PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis, who intends to resign before her term ends, told county commissioners Tuesday that she wants a forensic audit to be conducted on her department before she leaves office.
Meanwhile, County Administrator Jim Jones said in a later interview that two people had inquired about applying for Barkhuis’ position.
Barkhuis, elected in 2010 over incumbent Judy Scott and re-elected without opposition in 2014, told county commissioners Feb. 14 in a written statement that she will be quitting “due to health reasons resulting from work-related stress,” citing “powerful people” who “push my buttons until I cry uncle and I spit out the money regardless of my opinion as to whether such disbursements are ‘according to law,’ consistent with my oath of office and fiduciary responsibilities.”
Barkhuis’ term ends in December 2018.
She told commissioners Feb. 14, when she announced her resignation, that she would be “preparing a settling business report that will account for the taxpayers’ public funds.”
Quoting state law, Barkhuis — a lawyer — said Tuesday she wanted to make sure that by having a forensic audit, she is giving her successor “all public money, books and papers in the treasurer’s possession” while she still has access to the records in her office.
Asked by Commissioner Bill Peach whether Barkhuis had “given any thought” to setting a date for resigning, Barkhuis said several things need to happen before she departs.
“Among the things that need to happen is an audit by an independent [certified public accountant],” Barkhuis said.
“I don’t have a date, Bill,” she said.
That depends on when the audit is done “and when I’m ready to leave,” Barkhuis said.
“I don’t get a dime when I leave. I’m desperate wanting to get out.”
Barkhuis earns $81,082 a year and an additional $27,376 annually in health care and other benefits that she will lose immediately when she resigns, Jones said later.
At the meeting Tuesday, Barkhuis also expressed frustration at working with county officials, noting that the county had to pay $500,000 to settle Scott and Elizabeth Lange’s public records act lawsuit when she was aware of the existence of archived records.
Jones said he did not know how much the forensic audit that Barkhuis was requesting would cost.
“I would fully expect it would be thousands of dollars, not hundreds of thousands, but more than $1,000,” Jones said in the later interview.
The treasurer’s office budget was $809,967 in 2016 and is $832,038 in 2017, including salaries for seven full-time employees, including Barkhuis.
Commissioner Randy Johnson will work with Barkhuis on a request for proposal for the forensic audit that will cover reviewing the department’s finances.
That could take two weeks to a month to complete, Jones estimated.
Commissioners questioned whether a forensic audit, which is more detailed than other audits, was necessary.
“We need to work together to get the scope of information that we will require this person to do,” Johnson said.
Board Chairman Mark Ozias asked Barkhuis what other specific actions need to be taken before she leaves.
“I think there were other points, but right now, I’m blanking,” Barkhuis responded.
Barkhuis refused to be interviewed by a reporter following her presentation.
In a Feb. 17 memo to the commissioners, Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Alvarez said that once Barkhuis resigns, the commissioners would fill the vacancy with an interim treasurer until a candidate for the position wins at a November general election and is certified by the county canvassing board.
“The date of the vacancy will determine which general election is utilized to elect a treasurer,” Alvarez said in his memo.
Filing week for the Nov. 7 general election is May 15-19, less than three months away.
Alvarez said if the vacancy occurs before May 14, potential candidates would have enough time to file for the Nov. 7 election to fill Barkhuis’ unexpired term, which would end in 2018.
An election for her position will be in November 2018 regardless if someone else fills it.
“If the vacancy arises on or after May 15, 2017, then there will only be four days left in the filing period [May 16-19] and for purposes of this memo, the author [Alvarez] is deeming that insufficient time to make a decision as to whether to file a declaration of candidacy for the position of Treasurer,” Alvarez said.
“This discretionary decision is necessary to create a ‘bright line’ rule that the Auditor’s Office may easily implement should the resignation of the current Treasurer arise while candidate filing week is going on and the Auditor’s Office has the extra periodic task of accepting Declarations of Candidacy in addition to the office’s regular daily tasks,” Alvarez said.
Jones said the two people — both of them men — who called his office in the past week about Barkhuis’ position “wanted to know the next step” for filling the position but were not ready to make their names public.
One is a certified public accountant and the other is in the accounting field, Jones said.
Neither person is currently in government, Jones said.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
