thoroughly vetted Chris,” says Stark.

Council members could not comment on the discussion that took place after members of the media and public left the council meeting room Thursday night. Under Iowa law, officials are prohibited from revealing the discussions that take place in closed sessions.

Yet said Stark, the support for Ward is strong among city leaders.

“He has already done many good things for Vinton,” said Stark, who said Ward has the “unanimous” support of the city council.

“I have much more support here than I had in West Liberty,” said Ward, adding that he would like to answer questions about the case, but cannot at this time.

After Ward’s departure from West Liberty, a report from the State Auditor’s Office revealed that electrical customers there were overbilled by approximately $290,000 over a nine-month period. The audit, which does not mention Ward by name, said that the former city manager directed an employee to charge customers a higher rate because he anticipated a shortage in the city electrical account – despite an earlier city ordinance that required the lower rate. The audit also offered guidelines for helping the city refund customers the amount they overpaid.

That audit was released October 30, 2014. On Feb. 23, the Muscatine County Attorney’s Office filed a charge of felonious misconduct against Ward. However, Muscatine County Attorney Alan Ostergren did not explain why he chose to file that charge, although several media outlets including Vinton Today have asked for an explanation.

The Code of Iowa (Section 721.1) offers the following legal definition of that offense, which is classified as the least serious felony in state law:

721.1 FELONIOUS MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE.

Any public officer or employee, who knowingly does any of the

following, commits a class "D" felony:

1. Makes or gives any false entry, false return, false

certificate, or false receipt, where such entries, returns,

certificates, or receipts are authorized by law.

2. Falsifies any public record, or issues any document falsely

purporting to be a public document.

3. Falsifies a writing, or knowingly delivers a falsified

writing, with the knowledge that the writing is falsified and that

the writing will become a public record of a government body.

4. For purposes of this section, "government body" and

"public record" mean the same as defined in section 22.1.

Ward has not been officially arrested, but has been ordered to appear for an initial hearing on March 9 at the courthouse in Muscatine.