A state audit shows the stepson of the mayor of a small central Iowa town “improperly” took about 45-thousand dollars of city funds. It happened in the city of Reasoner, which is in Jasper County. Kevin Beck, the son of the City Clerk and the stepson of the town’s mayor, was hired a year ago to be the clerk who handled the checks that Reasoner residents wrote for sewer services. He was to be paid one-hundred dollars a month.
The audit found that Beck wrote himself 52 checks — totaling more than 32-thousand dollars from last June to December and withdrew nearly 13-thousand dollars in cash from the city’s sewer account. He also wrote checks to a Grinnell hotel, to Wal-Mart to buy headlights and to Hy-Vee. The audit also found Beck had used city money to obtain a prepaid credit card last September, but he didn’t use it. In mid-December, Beck’s mother told the city council her son had taken 25-thousand dollars and was prepared to pay it back if the council didn’t press charges.
The council contacted the county attorney, and the sheriff searched the homes of Beck and his mother and stepfather, the town’s mayor, where a note Beck had written was found. Beck wrote that he was sorry he took the money, but that he did it alone and his mother and stepfather weren’t involved.