Rocks thrown at wrong target

To The Eagle:

The Town versus Fire Department squabble seems convoluted viewed through the prism of several lengthy articles in The Eagle plus a couple of high pressure meetings, but the source of the contention, the State of Washington Accountability Audit of the Town of Cathlamet is concise, straightforward and eminently readable, even to us primitives out here in the wilds of Puget Island.

It clearly states that the fire department has four undeclared checking/savings accounts under the town's tax ID number, plus a petty cash account that has had over $100K run through it for transports, donations, med supplies, communications and other distinctly non-petty stuff. The auditors also found over 80 grand in uncollected accounts receivable, some going back a decade.

State law mandates the Town Clerk-Treasurer to properly account for all this dough, but efforts by the town to peek at these ethereal accounts hit a Maginot line of both resistance and evasion. The ensuing wrestling match prompted some unhappy letters in The Eagle and a couple of meetings with verbal rock-throwing aimed at the mayor and council. Among the complaints were accusations that the town (or mayor) had "sicced" the auditors on the fire department as well as calling in the FBI. Cooler heads have noted that it was a routine audit, that the FBI was motivated by the audit, not the town (some misplaced money is Medicare money), that having an actual embezzlement last year may have generated some interest by law enforcement, and that the admonition to straighten out the petty cash account goes clear back to 2006.

It is interesting to note that the persons who have been handling the fire department finances, who have been resistive to full disclosure, and who have hidden behind the legalistic canard of a 1932 ordinance are the top guns of our local legal system. Makes you wonder. Both fire department members and citizens have a right to be upset but they're throwing rocks at the wrong target.

Howard Brawn

Puget Island