When he was arrested early February 11, State Representative Kerry Burt (D-Waterloo) brought up his position as a state representative and firefighter, and that he had been drinking at a reception attended by Governor Chet Culver, according to a police report and video released this week. Burt faces a charge of Operating While Intoxicated.
According to the report, Burt tried to tell the officer that he couldn't be arrested. "I better show you this. ... I'm a representative," Burt said. "I'm also a firefighter. Is there professional courtesy?"
The report revealed that Burt's preliminary breath test showed his blood-alcohol level at 0.131, above the state's legal limit of 0.08. When the officer asked Burt how much he had to drink, he replied that whom he was drinking with was more important than how much he had to drink. He then said in a soft voice, "The governor."
Culver confirmed to reporters that he saw Burt at a February 10 reception hosted by the Iowa Pharmacy Association and dinner at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Des Moines.
"I was with Mr. Burt for all of about 30 minutes at a dinner with about 15 people," Culver said. "I had no idea what he did after I left that dinner at 8:55 p.m. I was home by 9 o'clock. He was arrested at 2 a.m. I have no idea really what he did between 9 and 2."
Culver also confirmed there were alcoholic beverages served at the reception. "There was some alcohol that was served at the pharmacy reception," Culver said. "I had a glass of wine and had a quick dinner and went home."
A report filed Wednesday with the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board showed the Iowa Pharmacy Association spent $2,438 on alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for the reception and $4,689 on food. Between 175 to 200 people attended the reception, including as many as 20 lawmakers. Each guest was given one ticket for wine, beer, or a soft drink.
The Iowa Pharmacy Association failed to file a disclosure report within five days of the legislative reception, as required by law.
Black Hawk and Dubuque county GOP chairs joined the chorus of Republicans calling for Burt's resignation. Aside from his drunken-driving charge, Burt is accused of using an incorrect address to avoid paying $37,139 in fees to the Malcolm Price Laboratory School.
Sotomayor Clears Judiciary Committee Despite Grassley
Sonia Sotomayor, the Latina judge nominated by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Supreme Court, won 13-6 approval Tuesday from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, despite U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley and most other Republicans voting against her.
Grassley was the sixth of 19 to speak during the confirmation vote, and said in a 12-minute speech that he would be voting against Sotomayor. "She's a remarkable woman, she's a talented individual, a woman of substance and personality, a trailblazer," Grassley said. "There's no doubt of her intelligence, integrity, or distinguished legal background."
But he went on to say: "Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that Judge Sotomayor will be able to set aside her personal biases and prejudices and decide cases in an impartial manner based upon the Constitution. I'm not convinced that Judge Sotomayor will protect important constitutional rights, nor am I convinced that she will refrain from creating new rights under the Constitution. I'm not convinced that Judge Sotomayor understands the proper role of a judge in our system with checks and balances."
Grassley said he was concerned whether Sotomayor would protect the Second and Fifth amendments.
He also said his vote for Justice David Souter nearly 20 years ago "has come back to haunt me time and time again," adding that one of Sotomayor's responses "left me with the same pit in my stomach I've had with Justice Souter's rulings that I had hoped to have cured with his retirement."
It was Grassley's first time voting against a Supreme Court nominee.
January 2010 Caucuses Set for Saturday
The January 2010 Iowa caucuses will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 23, rather than a weekday evening, state party chairs announced in a joint statement this week.
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time either party has held its precinct caucuses on a Saturday," said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Mike Kiernan and Republican Party of Iowa Chair Matt Strawn. "Our decision to hold these important organizational meetings on a Saturday was made to encourage greater participation in an off-year caucus and get more Iowans actively involved with the work of our parties."
The mid-term caucuses don't draw the kind of international media attention they do in presidential years, but they are still key in organizing and selecting delegates.
That's because with a handful of Republicans already running for governor, the race could go to a convention. Iowa Code says: "If there are more than two candidates for any nomination and none of the candidates receives 35 percent or more of the votes cast by voters of that party for that nomination, the primary is inconclusive," and the choice of nominee would then go to the Republican state convention.
Nearly a Dozen Iowa Cities Aim to Regulate Wind Turbines
A growing number of cities across Iowa are regulating wind turbines within their communities, an effort to balance their citizens' interest in wind-powering their homes or businesses with concerns about size, safety, noise, and appearance of the machines.
Greg Watkins with the Iowa Office of Energy Independence says demand for small-scale wind turbines "is on the verge of really exploding." The industry is slated to grow 30-fold over the next five to seven years, he said, due in part to rising energy costs.
"There is impending carbon legislation that will potentially have an effect on what we enjoy in Iowa: low electricity rates," Watkins said. "Cap and trade will raise that."
Climbing energy costs are just one factor that have made wind turbines attractive - and a concern for city councils across the state.
"I don't think they see it as a problem, and I don't think they're looking at regulating them out of existence," said Alan Kemp, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities, which represents 870 of the 947 cities in the state. "I think they recognize that you've got a portion of the population that sees this as a viable alternative energy source and it's the right thing to do."
Kemp said there has been "a tremendous amount of interest in this suddenly," as cities across the state look to impose limits on wind turbines without stamping out possibilities for growth. Nearly a dozen cities are considering or have approved such ordinances: Cedar Falls, Clive, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Eagle Grove, Grundy Center, Mason City, Waterloo, Waukee, Waverly, and West Des Moines.
"I know there's enough interest in the legislature that they planned a committee whose task is to come up with a model small-wind ordinance," Kemp said.
That committee, part of House File 810 on small-wind innovation zones, is composed of the Iowa League of Cities, the Iowa Environmental Council, the Iowa Wind Energy Association, representatives from the utility industry, and others.
Although that group has yet to release a model ordinance, communities are still forging ahead with local laws and regulations. Clive, for example, has put a moratorium on wind-turbine construction until it can develop an ordinance, while Des Moines and West Des Moines already have ordinances on the books.
Mason City passed a wind-turbine ordinance back in 2006, setting restrictions for height (100 feet), distance from property lines (110 percent of height), and noise levels. City Administrator Brent Trout said the city council was spurred into action when a number of businesses were interested in purchasing wind turbines.
"We said we'd better have some kind of guidelines since you're looking at something that is a tower up there," Trout said. "You want to make sure you have some regulations for safety, distances established, and so on, and to make sure you have something that's not going to be too infringing upon neighbors."
The push for wind energy isn't coming just from individuals or the legislature. The federal government has called for 20 percent of the country's power to come from wind by 2030, and Culver, co-chair of the Governors' Wind Energy Coalition, has spoken repeatedly on making Iowa the top state in wind generation.
"I think it would be really nice if in this country and in this state we could get to that point where you could have all sorts of tools in terms of renewable-energy options, from geothermal to maybe a small wind turbine of some kind," Culver said earlier this month. "But at the same time, there are 950 cities that have local control, which I support, to decide where ... you permit it."
Trout says that since 2006, Mason City has had just two wind turbines put in, both on the property of a local architecture business. But he thinks more small-scale-wind-turbine construction will come to Mason City.
"We have a couple other larger companies; Kraft Foods here in town is interested in wind turbines to produce power for their business," Trout said. "We've had a couple individuals express an interest in getting a wind turbine for their homes. The hope is: With this here on the books, it allows them the opportunity."
State Fair Offers Opportunity to Communicate
Though 2009 is not an election year, politicians and activists say they will still spread their message to the million or so people expected to attend the Iowa State Fair August 13 through 23.
"I don't think there is a serious candidate who would ever dismiss or not appreciate the opportunity it presents," said state Representative Rod Roberts of Carroll, who recently filed papers to run for governor of Iowa in 2010. "In Iowa, as we know, our state fair is significant and very prominent, and it draws a lot of people."
Roberts, one of six Republicans currently expected to run for governor, said the fair is a great way to meet candidates and is "a place where politics just quite naturally work into people's interests."
He also said it's never too early for a candidate to begin campaigning in a large state where people like to meet politicians face-to-face.
"You can't start too early in that effort to become known to Iowans," Roberts said. "You do the best you can to become known. For most all of us as candidates, that right now is a top priority in the campaign."
The fair has always been a must-stop for politicians. In 2003, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman of Connecticut famously ate a deep-fried Twinkie; in 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain munched on a pork chop on a stick; and visiting the butter cow has become a tradition for politicians.
But there is some question about how many big names will attend the fair this year. Des Moines Register political columnist Kathie Obradovich said the paper will not have its "political soapbox" this year; Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney spoke at the soapbox in 2007.
Republican Party of Iowa Political Director Eric Johansen says no presidential hopefuls are expected to attend the fair this year, and the party is still coordinating which gubernatorial candidates will make an appearance. He said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and State Auditor Dave Vaudt will both be at the fair; both have announced their intentions to seek re-election rather than run for governor.
"I guess in the media's eyes it always seems more important in the election year, but if you look at the attendance of the state fair, it doesn't change from election year to non-election year," Johansen said. "It provides the Republican Party and our members a chance to meet with voters and get an early start on things. So it gives us an outlet to spread our conservative message throughout the state."
Brian Dumas, consultant for Republican gubernatorial candidate Christian Fong of Cedar Rapids, said Fong will likely attend the fair on Saturday, August 15, spending time at the Republican booth and visiting different exhibits.
"I think that the fair is a great Iowa tradition, and if you're running for governor of Iowa, you'd better spend some time at the state fair," Dumas said. "Whether it's an election year or not, you [do your] due diligence by spending time at the fair."
The Iowa Democratic Party will be doing something different at the fair this year, encouraging Democrats to send in Twitter-esque 140-character statements on "Why I am a Democrat." The statements will be used for an interactive presentation at the party's booth in the Varied Industries building.
"This is not only a recognition of how important new media sources like blogs and Twitter are to political organizing in this day and age, but also a chance for Democrats to share with each other why they developed what is often a lifelong attachment to this party," said Norm Sterzenbach, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party.
The health-care-reform debate is expected to have a place at the fair as well. Sterzenbach said Democrats will be asking voters to sign a health-care petition, while Pete Jeffries, national campaign consultant for Divided We Fail, said the AARP booth will have a majority of its focus on health-care reform.
"The state fair has hundreds of thousands of people who attend over a very short period of time, and so it is a great one-stop shop and showcase for a number of candidates or issues that can be on display," Jeffries said.
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.
