Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. This essay first appeared on his Substack newsletter, Stray Thoughts. 

At the risk of blurring the increasingly fuzzy line between church and state, here is a Gospel reading for public employees and elected officials, according to Matthew: 

“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.”

Unfortunately, it does not take much looking these days to see government leaders bedeviled by lousy optics. Perhaps it is a lack of vision or just a refusal to listen.

Either way, these officials are doing and saying things that leave the taxpayers who pay their salaries perplexed.

Governor Kim Reynolds is not planning any changes for Iowa’s main public pension system, she told Iowa reporters today.

The Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) posted a job listing for a new chief executive officer on December 9. Staff confirmed longtime CEO Donna Mueller will retire when her current term ends on April 30, 2020.