Longtime Scott County auditor praised for her integrity
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By Kurt Allemeier | Wednesday, April 02, 2008 |
(Times file photo) (Contributed photo)
Laughter, tears and song filled Karen Fitzsimmons’ final hours.
Taken off a respirator and moved to a hospice unit Tuesday, the longtime Scott County auditor was visited by family and friends through the day. Co-workers laughed and cried, and County Administrator Ray Wierson serenaded her with a gospel song.
Fitzsimmons, 59, died Wednesday morning at Genesis Medical Center, West Central Park, Davenport. She was remembered fondly.
“We’ve had so many people come by and call,” Mark Sokolik, elections deputy in the auditor’s office, said Wednesday. “We’ve received a lot of support.”
Fitzsimmons’ death will be felt throughout Scott County, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim Hancock said. No decision has been made regarding a successor.
“She has been an icon in the auditor’s office,” he said. “She made the job look easy.”
A Democrat, Fitzsimmons was first elected auditor in 1976 when she was 27 years old. She defeated two-term Republican incumbent George Oxley by less than 2,000 votes. She went on to win seven more elections. In 2004, she won by more than 32,000 votes over her Republican opponent.
Fitzsimmons had been struggling with her health since January and was last in the office about two weeks ago. Before that, she visited the office twice a week and was keeping up on legislation related to voting equipment. She filed for re-election last month, the only candidate on the ballot for county auditor in November.
“I think the sickness surprised a number of people,” Scott County Treasurer Bill Fennelly said. “I talked to her a week ago, and she said she was doing well.”
Fitzsimmons was active in local party politics and a leader of Al Gore’s presidential efforts in the Quad-Cities. She was remembered and praised by nationally known Democrats, and not just for her political ideology.
“Karen was an auditor for more than 30 years because the people of Scott County trusted her,” U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said in a statement. “She ran a tight ship and always made sure that elections ran smoothly and that everyone had the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. She was also a beloved friend to many, and she will be missed.”
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, who is in his first term, shared similar sentiments.
“In her 30-plus years of service to the people of Scott County, she ran her office as a model of good government,” Braley said in a statement. “Her leadership in Scott County and in the auditor’s office specifically will be greatly missed. I extend my heartfelt condolences to Karen’s husband and her family.”
She recently served with Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba as leader of the Obama for President committee for Scott County.
She was elected to the auditor’s office in 1976, the same year Gluba was elected to the Board of Supervisors.
“I recall that Karen was the one principally responsible for helping bring professionalism to county government,” Gluba, who counted Fitzsimmons as a friend of more than 35 years, said in a statement. “It was Karen who first ensured that every vote cast was counted, and she was responsible for hiring a professional accountant to serve as county levy and budget director.”
That hire was Wierson, who worked in the auditor’s office for a year-and-a-half before moving into an administrative position. Wierson recalled helping train election judges. His job was to provide different scenarios.
“She didn’t know how I’d dress or how I’d act,” Wierson recalled. “My goal was to make her laugh.
“We had some great times in that year-and-a-half.”
The election process is where Fitzsimmons will leave her mark.
“Her legacy for Scott County is her integrity and ethics in elections,” he said.
Over the years, as elections have changed from levered voting machines to punch-card ballots to touch screens, Fitzsimmons led the way among county auditors in efficiency in running elections and recording voter information, Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett said. Scott County was the first auditor’s office in the state to keep a permanent absentee voter list.
“Karen was always a leader and champion for voters in elections,” he said. “The Scott County Auditor’s Office is a model for the rest of the state to learn from and observe.”
In the early 1980s, Fitzsimmons broke ground by allowing an employee to bring her 6-month-old son to the office for several months until he was 1 year old. She long championed on-site day care for all county employees.
Sokolik, who has worked in the auditor’s office for 30 years, pointed to that anecdote as why Fitzsimmons was such a good boss. She was proud of the number of long-time employees she had.
“The reason she has so many lifers is because of her personal touch,” Sokolik said. “She was hip to your needs outside the office.”
Recorder Rita Vargas considered Fitzsimmons a mentor.
“There is no replacing Karen,” she said. “All you had to say was ‘Karen’ and everyone knew who you were talking about. She knew how to make people feel special.”
Scott County Attorney Mike Walton, whose brother, Pat Walton, was married to Fitzsimmons, agreed.
“She lit up a room and any occasion by being there,” he said. “She enjoyed life to the fullest and wanted others to also.”
Bill Davis, former Scott County attorney who has known Fitzsimmons for more than
30 years, said he was saddened by Fitzsimmons’ death.
“She was a kind and generous friend,” he said. “She was a good politician because she did her job. She was fair and impartial to the point of being apolitical. She was good at her job, and the public knew it.”
During her career, Fitzsimmons wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed. In the early 1980s, she recommended the state print voter registration cards in Spanish.
Fennelly, a Republican, who served on the Board of Supervisors early in Fitzsimmons’ career, said the board and auditor respected each other’s opinions. He praised the way Fitzsimmons ran her office.
“She always used to communicate with me on things and ideas she wanted,” he said. “Maybe we agreed to disagree on some things, but it was never a dogfight. She did what was best for her office.”
Slockett knew her to be that way on statewide issues, too.
“Karen was one of those people you could disagree with but have a good conversion with about it,” the Johnson County auditor said, “but you always wanted her on your side.”
Kurt Allemeier can be contacted at (563) 383-2360 or kallemeier@qctimes.com.
Services set
Visitation for Karen Fitzsimmons will be 2 to 7 p.m. Friday at Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, 614 N. Main St., Davenport. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ the King Chapel, St. Ambrose University, Davenport.
Too early to talk about successor
Scott County Treasurer Bill Fennelly will oversee the auditor’s office until a replacement for Karen Fitzsimmons is named.
While Fennelly is in charge, day-to-day operation is in the hands of the staff of the auditor’s office and operations manager Alex Mongiat.
The Scott County Board of Supervisors has 40 days to appoint an auditor. Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim Hancock said it was too early to discuss names for Fitzsimmons’ replacement. He expressed confidence in the employees of the office to continue with a high level of service despite the vacancy.
Fitzsimmons filed for re-election and will be the only candidate listed on the June 3 primary ballot. The county parties can convene special elections, likely after the primary, to fill the empty ballot.
Chairs for the county Democrat and Republican parties declined to comment Wednesday on possible successors. “She is a loss not just to Democrats, but to everyone,” Scott County Democratic chairwoman Sue Frembgen said. “Our thoughts and our prayers go out to her family.”
Scott County Republican chairman Bryan Sievers preferred to remember how Fitzsimmons was convinced to join the Scott County Farm Bureau about 12 years ago.
“Most folks are as concerned about Karen’s family as anything now,” he said. “First we should take some time to reflect on someone who has given 32 years of service to Scott County.”
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