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Matlock fire district hires ex-chief's husband

Commissioners punt, again, on releasing report

Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson hired Bryan Walsworth, the husband of the ex-chief, as pro-tem fire chief starting today.

Kelli Walsworth was relieved of her duties Wednesday. The hiring comes a year after the department said it began searching for a new fire chief.

“Bryan is the most qualified of any applicant,” Pais said during the May 23 meeting at the district’s station in Matlock. “He’s been through fire academy, he’s an EMT. He’s an EMT evaluator.”

Pais said Bryan Walsworth will receive a stipend that will be worked out with an attorney.

Mason County Commissioner Kevin Shutty, who represents the area of Fire District 12, told the Journal the fire commissioners continue to compound their errors that contributed to audit findings, allegations of fraud and being recalled.

“These actions are a slap in the face to the hard-working taxpayers of the district who deserve and have demanded accountability and transparency,” Shutty wrote to the Journal in an email. “They should have announced their resignation instead of this appointment.”

Shutty told the Journal the people who have contacted him have been unanimous in their calls for the commissioners to resign and take responsibility.

“The county commission will wait for the voters to have their say in the recall election and if they do in fact recall the fire commissioners, we will follow our normal process for appointments and work to ensure a transparent process as soon as the law allows us,” Shutty wrote.   

The search for a new fire chief began in April 2022, when the commissioners dismissed Kelli Walsworth without cause. The commissioners

then hired Kelli Walworth as pro-tem chief in May 2022 to assist the fire district “transition to a new fire chief.” The commissioners hired Kelli Walsworth and said she would not be paid, but still paid her, according to public records requests by the Journal.

The commissioners then said Kelli Walsworth would sign a new contract and not be paid beginning in January but that was not the case, according to a public records request by the Journal.

The state Auditor’s Office released a fraud investigation report in September that noted the “noncompliance with state laws and a lack of adequate monitoring by district management and the governing officials was due, in part, to nepotism within the District.”

During the meeting, the commissioners approved vouchers 56 through 75 and 79 through 81, totaling $30,745.61, according to Wilder. When asked by members of the audience what the vouchers were for, Wilder said once they’re approved, the vouchers will go on the website so people can see what money was spent on, but as of the Journal’s deadline eight days later, no information on the vouchers or what the money was spent on.

Commissioners and the public got heated in exchanges during the meeting.

“You guys are the ones making a mockery of this every time, not me,” Wilder told the audience during the meeting.

“I’m tired of the bull crap that’s going on, Buck! It should have been over two years ago,” a member of the audience said during the meeting.

Mike Brown, who has volunteered to come out of retirement and become chief again if the recall goes through, told the Journal that he thinks this is a desperation move to keep their family in power.

“If they really cared about the people of this district, they would step down and save the fire district $10,000 for the vote,” Brown told the Journal in an email. “Hiring the husband of the current chief is a slap in the face of the community. They do not care about the community, they only want our money and control of our safety.”

Commissioner Wilder updated the audience on the internal investigation, stating the fire district’s attorney will be back June 1, but there was no mention of whether the internal investigation results will be released at the next regular meeting June 20. Wilder said during the meeting as soon as their attorney releases it, they will release the report.

Fire 12 attorney Brian Snure told the Journal in April that the district received the investigation report from attorney Thomas Burke on March 27 and releasing it is a “decision will ultimately be up the board of commissioners.”

“Did you read the reports? Let’s be straight, did anyone in this room read every word of the reports? So, if you read every word of this report, now you understand why it has taken so long,” Wilder said during the meeting. “They have to go through every detail.”

“They took 18 months to do it and they gave us two weeks to respond,” Pais said during the meeting. “We’re hoping the investigation will be posted next month.”

Author Bio

Matt Baide, Reporter

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Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]

 

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