"At this point the investigation with the SAO has been closed for all intensive purposes.  The information is now in the hands of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for follow-up and investigation to see if there are any actions that may be pursued as a criminal investigation."  Sean Guard Mayor

  

   March 19, 2010 

                       

              "In regard to the Special Investigation by the State Auditor’s Office, the SAO

               today delivered to the City of Washougal a letter that indicates that fraud

               investigators were “unable to determine whether public resources were misused,

               lost or misappropriated.”

 

It is apparent that there are still many unanswered questions in regard to the   

special event funds over the last two years.  When you take into account the

monies that were paid for sponsorship, all the expenses that the City paid for,

the, money that was paid to the downtown group and all of the cash from tickets

sales, booth sales, beverage sales, etc. it runs to hundreds of thousands of

   dollars, none of which was ever deposited with the City.  It is money that is just

gone.

             

               I believe that the State Auditor’s Office has done everything that it can to find  

   documentation of what happened with all of these funds.  I especially want to

   thank Investigator Jennifer Forsberg for her many hours of work on this

   investigation.  In the end, no determination was able to be made due to the

   unwillingness of the principal individuals and companies involved to cooperate

   with the investigation or to turn over crucial documents related to the events.

 

               In this case, the Auditor’s office has limited power to compel individuals to

               cooperate or speak with them.  For this reason I have asked Clark County

Sheriff Garry Lucas to open a case file and assign a detective to proceed with a 

               criminal investigation to determine if laws were broken or if City funds were

               misappropriated in any way.  Sheriff Lucas has agreed to do so and their

               detective is already so engaged.

 

               From my office’s standpoint it appears that there were numerous irregularities

               surrounding the events in question.  Over the course of two years I can

understand if something small might be overlooked, but for the same items,   

including significant contracts, double payment of expenses and the

               disappearance of all revenue to be disregarded and not followed up on by the

   previous administration appears to possibly indicate intent for improprieties

   to take place.  In addition, the information that the former Washougal mayor

   was employed by the major company involved with the special events certainly

   appears to violate a number of conflict of interest policies and raises more

   concerns about how things transpired.  The fact that the same company refuses

   to cooperate with the investigation does not indicate to me that all things were

   done properly. If there are contracts and documentation to show that everything

   was handled properly, I would think that the company would want to bring that

   information forward to put the matter to rest, but they have refused to do so.

 

   From the information uncovered in the investigation, it appears that the major

   company involved does or did not even exist except in name only.  So far filings

   for the company can not be found through the States of Washington or Oregon.

 

   I have pledged to the citizens of Washougal that this investigation will be

   handled properly and that we will do everything in our power to answer the

   questions of what happened to these funds and who was responsible.  That is

   owed to the community.  While I want this investigation to be done and over

   with, we cannot call it done until we have done everything to answer those basic

   questions.

 

   I have taken steps internally to greatly expand the City’s Whistle Blower Policy

   to make it easier for employees to avail themselves of the policy and to allow

   them to report possible violations and improprieties to other agencies outside of

   the City.  These policy revisions are already in the hands of the City’s employee

   unions for comment and will be forwarded shortly to the city council for their

   approval.

 

   I have also directed the formation of a written Ethics Policy that will be

   forwarded to the city council for approval.  Every elected and appointed official

   in the City will fall under this policy, as will every employee.

 

   Earlier this year the auditor’s office met, at my request, with the City finance

   committee to discuss their duties and responsibilities in regard to approving, or

   questioning or denying if appropriate, City accounts payable invoices.

 

   I also want to make a statement regarding city staff.  There have been questions

   posed by members of the public about the role of the staff and why much of this

   information did not come to light earlier.  I believe the fact that veteran

   investigators from the State Auditor’s Office could not tie this entire situation

   together speaks to the lengths that certain individuals went to in keeping this

   information hidden.  In addition, the climate of severe intimidation that was

   foisted on city staff certainly contributed to keeping the situations from coming

   to light.  I firmly believe that every current member of city staff is working on

   behalf of our citizens, and I ask our citizens to not let the actions of a certain

   few who are no longer associated with the city taint their respect of our

   dedicated employees. 

 

   I will continue to look for every opportunity to make this city better and to make

   all of us more accountable.  Washougal is a wonderful place to live and work

   and I pledge to continue moving us forward to make it even better in the future.

 

   Sincerely and respectfully,

   Sean Guard 

   Mayor