Iowa lawmakers scolded the head of the D-O-T today (Tuesday) for not telling the governor or legislators about the nine-hundred-thousand dollar land deal he struck. Department of Transportation director Mark Wandro is under fire for buying seven acres of land near Ankeny last year without telling lawmakers. The land would be used for construction of a new drivers license station for Polk County. Senator Mike Connolly, a democrat from Dubuque, chided Wandro for striking the deal to buy the land from developer Bill Knapp, a well-known benefactor of many democratic politicians. “I’m not saying it was, but it appears that it was kind of an inside deal,” Connolly says. “It doesn’t look good.” Wandro says hindsight is 20/20 — and he’s “only human.” Wandro says he purchased the land because it was “going fast” and he wanted to hold it until the legislature decided whether to approve the move to Ankeny. “What I hope (legislators) don’t lose sight of is our intent is to provide the best services at the cheapest cost to Iowans,” Wandro says. He says the state will save money in the long run if it closes its license station on the northeast side of Des Moines. If the legislature does not approve the nine-million dollars needed to build a new drivers license station, Wandro says he’ll sell the Ankeny land for a profit. “My opinion is that we own the site. We know what we want to use it for,” Wandro says. “It’s the legislative prerogative to determine if we will.”
