Bauder’s for sale. Final election finances. Central Iowa’s highest nonprofit salaries.

11/30/2022

A “for sale” sign has been spotted at Bauder’s, Des Moines’ iconic ice cream shop and former pharmacy.

Owner Kim Robertson said she is simply looking for a transition. 

“I’ve been here 51 years of my life, so I think it’s time that I just pursue options,” she said. “It’s just a feeler.”

The store opened in 1916 under the ownership of Caroline Bauder and was bought out by Robertson’s father, Charles Graziano, in 1961. She started working at the store when she was 13, making ice cream in the kitchen — which, coincidentally, was what she was doing when we called to confirm the potential sale.

Although a family of pharmacists, Robertson closed the pharmacy portion of the business in 2016 following a highly publicized scandal. Allegations of illegal activity first surfaced in 2012 surrounding her brother and former owner of the store, Mark Graziano. In 2015, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison for tax evasion and diversion of more than 700,000 narcotic pills.

The Graziano family soldiered on with the business, focusing on their nostalgic soda fountain and ice cream offerings. Their signature peppermint bar is a famed frozen treat at the Iowa State Fair.

Robertson appeared to be open to either selling the business or closing entirely.

“It depends on what somebody is interested in,” she said. “There’s lots of moving pieces to Bauder’s.”

The store is located at 3802 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines. …

A reader tells CITYVIEW that his friend had problems when trying to vote in Urbandale on Election Day. The poll worker who was handing out ballots informed her that she would not be allowed to vote, stating, “Voters cannot wear any clothing promoting a political candidate.” Our reader’s friend was wearing a Tommy Hilfiger T-shirt. After explaining who Tommy Hilfiger was, she was eventually allowed to vote. …

Official voter turnout and election statistics had yet to be released as CITYVIEW went to press, but we’ve gathered the next best thing: campaign finance reports.

By the end of the U.S. Senate race (i.e., Oct. 19, or the most recent data available), Sen. Chuck Grassley had amassed $10.22 million. Challenger Mike Franken reported $9.29 million. Rep. Cindy Axne had raised $6.67 million during her campaign, although it wasn’t enough to hold off Representative-Elect Zach Nunn, who reported only $2.38 million in total receipts.

In the state election, Gov. Kim Reynolds raised $2.25 million and spent $5 million during the final stretch of the campaign season, reported from July 15 to Oct. 14. In the same period, Diedre DeJear raised $805,000 and spent $943,000. In the latest filing period covering up until a week before Election Day, Reynolds reported $1.4 million cash on hand and DeJear $95,000. Last-minute contributions to Reynolds in the final month included $15,000 from former Adventureland CEO Michael Krantz, $10,000 from businessman and casino-owner Gary Kirke, and $2,500 from MercyOne CEO Bob Ritz. …

Last month’s Civic Skinny covered the highest dollar home sales of 2022, and medical professionals and executives dominated the list. One can’t help but wonder what the compensation is for folks who can buy those prices of homes. After digging into tax documents reported in 2019, the latest year data was available, we compiled a list of the highest-paid health care executives and physicians in central Iowa.

Kevin Vermeer, the 20-plus-year CEO of UnityPoint who resigned in the early days of the pandemic, received a salary of $2.62 million. Sue Thompson, who served as interim CEO during the transition, made $1.26 million. Other top salaries included $1.37 million to Denny Drake, general counsel, and $1.34 million to Art Nizza, COO.

Among local physicians at UnityPoint Clinic, the top three earners were all cardiologists: Dr. Saurabh Aggarwal with $1.14 million, Dr. Craig Stark with $1.14 million and Dr. Rajeev Fernando with $1.18 million. Other top salaries included $810,000 for Dr. Enrique Bedia, OBGYN; $707,000 for former CFO Keith Seashore and $665,000 for Dr. Dan Allen, chief medical officer.

In the UnityPoint Health – Des Moines branch, doctors specializing in radiation oncology were reported as the highest earners: Dr. Robert Isaak with $1.15 million, Dr. John Triantafyllos with $1.13 million and Dr. Arshin Sheybani with $1.08 million. CEO David Stark earned $890,000, and Blank Children’s Hospital President Dr. Steve Stephenson $903,000 in 2019. The highest-paid employee that year was Dr. Mark Purtle, VP of medical affairs, with $1.34 million.

Within the MercyOne network, CEO Bob Ritz reported $1.33 million in compensation in FY 2020. General counsel Marcia Smith made $818,000 and CFO/COO Mike Wegner $729,000. Among other highest compensated employees were former MercyOne Medical Group CEO Kent Carr with $752,384, former Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines President Karl Keeler with $699,000, and cardiologist Dr. Mark Tannebaum with $813,000.

On the public hospital side, Broadlawns CEO Jody Jenner earned $882,000 during FY 2020. Jenner retired last year after 15 years with the Polk County hospital. …

Many hospitals operate as nonprofit organizations, but how about other nonprofits? We pulled data on the top 10 non-healthcare nonprofit organizations in the Des Moines area, sorted by the highest reported gross receipts, along with their highest-paid executives.

First up is Prairie Meadows, which showed $1.7 billion in gross receipts in 2019. Aside from the well-known compensation of CEO Gary Palmer ($1.4 million this year), the next highest-paid executive, COO Ann Atkin, made $475,184 in 2019.

Next-highest in reported gross receipts was Lifespace Communities, with $668.6 million in 2019. The top salary of $640,095 went to Larry Smith, CFO who was serving as interim CEO during the period reported.

Third, the Iowa Farm Bureau Foundation reported $411.1 million in 2019. Its former executive director Denny Presnall, who was with the organization for 36 years, was paid $3.35 million. His replacement, Joe Johnson, made $982,405.

Numbers four through 10 on our nonprofit list include: 

• Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines ($224.9 million in gross receipts in 2019), where Kristine Knous, president, made $232,399;

• Food Bank of Iowa ($46.7 million in FY 2019), where Michelle Book, CEO and the only salaried staff member reported, was paid $168,270;

• United Way of Central Iowa ($31 million in FY 2021), where former president Elisabeth Buck made $241,677;

• Goodwill of Central Iowa ($20.6 million in 2019), whose former CEO, Jacqueline Norris — a senior advisor in the Biden-Harris campaign and recently appointed to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships — earned $237,488;

• Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa ($13.24 million in 2019), where CEO Beth Shelton made $144,352;

• Easterseals Iowa ($10.2 million in FY 2020), whose CEO, Sherri Nielsen, made $155,848; 

• and Variety – The Children’s Charity ($4.2 million in FY 2020), whose executive director, Sheri McMichael, made $136,588. ♦