The Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) has selected Charles Smithson to serve as its new Executive Director effective December 1. Smithson succeeds Keith Luchtel who announced his resignation earlier this year.
Smithson served as its Legal Counsel and then also Executive Director between 1998 to 2010 to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. When legislators were debating the creation of the IPIB they frequently said it should function along the lines of the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board and that the Executive Director should be someone with the reputation for fairness and integrity of Charlie Smithson.
Both agencies are small. Both provide legal advice to the public and to elected officials. Both enforce laws in the Iowa Code. Both work with the General Assembly, Governor’s Office and other state agencies on legislation and both are involved in contested cases for agency enforcement actions.
“The board feels fortunate to have hired a leader with Charlie’s experience,” said IPIB Chair Robert Andeweg, Mayor of Urbandale. “He has great agency management experience and, like Keith Luchtel, he knows his way around the Statehouse.”
Most recently Smithson served as Legal Counsel and Legislative Liaison in the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. He was Chief Clerk of the Iowa House of Representatives from November of 2010 to November of 2012 and has also been an adjunct professor of election law at Drake University. “I look forward to serving the Board and furthering its mission to promote the public trust and confidence in government,” he said.
Both agencies are small. Both provide legal advice to the public and to elected officials. Both enforce laws in the Iowa Code. Both work with the General Assembly, Governor’s Office and other state agencies on legislation and both are involved in contested cases for agency enforcement actions.
“The board feels fortunate to have hired a leader with Charlie’s experience,” said IPIB Chair Robert Andeweg, Mayor of Urbandale. “He has great agency management experience and, like Keith Luchtel, he knows his way around the Statehouse.”
Most recently Smithson served as Legal Counsel and Legislative Liaison in the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. He was Chief Clerk of the Iowa House of Representatives from November of 2010 to November of 2012 and has also been an adjunct professor of election law at Drake University. “I look forward to serving the Board and furthering its mission to promote the public trust and confidence in government,” he said.
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