Earlier this year, it was revealed that the records available from Sarah Steelman's time as State Treasurer were lacking to say the least.
Steelman, now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has often touted the virtues of transparency and open government. In a 2004 editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, she wrote that "every elected official at every level of government should strive to ensure that our laws, our records and our meetings are open to the public's scrutiny."
During her time in office, her staff even pointed to "special information technology" that was used to preserve e-mails for years.
[Jon Galloway, the treasurer's office director of communications and policy,] said the current office has e-mails that were received by Steelman to her state account, "but there are no sents." He also said there were no "executive boxes" turned over to the Secretary of State's office at the end of her term for preservation.
Many of these state records are supposed to be retained for 5 to 10 years or longer. What's even more troubling is Steelman never offered a clear explanation for why she didn't turn over executive records to be archived. Who knows if the Steelman campaign will ever provide a clear answer, but the people of Missouri certainly deserve one.
