Grundy County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Rhonda Deters (back row, second from right), pictured on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Reinbeck Memorial Building alongside several of her poll workers including (front row, l-r) Sue Buskohl and Dianne Barker, and (back row, l-r) Donna Cooley, precinct chair Mary Lou Moser, and Sandi Rannfeldt. The Nov. 7, 2023 city/school election was Deters’ final election as county auditor ahead of her Jan. 12, 2024 retirement. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

GRUNDY COUNTY – After dedicating more than 12 years to the office of Grundy County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, Rhonda Deters has decided it’s time to chart a new page in the election books – her retirement.

“The decision to resign was made because of my desire to spend more time with my family – my parents, our sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughters, and my husband,” Deters said in an email to Tama-Grundy Publishing sent this past fall shortly after her decision to retire became public. “I have enjoyed serving as County Auditor very much. It is rewarding to serve the good people of Grundy County.”

After first being appointed to the office of auditor on July 1, 2011, Deters, a Republican, went on to win three subsequent elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

Prior to her appointment, Deters had worked as a certified legal assistant specialist for 34 years including at the law firm of Craig, Smith & Cutler based in Eldora.

“I was looking for a position in Grundy Center as that is where my parents live and I wanted to be able to be closer to them,” Deters continued. “Mary Schmidt, the County Auditor at that time serving as such since 1989, had an opening in her office, and I approached her about that opening. I was familiar with the work that the County Auditor’s Office does through my work as a legal assistant.”

Grundy County Auditor Rhonda Deters, second from left, answers a question from election workers Sue Buskohl and Dianne Barker on Nov. 7 at the Reinbeck Memorial Building during the city/school election while precinct chair Mary Lou Moser looks on. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Beyond her own qualifications, Deters also had another reason to desire employment in the Grundy County Auditor’s Office – she’d watched her own mother, Verone Nederhoff, work as a deputy auditor for years, while her great-uncle Wilbur Rust served as county auditor from 1962 to 1984.

“Mary asked me if I would be interested in being the County Auditor, and after thinking about it overnight, I told her that I was. I submitted my letter of interest to the county supervisors, was interviewed by them, and was appointed as county auditor shortly thereafter.”

For more than a dozen years, part of Deters’ role has been to oversee the county’s elections including her final election — this past November’s city/school election which was held on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

While election days are always busy, brimming with work to do, Deters said she welcomed the time she spent criss-crossing the county on those days visiting election workers during the 12-14 hours they are at the polls.

“We’ve had 12-and-a-half years of good elections [in Grundy County],” Deters said back on the morning of Nov. 7 while visiting with election workers at the Reinbeck Memorial Building. As she had done countless times before, she brought plates of homemade cookies with her for the volunteers.

Rhonda Deters – who will retire as Grundy County Auditor effective Jan. 12, 2024 – smiles while observing election workers on Nov. 7, 2023, at the Reinbeck Memorial Building during the city/school election. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“She’s always been helpful – whether we have to call or she drops by,” Reinbeck precinct chair Mary Lou Moser – who’s chaired the precinct since 2000 – said of Deters. “I remember when she was first appointed. She had big shoes to fill. She filled them and then some.”

In her email to the newspaper, Deters said she has found the “wide variety of worthwhile work” her office performs to be both interesting and enjoyable – and not just the election work.

In addition to Commissioner of Elections, Deters said her job entails acting as clerk to the Board of Supervisors; financial, budget and tax officer to the county; real estate coordinator for the county; and administrative officer for the county.

It’s a big job, but Deters is confident the next auditor will find success much like she has.

“The next person is going to do a great job – they’re going to do it differently than me but they’ll do great.”

Beyond Grundy County

Through her work, Deters has also made her mark across the state and even country during the last dozen years.

“I have had the opportunity to serve on many other boards and commissions during my time as County Auditor,” Deters wrote, “including being appointed by [Iowa] Secretary of State Paul Pate in 2015 to serve on a bipartisan Auditors’ Working Group … to assist in the administration of elections and sharing of best practices through 2022.”

Deters has also served on the Executive Board of the Iowa Association of County Auditors (ISACA) since 2014 including as board president in 2017; served on the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan (IGHCP) Trust Board since 2011 while also chairing the board beginning in 2021; served on the Advisory Committee for IGHCP since 2018; served on the Iowa Municipalities Workers’ Compensation Association (IMWCA) Board of Trustees since 2020; served on the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) Board of Directors beginning this past year; and, if that was enough, she is also one of just two county auditors in the state appointed to the Local Leadership Council (LLC) of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) – an independent, bipartisan commission created in 2002 and charged with helping election officials nationwide improve the administration of elections while also helping Americans participate in the voting process.

But back on Nov. 7, as she visited with Moser and the other Reinbeck election workers, the accolades were clearly far from her mind. Even while her star has charted higher and higher, Deters has remained down to earth, kind, and – perhaps above all else for those who live and vote in Grundy County – helpful.

“I’m going to miss you,” poll worker Dianne Barker told Deters on Nov. 7 as she, Moser and several other poll workers including Sue Buskohl, Donna Cooley, and Sandi Rannfeldt gathered for a final group photo with their county auditor at the Memorial Building.

“I will miss the work that I do here, I will miss serving the citizens of Grundy County and the employees of Grundy County, but most of all, I will miss the people that I work with every day,” Deters said to end her formal comments to the newspaper. “They are the best people doing good work in and for Grundy County every single day.”

“But now,” Deters added on Nov. 7 in Reinbeck, “I get to be ‘Grandma’ a lot more.”

Search for a new auditor

In mid-December, the Grundy County Board of Supervisors formally announced Deters’ retirement as Grundy County Auditor, writing in a news release: “Grundy County Auditor, Rhonda Deters, has decided to retire early giving her resignation effective January 12, 2024, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family. It was accepted by the Supervisors with regret.”

Chairman Vic Vandehaar further stated of Deters: “Rhonda has been the County Auditor for the past twelve and a half years serving faithfully the county citizens. Her knowledge, commitment, dedication and understanding of county government will be sorely missed.”

The board plans to fill Deters’ vacancy by appointment this January, after which he or she will be required to run in the June primary election and, if successful, run in the 2024 General Election in November.