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Fire 12 internal investigation almost completed

The internal investigation into Mason County Fire District 12 will wrap up by the middle of February, according to lawyer Brian Snure.

Snure, part of the law office conducting the investigation, told the Journal in an email he anticipates receiving the investigators report on or sometime near Feb. 13.

“I will need some time to review it and any supporting documentation and will need to discuss with my client before a decision is made regarding releasing a summary (or the report itself),” Snure told the Journal in an email.

Fire 12 Commissioner Albert Wilder said the investigation is “coming to an end” at the Jan. 17 commissioner’s meeting.

The internal investigation was launched at the recommendation of the state Auditor’s Office after the office released an accountability audit and a fraud investigation report in September.

“Our attorney is hoping to have it all done by the end of the month,” Wilder said during the meeting. “If he gets it done soon, then, I would like to have a special meeting so we can just be done instead of waiting until the February meeting, as soon as they get it done, to read the results of whatever the investigation is. That way the community knows where everything stands. I think that’s better than waiting.”

The January meeting continued the public’s backlash due to the state Auditor’s Office findings. It also included more requests for records from the district, including the vouchers that were approved at the meeting so the public could see where money is going and the contract of commissioner Albert Wilder for the labor he provides and gets paid for, which does not include the stipend as commissioner. There was a request for the list of volunteers at each Fire District 12 station and one person requested a tour of the fire hall.

“The reason why some of the records weren’t disclosed to us or put out there was because they were wrecked and destroyed by rodents,” the person stated during public comment. “I would like to be assured that we are taking care of that. I’ll have a tour of this hall, today, now.”

It was stated by Wilder at the December meeting that fire chief Kelli Walsworth would be unpaid beginning in January, but that does not appear to be the case, according to checks written for the district by the Mason County Auditor’s Office. Walsworth was paid $3,985.39 in a check that was written Jan. 9, and the check cleared Jan. 12. The commissioners and the district were asked for comment, but the Journal did not receive comment before press time.

The district stated in May that Walsworth was being kept on pro tem while the district was searching for a new fire chief. Since June, the Journal found Walsworth received $51,792.51 in payments, including a $17,022.25 payment in December.

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Matt Baide, Reporter

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Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
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