State of Iowa Elected and Appointed Leadership:
1. Introduction – The Form of Jericho
In order to lawfully conquer the unethical and the unlawful one must identify the walls that defend and represent it. Attached is a notarized document articulating my official point of contact as we enter the next phase of this statewide investigation and future litigation.
2. State – Confirmed Through Evidence
The following elected leaders and government bodies have, through their actions and correspondence, produced evidence that raises serious concerns regarding compliance with Iowa Code Chapters 22 and 216:
State of Iowa Governor
State of Iowa Secretary of State
State of Iowa Treasurer
State of Iowa Attorney General
State of Iowa Department of Public Safety
State of Iowa Department of Management
State of Iowa Ethics and Campaign Commission
State of Iowa Board of Regents
State of Iowa Office of Civil Rights
State of Iowa Public Information Board
3. Counties – Confirmed Through Evidence
The following State of Iowa licensed attorneys have produced evidence that raises serious concerns regarding compliance with Iowa Code Chapter 22 and Iowa Court Rule 32:8.4(c) while misrepresenting or disavowing their status as a custodian of requested public records.
Adair County, IA – Melissa Larson – “I am in receipt of your request of December 18, 2024. Adair County does not contract or pay for either of those services for my office. If they are used elsewhere in the county, I am not privy to that information and I am not the custodian of record.”, “Most public records pertaining to contracts or bills for the county are going to be held with the auditor of the county. For us, that email is auditor@adaircountyiowa.org.” Note: The first quote was sent in an email on 18 DEC 2024 at 1202. The second quote was sent in an email on 18 DEC 2024 at 1515. These emails provide evidence of a possible psychological backtrack or repositioning suggesting (as Iowa Code Section 22.1(2) indicates) that County Attorney Larson possibly realized her original response was problematic and she may have sought to follow up her original email with a legal position that was less compromising.
Emmet County, IA – Melanie Summers Bauler – “I am not the custodian of such records. The county attorney’s office budget is not utilized for these services.”
Jasper County, IA – Scott Nicholson
Pottawattamie County, IA – Matthew Wilber – “I am not the custodian of such records. No such information, if available, is maintained by this office.”
Poweshiek County, IA – Bart Klaver
Shelby County, IA – Marcus Gross Jr. – “The Shelby County Attorney’s Office has no such records. Marcus”
Taylor County, IA – Mike Wells – “Our office has no such records as we do not pay for these services in our office budget.”, “I apologize for the delay, but I have attached a letter from the County Attorney and an invoice if you choose to follow through with your open records request.”
Iowa Code Section 22.1 – Definitions
1. “Government body” means this state, or any county, city, township, school corporation,
political subdivision, tax-supported district, nonprofit corporation other than a fair
conducting a fair event as provided in chapter 174, whose facilities or indebtedness are
supported in whole or in part with property tax revenue and which is licensed to conduct
pari-mutuel wagering pursuant to chapter 99D; the governing body of a drainage or levee
district as provided in chapter 468, including a board as defined in section 468.3, regardless
of how the district is organized; or other entity of this state, or any branch, department,
board, bureau, commission, council, committee, official, or officer of any of the foregoing or
any employee delegated the responsibility for implementing the requirements of this chapter.
2. “Lawful custodian” means the government body currently in physical possession of
the public record. The custodian of a public record in the physical possession of persons
outside a government body is the government body owning that record. The records relating
to the investment of public funds are the property of the public body responsible for the
public funds. Each government body shall delegate to particular officials or employees of
that government body the responsibility for implementing the requirements of this chapter
and shall publicly announce the particular officials or employees to whom responsibility for
implementing the requirements of this chapter has been delegated. “Lawful custodian” does
not mean an automated data processing unit of a public body if the data processing unit holds
the records solely as the agent of another public body, nor does it mean a unit which holdsthe records of other public bodies solely for storage.
4. Municipalities – Confirmed Through Evidence
The following government body has produced evidence that raises serious concerns regarding compliance with Iowa Code Chapters 22 and 216:
City of Marshalltown, IA
5. Municipalities – Confirmed Through Evidence
The following government body has produced evidence that raises serious concerns regarding compliance with Iowa Code Chapter 22:
City of Newton, IA –
6. The Form of the Sea Warrior
The unethical, the complacent, and the complicit must be stirred and inspired to proper form. Never give up the ship. Become the storm.
7. The Form of an Alleged Impossibility
A paradigm declared and defended as “impossible” by the uninitiated, the unqualified, and those lacking vision, until the day arrives when one person or group demonstrates a repeatable workflow that reliably produces what was once believed to be impossible.
8. The Form of Gene Kranz
Defeat comes only to those who fail to properly plan, implement operational risk management, and lack the courage and vision to manifest victory.
Victory is forged through belief, faith, and the unwavering knowledge that God lights the path for the honorable, the courageous, and the committed.
Defeat is not an inevitability; it is a choice.
Victory is not merely a historical outcome; it is a moral decision, forged in fire, faith, and perseverance.
We must not let fear and hate, shaped by the traumas we have endured as a nation from 9/11 to the 2008 economic collapse to the COVID-19 pandemic, allow us to forget who we are or all that we can become.
When we lead with love, compassion, and tolerance, we discover a deeper Truth:
There is no limit to what we can overcome when we stand united.
9. The Honorable Evolution of Humanity
The human conscience is a sandbox of unlimited creativity, potential, and purpose.
Are we to settle within the emulated social limits built by others,
or will we forge a path uniquely our own, bold and legendary,
forged in truth, while offering a template of honorable leadership
for others to follow and expand upon?
The only life truly lived is one that expands and redefines
the paradigms and benchmarks set by the generations before us.
Leadership does not dwell on the paths made by others;
those who embody leadership with honor, courage, and commitment journey forward,
walking, as Robert Frost once wrote in The Road Not Taken,
“I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
10. The Form of Doc Hollywood’s High School
A social paradigm in which the popular kids sit at the table in the center of a cafeteria, beneath their metaphysical golden dome, while sustaining an illusion that the world revolves around them. At the same time, they cherry-pick the lives of the less organized and lower socio-economic classes at surrounding tables like packs of insecure, cowardly hyenas, cloaked in their parents’ social status.
The true weakness of the elite is revealed to the lone wolf as he watches this corrupt horde rape and pillage the lives of the weak and the innocent in the darkness that society itself radiates.
As society descends upon the table of the lone wolf, they witness a lone metalhead light a cigarette inside a tax-funded public building and lean back in his chair. He looks them all in the eyes and says:
Cipher Hunter: “I’m your huckleberry.”
The Popular Kids: “You can’t smoke in here, Merritt.”
The Cipher Hunter takes a drag from his cigarette and blows the smoke in their faces.
Cipher Hunter: “Well, we are not supposed to fucking conceal public records, misrepresent the existence of public records, charge excessive fees for access to public records, attack or criminalize disabilities, or spread false allegations of criminal conduct supported by zero evidence for personal gain, but here we are…”
The Cipher Hunter takes another drag from his cigarette.
Cipher Hunter: “Can you chaps do me a favor?”
The Popular Kids: “What?”
Cipher Hunter: “Tomorrow, if you have the courage, start at my table. Then, only if you get past my table, you may proceed to attack the lives of those sitting at the other tables. But of course, as Epictetus would declare, we only have control over what we ourselves do. So if that suggestion sounds too challenging, or if you feel that you are not up to the task, I trust, as the historical evidence indicates, you will all do what is best for yourselves. You all have a good day. I’m going to American Literature class.”
The Cipher Hunter departs for his class and puts his cigarette out on the table under the golden dome.
Rich Kid 1: “What just happened?”
Rich Kid 2: “That vexatious son of a bitch just disrespected our table. I’m going to the Principal’s office.”
11. Conclusion
Prick us, do we not bleed?
Tickle us, do we not laugh?
Poison us, do we not die?
Wrong us, shall we not pursue justice?
When the adversary hides in darkness, I see not with my eyes, but through my faith.
Respectfully,
Michael J. Merritt, USN (Ret.)
Founder: Phoenix Harbor
Writer/Musician
Information Systems Manager/Engineer
Information Warfare Specialist – OSINT
? 2510 S 6TH ST D24
Marshalltown, IA 50158
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“The study of ethics is a pursuit of understanding the philosophical nature of right and wrong in its most perfect form. A society’s justice system is an ever-evolving pursuit of that perfection. Corruption is the cultural, political, or personal bias that overrules and interferes with that system.” Perfection, Flaws, and Corruption
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