Views from the Linn County Auditor

Quasi-official blog moving off site

The host of this blog called me on Thursday to inform me that this blog would be disabled due to a complaint and/or request of my opponent. I have used Views of the Linn County Auditor (this blog) to distribute information about elections, my opinions, and other business of the Office of Auditor since July 2007. I have strived to keep this blog free of candidate advocacy and according to at least one blogger, I have kept it free of candidate advocacy.

After a bit of pondering what to do, I have decided to continue my quasi-official blogging by creating another Views from the Linn County Auditor blog at http://lcauditor.wordpress.com/ . My candidate blog is at http://www.joelmiller.org Both blogs are provided free of charge and both are hosted by http://wordpress.com . I will continue to strive to keep the content of the quasi-official blog separate from the candidate blog and I know you will let me know if I stray.

Thank you http://www.gazetteonline.com for hosting my blog! The public appears to be more engaged in Linn County’s government than ever before. Your service to the community and Linn County is appreciated! --Joel @ 12:20pm

Auditor Visits - full disclosure

When someone steals another person’s idea in the private sector, it might be classified as an intellectual property crime. When idea theft occurs in the public sector, it might be classified as a “best practice”. In the spirit of implementing a best practice, I’m stealing the section of Iowa Representative Tyler Olson’s online newsletter titled Capitol Visits.

My version will be called: Auditor Visits. Its purpose will be to fully disclose which candidates are meeting with me – the Auditor & Commissioner of Elections – prior to the 2008 primary and general elections.

Along this same line, I am making the following statements:

1> I have not accepted any 2008 donations from any candidate for public office;

2> I will not be accepting any 2008 donations from any candidate for public office;

3> From this day forward, I will NOT be donating to any candidate for public office;

4> I may continue to donate to political parties and PACs (not candidate committees) on a limited basis.

I make these statements in the interest of ensuring fair elections and maintaining the integrity of the voting process in Linn County.

Auditor Visits

Bernita Rozinek – in my office - Thursday, April 3^rd;
Brian Gardner – chance meeting at Blimpies – Friday, April 4^th; and
Jesse Arenas – in my office - Friday, April 4^th.

Joel @ 10:45pm

Objection hearings - warts and all - for your listening pleasure

Someday, the public meetings and proceedings held by the Board of Supervisors and related entities will be recorded via a commercial recording system and broadcast via the internet. My experience has been that the public will take the time to listen to and/or view the recordings. For example, I video'd the Public Testing of Linn County's Voting Machines and it was viewed 108 times. I recorded the audio for the Second Annual State of the County and it was listened to 66 times. I believe the public will take the time to listen and view recordings if they have access to them.

Click here to listen to the public hearings convened to hear the objections filed against Lyle K Hanson’s, William J Elam’s, and Linda Langston’s nomination papers and/or candidate affidavits. All of the objections were overruled by the hearing panels. --Joel @ 4pm

Every candidate's secret wish

I believe that competition in political races is good. It causes debate and discussion - candidates have to speak - reporters write - and sometimes, voters listen. I think we're going to have lots of debate and discussion this election cycle - between presidential candidates and local candidates. And I believe, ultimately, the country and county will be better off for having gone through the process.

And I further believe that every candidate - including yours truly has one secret wish ... which is ... that no one runs against them. I confess, I had that wish. And it was completely blown away one week ago when I visited Cedar Rapids Rotary West and found my opponent standing at the check-in desk collecting signatures on his nomination papers. There went my wish....

To find out who else had their wishes ruined, click here. --Joel @ "I need to get to bed" time.

Primary battles in store for Democratic candidates seeking county offices

I just posted Cary J Hahn's candidate affidavit and nomination papers on the Auditor's web site. He's the 18th candidate to file papers for the upcoming June primary election.

As of tonight, the Democrats will have primary battles in five of seven county races and the Republicans will have one battle, i.e., in Supervisor District 5 (Watson vs Machacek). Looks like the voters may have lots of reasons to go to the polls in June. --Joel @ 7pm

Loyal opposition improves customer service

During one of my first meetings with my management team, I discussed the concept of loyal opposition and how it fits into my management philosophy. I believe in loyal opposition and I encourage debate, discussion, and disagreement – I think they are healthy.

A recent event confirmed to me that loyal opposition and the environment that it fosters is alive and well in the Auditor’s Office. During a meeting with County Recorder Joan McCalmant, Jason Siebrecht (Manager – GIS/Mapping) posed a question to Becky Shoop (First Deputy Auditor): Why not relocate the real estate transfer books in our office to the County Recorder’s Office – it would save our customers time and effort. Jason asked the question on a Wednesday and on Friday we moved the books to the Recorder’s Office (see news release below). To top it off, Jim Morgan, a former employee of the Auditor’s Office, volunteered to organize the books on his own time.

While you may not think this is a big deal, it will save the title companies, real estate attorneys, and realtors time and effort - which ultimately should reduce the cost of completing real estate transfers in Linn County - which should ultimately benefit homeowners and businesses. Thank you Joan, Jason, Becky, and Jim! Great teamwork! --Joel @ 3:50pm

Customer Service Improved in County Offices

Auditor and Recorder work together to better serve the public

CEDAR RAPIDS—If you need to research Linn County real estate transfer and land description books, the Linn County Auditor’s Office and Recorder’s Office recently made the task easier. The books used to be split between the Auditor and Recorder. The separation of the collection, combined with the fact that the Recorder’s Office is in the basement of the county administrative building and the Auditor’s Office is on the top floor, created an inconvenience to the public who had to go back and forth between offices to get the information they needed.

The complete collection of real estate transfer books is now housed in the Recorder’s Office. The Auditor is still the custodian of the books, but the public benefits by physically combining the books into one central location.

“We are always looking for ways to make services more efficient,” said Joel Miller, Linn County Auditor. “Recorder Joan McCalmant agreed to combine the real estate transfer books into one location in her office. It’s a real benefit to the public.” ###

Interesting trivia about Linn County

First, let me concede that this might only be interesting trivia for someone like me with an interest in government. Second, I might not have thought about posting it except that Dave Franzman of KCRG-TV called me the other day and wanted to know how many Linn County residents lived in the unincorporated areas of the County. Now I have the answer and you can find it below along with some other facts I found interesting.

We seem to always be having discussions about urban sprawl. About 75.5% of Linn County’s total area is classified as agricultural, i.e., 344,439 acres. The 2007 market value of those acres is $3,983 per acre although some ag land is selling for $20,000 per acre, e.g., in Robins. For comparison, Buchanan County is 92.2% (335,765 acres @ $3562 market value) agricultural, Johnson County is 73.7% (291,016 acres @ $3911 market value) agricultural, and Polk County is 45.4% (172,452 acres @ $3487 market value) agricultural.

Here’s the answer to Dave Franzman’s question: Linn County’s estimated population on July 1, 2006 was 201,853. About 9.9% (20,041) live in the unincorporated areas and 90.1% (181,812) live in the cities.

And finally, one of the economic indicators that seem to be in the news on a daily basis is home ownership. As of the 2000 census, our homeownership was 72.7% and we were ranked 81^st out of 99 counties. For comparison, Buchanan County’s homeownership is 78.2% (22^nd), Johnson’s is 56.6% (99^th), and Polk’s is 68.8% (95^th). We're going to continue to hear more about homeownership as the sub-prime meltdown continues.

For additional facts on Linn County compared to other counties, click on the COUNTY FINANCIAL OVERVIEW published in January 2008 by the Iowa State Association of Counties. --Joel @ 2:30pm

8 days to go before the county filing period closes

As of this evening, nine (9) candidates have filed their nomination papers for the June 2008 primary election (click here to view the list). I thought we would have more filings by today, but the candidates must be getting a few extra signatures. Good for them - you can never have too many signatures. But it sure would be nice if two a day showed up over the next 6 business days - just to ensure every candidate gets everything filed on time. Remember: the deadline is 5pm on March 26th. --Joel @ 9:30pm

State of the County Luncheon (audio only)

Today, I attended the Second Annual State of the County Luncheon hosted by the League of Women Voters at the Best Western Longbranch Hotel & Convention Center. I took the liberty of recording the program's audio on my digital voice recorder.

Click here to listen to an MP3 of the program. --Joel @ 10:00pm

3.75% and the near end of a news story

This morning, the Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved a 3.75% salary increase for themselves and the other county elected officials including me. Thank you BOS! The increase will be effective 1 July 2008 and it’s included in the $104.6M county budget the BOS approved for the next fiscal year, i.e., from 1 July 2008 through 30 June 2009.

On 1 January 2009, the salaries of the five incoming BOS members are scheduled to change from $87.6K to $70K and their work status is scheduled to change from full-time (100% = 40 hours per week) to part-time (80% = 32 hours per week). While the incoming BOS members could override the decision of today’s BOS, they would likely be committing political suicide or, at the very least, starting off on the wrong foot if they override today’s decision.

It appears the end is near on this particular news story. It’s about time. –Joel @ 11:15am

County budget hearing @ 5pm on Monday, March 10th

I know that 5pm is not the best time to hold a public hearing - some of you are still at work - most of you are just getting off work - but it's important that the public show up at public hearings ... especially when a $100M+ budget is about to be approved.

Click here to view the meeting agenda.

Click here to view last year's budget.

This year's budget should be available at the meeting.

Note: I have nothing to do with selecting meeting times. If I had my way, no meeting would begin any earlier than 6pm. --Joel @ 8:40pm

Top 10 most downloaded/viewed documents

Here's a list of the 10 most downloaded/viewed documents on Linn County's web site. As I reviewed numbers one through ten, each document made sense ... except for #6 - Linn County Strategic Plan - 3,024 downloads.

I confess, I'm not certain I had ever seen the document until last week when I was searching for another document. I certainly don't recall ever being in a meeting when it was discussed. Yet, here it is - #6 - after Building Regulations and before a 3-Day Notice of Termination (Danger). Who is downloading the Strategic Plan? Why? Are discussions being held about it? Where? Can I join in? Solve the mystery or provide the most plausible explanation and I'll buy you a cup coffee. --Joel @ 2:00pm

	Document Name	File Year	Posted	Downloads
1	Linn County Employment Application 14k Human Resources MORE INFO	2004	8/25/2004	7136
2	Sheriff's Foreclosure Sales 32k Sheriff's Office MORE INFO	2004	7/29/2004	4671
3	Homestead/Military Application Forms Request 16k 24k Assessor MORE INFO	2005	3/31/2005	3786
4	Sheriff's Foreclosure Sales-Completed 2005 507k Sheriff's Office MORE INFO	2005	7/14/2005	3073
5	Building Regulations 112k Auditor & Commissioner of Elections . . . . Joel D. Miller MORE INFO	2005	8/26/2005	3048
6	Linn County Strategic Plan 22k Finance And Budget MORE INFO	2005	12/29/2005	3024
7	3-Day Notice of Termination (Danger) 27k Sheriff's Office MORE INFO	2004	11/1/2004	2985
8	Flood: How to Clean Up from Ia Dept of Pub Health 15k 29k 44k Public Health MORE INFO	2004	4/8/2004	2882
9	Food: Basic Requirements for a Food Establishment 32k 26k Public Health MORE INFO	2004	4/8/2004	2833
10	"Informed Dining" 23k 38k Public Health MORE INFO	2005	1/24/2006	2733

Highest satisfaction: Voter Registration Services and License Plates Administration

In my previous entry, I mentioned the 2007 Study of Citizen Satisfaction with County Services by Vernon Research Group. That study indicated the county functions with the highest satisfaction ratings (see page 30) were Voter Registration Services (#1) and License Plates Administration (#2). Those services are provided by the Auditor's and Treasurer's Offices, respectively.

I think those ratings are an indication that the Auditor's and Treasurer's employees deliver excellent customer service and the customers are satisfied when they leave ... even though they may have climbed the stairs to the 2nd Floor and/or had to wait in line. Congratulations to all of the employees on the 2nd Floor! --Joel @ 11:20pm

Saving 40 seconds per person per visit

When I worked in telecommunications, the operator services division was always trying to shave seconds off the call processing time, i.e., the elapsed time between the caller’s last dialed digit and the called party answering the phone. The operator services division calculated that for every second they could shave off the processing time, they could produce another $300K in revenue. Shave off 10 seconds and revenue increased by $3M. They were always pushing the development staff to change the software and/or the hardware to reduce the processing time.

Each day, I walk into the split foyer entrance of the Linn County Administrative Office Building (AOB). Only the elevator is located on the ground level of the building. In November, December, and January, I used the elevator on many days – I could not climb the stairs. Now, I take the stairs everyday – it’s good exercise for me.

I’ve counted the steps from the ground level to the 1^st Floor – 9 steps – and to the 2^nd Floor – 24 more steps for a total of 33 steps. I found my stopwatch. Over the last 2 weeks as I’ve climbed the stairs, I timed how long it took to go from the ground level to the 1^st Floor – 4 seconds – and to the 2^nd Floor – 24 seconds. If my office was on the 1^st Floor instead of the 2^nd Floor, I would save about 40 seconds per day per roundtrip to my office.

In December 2007, Vernon Research Group completed a study for the County. Among the findings: 47% of the respondents visited the AOB in the last 12 months and 96% of those visitors went to the 2^nd Floor of the AOB for license plates (66%), property taxes (19%), voter registration services (9%), and automobile titles (2%).

Earlier today, I asked Sharon Gonzalez, Deputy Treasurer, if she had any idea how many customers visited the Motor Vehicle Department in the last month. She advised 7,380 customers visited her department in February 2008.

Asuming the average customer values his/her time at $20.00 per hour, we can calculate the opportunity cost (or opportunity lost) of 2^nd Floor customers having to climb up and down an extra 24 steps per visit. Do the math: 7,380 times 40 seconds divided by 60 seconds divided by 60 minutes equals 82 person hours of lost time at a cost $1,640.00 …for the month of February 2008.

If the Vernon study is correct and 47% of the County’s 152,058 adults (2006 estimate) visit the AOB per year and 96% of those visitors go to the 2^nd Floor, the opportunity lost equals (68,609*40/60/60) or 762 person hours of lost time at a cost of $15,246.35 per year. Keep in mind, these calculations only apply to the time lost climbing those extra 24 steps.

I need the physical exercise. Do you suppose those 68,609 visitors think they need the exercise? Maybe the offices on the 2^nd Floor should be on the 1^st Floor? Maybe the offices on the 2^nd Floor should be on the Ground Floor in another building? What do you think? --Joel @ 10:20pm

Four county candidates file on Day 1

Today was the first day to file for county auditor, county sheriff, or county supervisor. As I have done in the past, I will be scanning the candidates’ nomination papers and posting them on the Auditor's web site. I will also ask each candidate to provide a candidate profile or a web link to his/her web site. Here’s some examples of profiles I received prior to last November’s city elections – example #1 – example #2 Each profile contains a photo.

Thus far, four candidates have filed their nomination papers and affidavits of candidacy, i.e., me, Brian Gardner, Mary Lundby, and Richard Heeren – in that order. I am seeking re-election as County Auditor and Mr Gardner is running for County Sheriff in the Democratic Primary Election on 3 June 2008. Mary Lundby and Richard Heeren are running for Supervisor District 4 – Ms Lundby as a Republican and Mr Heeren as a Democrat.

I also received an email from Kathy Potts, who will be running for Iowa State Representative District 33 in the Republican Primary Election.

Reminder: The county candidate filing deadline is 5pm on March 26^th. –Joel @ 9:00pm