PORT ANGELES — Clallam County treasurer candidate Selinda Barkhuis charged Wednesday that the incumbent, Judy Scott, could have discovered that public money was missing within months of taking office in January 2005, but that Scott didn’t do it.
Scott and Barkhuis, who face each other in the Nov. 2 general election, took their campaign’s central theme to a Port Angeles Rotary Club meeting for a 15-minute forum dominated by a former staffer’s alleged embezzlement of at least $617,467 from the Clallam County Treasurer’s Office.
“I believe that had the incumbent segregated the duties and monitored activities — both of which didn’t happen, according to the state auditor’s report — she could have found the fraud within months of taking office in January of 2005,” Barkhuis, a 48-year-old licensed attorney, told a group of about 40 Rotarians at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
“But, instead, under my opponent’s management, the fraud continued for 53 more months.”
Scott, who has served as treasurer for five years, said former cashier Catherine Betts “manipulated” the office when she allegedly stole cash from the drawer and covered it up by doctoring real estate excise tax records.
“I helped discover that fraud,” said Scott, 59.
“We immediately took action. We’ve been up front with all of that.”
When the theft was discovered in 2009, Scott said she confiscated everyone’s computers, including her own, and worked cooperatively with “all the agencies to make sure that we can ensure the recovery of that money through insurance.”
Barkhuis, a county Department of Community development planner, said the allegations show poor management of public funds.
“I would like to see confidence restored to the Clallam County Treasurer’s Office,” Barkhuis said, adding that Scott had a “fiduciary duty to safeguard those funds.”
Earlier this year, a $60,067 state Auditor’s Office investigation revealed that at least $617,467 had been taken from the treasurer’s office between Feb. 1, 2004 and May 19, 2009.
Betts faces a Jan. 10 trial in Clallam County Superior Court on a charge of aggravated felony first-degree theft. She faces a possible sentence of 10 years in prison.
Each of the two candidates at the Rotary forum was given a three-minute introduction followed by a two-minute rebuttal.
Also at the forum were Clallam County Department of Community Development Director candidates John Miller and Sheila Roark Miller, who have had 12 debates since the Aug. 17 primary election.
“We’ve taken all the actions that we were supposed to do,” Scott said of the alleged embezzlement.
“We have been commended by the state Auditor’s Office for our recommendations. Again, the things that we’ve already put in the place because of this happening.”
Barkhuis said the county’s insurance policy has committed to covering only 90 percent of the losses, adding that the final amount could swell.
If elected, Barkhuis said she would use her legal skills to “review every aspect about what is going on in the treasurer’s office for compliance with applicable rules and regulations, as well as compliance with fraud-prevention principles.”
“I will use my technical skills to modernize the office, increasing efficiency in the process,” she said.
“I will use more organizational skills to complete a comprehensive employee manual for easy cross-training and segregation of duties.”
Since she took office in 2005, Scott said her six-person staff has processed more than $1.15 billion in total revenue and collected and distributed more than $370 million in taxes.
“I am a very proven leader,” said Scott, who has worked in the treasurer’s office for 27 years.
“I can work under fire, and I have the experience that counts.”
Ballots for the election will be mailed on Oct. 13.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
