Secretary of State Paul Pate amended his personal financial disclosure form on April 30 to add several previously unlisted businesses in the Cedar Rapids area. In a statement enclosed in full below, Pate said he decided to list “all of my business ventures” because “I believe transparency is a necessary component of good government.”
He asserted that his initial filing complied with Iowa law, noting that Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board executive director Megan Tooker said Pate need not provide more detail about companies that bought or developed commercial property during 2017.
Iowa Code Chapter 68B.35 requires certain public officials and candidates to file disclosure forms “on or before April 30 of each year following a year during which the person holds a designated position.” All forms submitted for 2017 are available here.
The only revision to Pate’s disclosure was on Part B, which asks for “each business, occupation, or profession in which you were engaged during the covered year and the nature of that business, occupation, or profession, unless already apparent.” Pate’s April 11 form listed him as president of PM Systems Corporation, described as a paving business.
The April 30 version listed Pate as CEO of the same corporation, now described as “Paving / Real Estate: Serves as management group for several businesses including Pate Asphalt Systems, PEP Group LLC, PRG Group LLC, and Pate Real Estate Holdings.”
The new filing confirms the central facts in an April 17 story by Associated Press correspondent Ryan Foley: the secretary of state has a leadership role in side businesses not mentioned on his disclosure form. Pate and Iowa GOP leaders had repeatedly and dishonestly characterized that AP story as false or “#FakeNews.” Neither Tooker nor ethics board chair James Albert ever responded to my inquiry about Republicans using their words to discredit the AP, when all reported details regarding Pate’s business activities were accurate.
Although Pate voluntarily amended his form, others may feel free to conceal side businesses in the future, unless the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board instructs officials to name every corporate entity with which they held an employment or management position. Tooker and Albert may have been satisfied by Pate’s first filing, but others on the six-member ethics board should insist on stronger enforcement of the legal mandate to provide a “list of each business, occupation, or profession in which the person is engaged.”
The main purpose of requiring annual disclosures is to allow the public to evaluate potential conflicts of interest. That’s impossible if the forms don’t mention companies state officials created or manage. In addition, forcing officials to name all businesses with which they were “engaged” gives Iowans perspective on what occupied a public official’s time during the covered year. That’s particularly important for someone like Pate, who holds a full-time position.
Announcing his amended disclosure form, Pate asserted he “hired full-time professionals to handle all my private business” after becoming secretary of state in 2015 and considers his statewide elected office “a 24/7, 365-day per year job.” However, he’s not always in Des Moines during regular business hours. Foley reported last year that the secretary has missed 20 meetings of Iowa’s executive council and has “called in to meetings 21 times.” Last October, I was unable to determine the secretary’s whereabouts on the day of a public hearing related to the voter ID law, which is one of Pate’s signature issues.
Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.
Full statement released by Pate on April 30 (hat tip to Shane Vander Hart, since this not posted on the Secretary of State’s website at this writing):
“I believe transparency is a necessary component of good government, and although I am not required to, today I filed an amendment to my official disclosure report that specifically lists all of my business ventures. This amended form goes well above and beyond those required of Iowa’s elected officials, as confirmed by the chairman and executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board who have both stated my initial filing also meets the necessary requirements.
When I returned to the Secretary of State’s Office in 2015, I hired full-time professionals to handle all my private business for as long as I am in office. I remain fully dedicated to serving the people of Iowa as their Secretary of State. Protecting the integrity of our elections, making it easy to vote but hard to cheat, and offering service at the speed of business remain my objectives. I strive every day to achieve these goals. Being Iowa Secretary of State is a 24/7, 365-day per year job and I will continue to work hard every day to serve my fellow Iowans.”