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Property manager: Clinton campaign left a mess behind

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By Steven Martens | Friday, January 25, 2008 |

CLINTON, Iowa — The manager of a downtown Clinton building said Thursday he’ll likely never rent office space to a political campaign again after the mess he says Hillary Clinton campaign staffers left behind after the Iowa caucuses.

Duane Jones, who manages the Wilson building at 217 5th Ave. S., said he rented six rooms to the Clinton campaign beginning in June or July and ending a few days after the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. Jones said when he went into the building after the campaign staff had cleared out, he discovered garbage, spoiled food, holes that had been drilled in the walls to run phone lines without his authorization, and stains on the carpet that will require some of the carpeting to be replaced.

“Generally speaking, they left quite a mess,” he said.

He said a smoke alarm in one of the offices was missing and he noticed the windows in the building were sometimes open even on cold days, leading him to believe the campaign staffers were smoking in the building, which is not permitted.

Jones said he kept the $500 deposit the campaign staff gave him to rent the space, but it wasn’t enough to cover the damage expenses. He said he had contact with Clinton campaign workers in Des Moines and at the national campaign headquarters in Virginia, and finally received a check for $1,750 on Thursday that he believes will cover his expenses for cleaning up.

Jean Pardee, chairwoman of the Clinton County Democrats, said Thursday she was “shocked” and “frustrated” to hear about the mess. She said she had heard that at least one downtown property owner refused to rent space to political campaigns this year because of a similar incident involving another candidate during the previous Iowa caucus campaign.

Ray Fredericksen of Clinton, who served as the Clinton County chairman for the Clinton campaign, said Thursday he was not in the campaign office very much, but did not notice any damage the last time he was there, which was caucus night. He said the first he heard about the allegations was Thursday.

“It’s really news to me,” he said.

A call to Clinton’s campaign headquarters was not immediately returned.

Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.

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