PORT ANGELES — Yvonne Ziomkowski, the city’s finance director since 1999, was fired Thursday, a month after a State Patrol investigation concluded that she approved vacation cash-outs for herself that exceeded city policy by $29,673.
City Manager Kent Myers said he notified Ziomkowski, the Finance Department staff and the City Council on Thursday morning.
“It’s a tough day. It’s a tough day at City Hall,” Myers said.
He called the decision one of the hardest he has made in his 30-year career in city management.
Ziomkowski had been on paid administrative leave since Jan. 3 pending the completion of a State Patrol investigation.
The State Patrol’s report, completed Feb. 14 and given to the city Feb. 21, recommends eight criminal charges, including first-degree theft, falsely auditing and paying claims, and wire fraud, be brought against her.
As of Thursday morning, the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which is handling the case, has not filed charges.
Ziomkowski, the State Patrol concluded, abused the city’s policy for reimbursement of unused leave by cashing out $29,673 of vacation and sick time in excess of city policy from 2009 through 2011 without seeking approval from Myers, her supervisor.
Myers said she will be required to repay the city that entire amount.
Ziomkowski has offered to repay $5,000 for the “time being,” City Attorney Bill Bloor said.
“The city will not accept that,” he said.
Bloor said Ziomkowski was fired because of violations of city policy, not because of potential criminal charges.
Those violations include neglect of duty and dishonesty.
City Human Resources Manager Bob Coons, who has worked for the city for 26 years, could not recall the last time a city administrator was fired.
After Ziomkowski was put on leave, Linda Kheriarty was named acting city finance director.
Myers said it may take at least a month for a new finance director to be hired.
In the meantime, a new interim finance director will be brought on board to assist the department with its workload.
The State Patrol report said Ziomkowski, 58, planned to retire at the end of this year.
City records show she was paid $48,219 for 896 hours, or 112 days, of leave since 2009, when the overpayments began.
City policy allows only as much as 80 hours of leave to be cashed out a year. An additional 40 hours of leave can be contributed toward retirement if an employee has not cashed out more than 75 hours that year.
Myers became aware of irregularities with Ziomkowski’s cash-outs last year and requested that the state Auditor’s Office review cash-outs from all employees.
That report, released in November, noted Ziomkowski’s overpayments as well as an overdraw by Fire Chief Dan Mckeen.
McKeen was paid $11,431 for 237 hours of leave in 2007. The overpayment was approved by then-City Manager Mike Quinn.
Quinn also required former Police Chief Tom Riepe to make a large cash-out on his leave to reduce the amount he had on the books.
Neither payments were subject to the State Patrol’s investigation since no criminal activity was suspected.
The State Patrol’s investigation started in January.
Myers also overdrew by 20 hours in 2009. The city manager referred to it as an accident and repaid the leave, worth $1,442, last December.
In December, Myers also made several changes to the cash-out policy, including requiring all cash-outs to be approved by the city manager and human resource manager, and limiting cash-outs to one per year.
He said the revisions have been working “really well” and added that he will request the Auditor’s Office to review the policy again this year as part of the agency’s annual audit of the city.
Ziomkowski has insisted she didn’t intentionally violate city policy. She did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Myers and Ziomkowski had scheduled an administrative hearing to discuss the allegations March 6, but she canceled the meeting.
“As you know, I have always disagreed with the allegations brought against me,” she wrote to Myers in an email, notifying she was waiving her right to the administrative hearing.
“I have a great love for the city of Port Angeles.
“I would never knowingly do anything that was not in the best interest of the city.”
Ziomkowski also was president of the Washington Finance Officers Association.
She resigned March 2, said acting association President Marilou Moore.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
