Amy Gerstman

Amy Gerstman

Amy Michelle Gerstman, born in Fort Wayne, IN, was a resident of Bloomington. She is a single mother of two. She worked in local county government since 2002, first as a Deputy Recorder from 2002 through June 2005, as Deputy Auditor from June 2005 to January 2006. She was elected and served as the Monroe County Auditor from 2009 - 2012. For several years she was active with the local Democratic Woman's Caucus, and participated in Emily's List training and the WomenSpeak Reader's Theater. She also published two articles in The Bloomington Alternative- The Suffragette Express: Today's American women (2005), and County family planning clinic offers 'real health services' (2006). Gerstman currently lives in Indianapolis, as a private citizen.

Political Career

Gerstman announced her candidacy for county auditor in January 2008, running on the democrat ticket. After defeating incumbent Sandy Newmann in the 2008 primary, Newmann sued Gerstman claiming Gerstman was not a legitimate candidate since, as an employee of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (IDWD), Gerstman was in violation of the Hatch Act. Gerstman sought assistance from the United States Office of Special Counsel, based in Washington D.C., which directed her to either withdraw from the election of county auditor or resign from her position as a Claims Taker with the IDWD. Gerstman chose to resign from the IDWD and subsequently won the lawsuit against Newmann remaining in the election. Gerstman's former monther-in-law, Vivien Bridges, also entered the county auditor race in 2008, on the republican ticket. Bridges made her public announcement several weeks after Gerstman's.

Gerstman went on to win the 2008 general election, and took office January 1, 2009. While County Auditor, Gerstman served on two legislative committees to the Indiana General Assembly, the Indiana GIS Committee and the Association of Indiana Auditors Committee. She also co-founded the Monroe County Women's Commission with Sophia Travis and Julie Thomas. It was the first women's commission ever created by a county government in the State of Indiana. Gerstman also won the Association of Indiana Counties' Supporting Auditor of the Year Award in 2011.

Controversy

Gerstman's tenure was notorious due to her use of county credit cards for personal expenses numbering in the thousands of dollars. While some of the charges were for expenses such as travel and training as auditor, others were for personal expenses such as groceries and school tuition. The Monroe County Council censured Gerstman for these activities. The Indiana State Board of Accounts conducted an audit of the credit card expenditures in early 2012. The audit revealed no public funds had been used to pay for Gerstman's personal credit card expenses. However, the audit was submitted to Special Prosecutor Barry Brown, in the summer of 2012. Gerstman did not run for re-election in 2012.

Prosecutor Brown did not take action on the audit until May 13, 2013, the day after Gerstman's birthday, when she was arrested at her residence and charged with seven felonies (six charges of Theft and one charge of Official Misconduct). Prior to the arrest, she had not been questioned whatsoever by any member of the prosecution nor any detectives assigned to the case. Gerstman posted bail on May 14, 2013, and retained attorney Ronald Chapman to represent her in the matter. The prosecution continued to postpone the case for months. Finally, on September 19, 2014, a plea agreement was reached and Gerstman plead guilty to one felony count of Official Misconduct and a misdemeanor charge of Conversion.

External Links

• Democratic Women's Caucus official website
• County family planning clinic offers 'real health services' - Bloomington Alternative July 30, 2006
• The Suffragette Express: Today's American women - Bloomington Alternative January 23, 2005