PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners won’t rehash a 2015 feud over Opportunity Fund grant spending and the players behind it in a public forum.
An executive session would be a more appropriate venue to hear Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis’ concerns about County Administrator Jim Jones and the process used to disperse $1.3 million in infrastructure grants to the city and Port of Port Angeles last year, commissioners decided Monday.
“I am speechless,” Barkhuis said.
Commissioner Bill Peach said the treasurer’s concerns had “already been addressed” by the state Attorney General and Auditor’s offices.
The Auditor’s Office issued a Monday memo saying the board followed county policy when it awarded the grants through the use of a budget modification to transfer funds without increasing appropriations.
Audit Manager Carol Ehlinger added that the board took steps to “create transparency” by signing a memorandum of understanding with port and city governments.
Declined non-compliance
The Auditor’s Office had previously declined to find non-compliance with the expenditures.
“The Board of County Commissioners should not need to revisit these matters,” Peach said before making a motion to strike the agenda item and remove the associated materials from the county’s website.
“We’ve had the opportunity to talk to the [state] auditor, and it would appear that you don’t agree with the auditor’s decision.”
Commissioner Mark Ozias seconded Peach’s motion for discussion. The motion was eventually withdrawn.
“I think that this is an appropriate format for talking about policies, talking about improvements that we can do,” Ozias said.
“I don’t think that this is the right format, because of its public nature, to get into detailed discussion about personnel, particularly non-elected officials.
“Having said that, it’s clear that the treasurer maintains some significant concerns, and I would like to see if we can find a proper format for addressing [those] concerns,” Ozias added.
Barkhuis provided to the board a pair of well-referenced emails that she sent to the Auditor’s Office outlining her various issues with Jones and the county’s budgeting and spending procedures.
“I stand by every word in it,” Barkhuis said.
The emails are available at www.clallam.net on the commissioners’ agenda page.
Barkhuis alleged that Jones knowingly signed a false budget modification, availed reserve spending on his own volition, repeatedly dismissed and misrepresented her position and exposed the commissioners, auditor and treasurer to potential personal liability.
“In my opinion, Administrator Jones’ usurpation of the BOCC’s budgeting and spending powers is ultimately motivated by his goal to be in the powerful ‘tit-for-tat’ position to facilitate (or not) the stealth (or not) payment (or not) of claims alleging official misconduct by certain Clallam County public officials,” Barkhuis wrote in a Sept. 16 email to the Auditor’s Office.
Barkhuis also accused Jones of “unrelenting harassment and bullying of the treasurer.”
Jones has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He declined to comment on the matter after the work session.
Commissioners decided to leave Barkhuis’ materials on the county website after a half-hour discussion.
“It’s a pubic record,” Board Chairman Mike Chapman said.
Barkhuis said her main job is to make sure that proper documents are in place whenever public money leaves the courthouse.
“Once money leaves the treasury, it’s gone,” she said.
The second-term treasurer and licensed attorney said she is required by law to document proper legislative authority and the attestation of the county auditor before releasing public funds.
A perceived lack of process led to Barkhuis’ refusal to release warrants for the $1.3 million in Opportunity Fund grants during a four-month dispute with last year’s board.
“The I’s weren’t dotted and T’s weren’t crossed,” Barkhuis said.
She eventually released the money when she took a medical leave of absence last fall.
“I have to defend the money that leaves the treasury,” she said. “The buck stops with me.”
Barkhuis said her main concern is having proper paperwork in place.
“The paperwork gets produced pretty much consistently, except for these exceptions that come up,” she said.
County officials have spent considerable time and effort “forcing through”exceptions such as needless budget emergencies, Barkhuis said.
She added that the problem is “coming from the commissioners’ office,” referring to Jones.
At a county Finance Committee meeting Thursday, Barkhuis said Jones failed to produce wire instructions that she needed to make an electronic payment to the federal government.
The wire instructions were sent to Jones on June 20 but were not discovered until July 19, Barkhuis said.
“It turns out they were sitting in the county administrator’s email inbox, where the contract said they would go,” Barkhuis said.
“It resulted in a resolution that talked about expedited warrants that I don’t think was necessary. It took a lot of time and effort, and a lot of unnecessary stress, looking for a piece of paperwork that was sitting in your office that didn’t make it to my office.”
Jones took responsibility for the error at the Finance Committee meeting.
After doing some research, Jones said the method of payment had not been determined when he received the wire instructions and that the money was not due until the end of August.
“This is much ado about nothing,” Jones said.
“It’s not like there was a godawful amount of work, as the treasurer is asserting.”
“While [the email] was not sent immediately upon receipt, at the time I didn’t really know who to send it to, waiting for the entirety of the commissioners’ process to be legally approved,” Jones added.
“When it was, we still had 24 days to comply. This isn’t that big of a deal.”
Ozias apologized to Barkhuis on behalf of the commissioners’ office for additional work that the missing wire instructions might have created.
“I appreciate your focus on the process, and on making sure that all of us are doing a good job, and an appropriate job, managing the county’s finances,” Ozias said.
Ozias said he was more interested in scrutinizing the county’s spending procedures than individual employees.
“If you were to raise a procedural concern, whether before or after the fact, if there is something that we missed, I can guarantee you that we would want to hear about it,” Ozias told Barkhuis.
“If you have specific personnel concerns that you want to relate to this board, then perhaps an executive session would be an appropriate forum.”
Barkhuis offered to make a presentation to the board on the legal requirements for sending money out of the treasury.
Chapman said he would welcome such a presentation at a board work session.
“I think that that would be a very valuable service, and I think that that creates an opportunity for us to make some positive strides,” Ozias said.
“It gives us a good chance, and I appreciate your willingness to take the organization through that.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Clallam County Commission Bill Peach
