Public accountability reporting asks: Are powerful institutions acting in public interest?

I consider public accountability reporting as one of our most important responsibilities as a news organization.

Our reporters cover government meetings, examine public records, track data and interview experts in an effort to hold powerful people and institutions accountable to the public they profess to serve. This coverage often focuses on government, at the city, county and state level, but also includes businesses and nonprofits.

Three bodies of work published in the past week exemplify the Des Moines Register’s tradition of examining the conduct of public officials and whether they are acting in the public interest.

Shedding light on access to the governor’s office

Ag, energy and environment reporter Donnelle Eller sifted through nearly 900 pages of emails between the staffs and representatives of Gov. Kim Reynolds and agribusinessman Bruce Rastetter, who’s spearheading one of the proposed carbon capture pipelines across the state. The emails detail their staffs’ efforts to set up lunches, dinners and other meetings since 2019.

An attorney representing Iowa property owners who oppose Rastetter's pipeline project obtained the emails through a public records request, and the documents were filed with the Iowa Utilities Board in connection with the ongoing hearing on a permit for the Rastetter-backed pipeline.

As Eller reported, the attorney seeks to show that Rastetter, a Republican mega-donor, is using political influence to stack the deck in the project’s favor.

In a sense, Eller's sidebar story detailing the contents of some of the emails shows little more than that these are two extremely busy people and their staffs had a difficult time arranging meetings. But it’s also hard to imagine that a typical Iowan could obtain the kind of access to the governor that Rastetter has enjoyed.

Eller’s main story outlines the many intertwined connections between the two, including Rastetter’s $175,000 in campaign contributions to Reynolds and $248,000 to her predecessor, Terry Branstad, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Reynolds spokesperson Kollin Crompton told Eller in an email: “Concerns of ‘undue influence’ are completely unfounded and untrue."

Reynolds has carefully sidestepped overt expressions of support for the carbon capture projects. But pipeline opponents point to other actions as smoothing the way, including her shakeup of Iowa Utilities Board members and the Republican-dominated Legislature’s inaction on measures to limit the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, all the while approving almost all of Reynolds' other priority bills.

The use of eminent domain would force unwilling landowners to sell access to their properties for the projects.

Exploring the mental toll of public service

Des Moines city government reporter Virginia Barreda undertook an in-depth examination of former City Council member Indira Sheumaker’s tumultuous nearly two-year tenure. Sheumaker's father hand-delivered a letter of resignation on Wednesday.

Sheumaker’s time on the council included two extended absences, two months in 2022, which she attributed in part to mental health challenges, and six months starting in March. A source confirmed that a spring hospitalization stemmed from mental health issues.

Her later absence came at a time of growing concern about the pressures faced by public officials nationwide. Surveys have found an increase in harassment, threats and violence.

The council made some rule changes limiting individual members' authority soon after Sheumaker took her seat in 2022. She told the Register at the time that she felt as if she were facing an uphill battle interacting with fellow council members and city staff. Her campaign communications manager said she also felt isolated as campaign supporters moved on to other pursuits.

As part of her reporting, Barreda examined 5,000 pages of emails sent to Sheumaker on her government account from Jan. 1 through April 30, along with attached replies. Barreda sought to determine whether the emails showed a pattern of harsh attacks or the typical criticisms aimed at public officials and how responsive Sheumaker was to the messages.

What Barreda found was that in the first two months of 2023, Sheumaker frequently engaged constituents, asked questions of city staff and accepted invitations to speak at community events. But in late February, before her six-month absence began, she appeared to stop responding to emails from colleagues and constituents.

In late March, she received about seven emails calling for her resignation, some of them harshly worded, including one writer who described her absence as “stealing from my community.” Three of Sheumaker's fellow council members acknowledged to Barreda that the stresses and criticism that come with public office can take a toll on their mental health.

Examining the crisis in youth mental health care

Reader’s Watchdog Lee Rood has documented the heart-wrenching experiences of Iowa parents as they have struggled to secure needed services for children with mental, behavioral and intellectual disabilities.

This is a national issue: The three years of isolation and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues for children, Rood reports, and wait lists for psychiatric medical institutions for youth have reached record highs.

In Iowa, increased demand for mental health services for youth and the lack of programs and professionals to provide them have reached a crisis point, parents and advocates say.

Earlier this year, Disability Rights Iowa filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the state has denied Medicaid-eligible children legally required mental and behavioral health care. The suit accuses Iowa of administering “an inadequate, inaccessible and dysfunctional mental health system.”

Rood reports that Iowa has taken some steps to address this issue, such as the Legislature’s approval this year of more funding for Medicaid substance abuse and mental health services. Another ray of hope: YSS is building Ember Recovery Campus, a 70-bed facility that will provide residential addiction treatment, crisis stabilization and emergency shelter for youth. The facility is expected to open next fall.

But it will take bigger efforts to provide adequate mental health care for all the Iowa kids who need it. Register reporters will continue to examine this critical need.

Carol Hunter is the Register’s executive editor. She wants to hear your questions, story ideas or concerns at 515-284-8545, chunter@registermedia.com, or on X: @carolhunter.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 3 examples show Des Moines Register's public accountability reporting