Postville Mayor Robert Penrod is being publicly questioned about who called for a special state audit that targeted the city’s former public works director. At Monday night’s council meeting, former councilman Leigh Rekow posed the question directly to the mayor, "Mr. Mayor, who authorized the expenditure for the special audit?"
The mayor paused a few a seconds without answering and then moved on to the next item on the agenda. Upon completion of discussion on the item at hand, former councilman Rekow called for a point of order and reminded Mayor Penrod there was an unanswered question on the floor and he would like it answered. Mayor Penrod conferred with the city clerk for a brief period and answered Rekow by saying he "needs more information before that can be discussed.
We will put it on the agenda for the April 14th meeting." The opening paragraph of the special state audit clearly states the audit was called for by Mayor Penrod. Phone calls to the State Auditors Office verify the special audit was "called for by the mayor during the course of our regular field work in the City of Postville."
The special state audit was released on March 14th by the state auditors office and has resulted in the suspension with pay of Gary Simmons from his position as public works director for the city of Norwalk. The city of Norwalk conducted an audit and found no improprieties on the part of Mr. Simmons, but has called for a special state audit to verify those findings.