By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
An audit issued for the Onalaska area fire department found the department violated parts of the state law requiring competitively bidding projects and purchases.
An elected three-member board governs Lewis County Fire District 1 and it has one part-time employee. The Washington State Auditor’s Office noted the district had several staffing changes during the audit period – the four years ending on Dec. 31, 2011 – and couldn’t locate documentation to support some of the transactions.
Specifically, they obtained quotes for fire gear and a vehicle totaling $80,867 but should have formally bid the purchases, according to report issued on Monday. The district did not retain records to support why it didn’t choose the lowest bidder on one of the purchases, the report states.
Also, it used another fire district’s bid to purchase self-contained breathing apparatus, but didn’t have a formal agreement with that district allowing the use of the bid, according to the report.
Also, while the district used Lewis County’s so-called small works roster for construction of a new fire station, it hadn’t formally adopted the use of the roster as required, the report states.
The auditor notes the effects of the conditions are the district limited competition for the new fire station and its purchases, and cannot demonstrate it adequately safeguarded resources by getting the best price and / or bidder.
The auditor recommended the fire district ensure its staff get adequate training and understand the importance of compliance with bid laws
The fire district’s response to the auditor was its board will formally adopt the use of the small works roster process; it will review the law and follow required procedures in the future; and it did get multiple quotes to find the best price while staying with like equipment, the report notes.
District one changed fire chiefs and its secretary, as well as had six different commissioners serving during the audit period.
There were no shortcomings identified in other areas examined, such as payroll, general revenue, financial condition and open public meetings act. Nor have any findings been made in the previous three audits.
The fire district, with approximately 30 volunteers, operated on an annual budget of $400,000 which comes from property taxes and an EMS levy, according to audit.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
also id like to point out for you people out there that dosent know, the commentioners are volunteer as well, all 3 of them turned down their commentioners pay and volunteer to attened meetings and 2 of them also volunteer as firefighters as well, so unless you know what your talking about dont post
you guys dont like our volunteer service? move to seattle, thanks to everyone that stood up for us at lewis county fire district #1, also tourist, i didnt see you at the commentioners meeting tonight, where were you?
Why don’t all you folks who dislike Lewis County so much, just take a hike right on down the highway. The rest of us would be much happier without you.
another story of cronyism and corruption from Loser County
Tourist, the only stooge I see is the person that hides behind the anonymity of the internet in order to disparage what is a bunch of fine volunteer firefighters. These men and women volunteer their own time to get training in fire science and medical response. They also spend countless hours every month and year keeping their training current. They make our community a better place to live, and incidentally, their dedication to training helps lower the cost of our homeowners insurance.
What about you tourist? All I see is a troll who hides his face in order to verbally attack people.
Plus, there were never any allegations of any type of criminal wrongdoing.
“There is much that is left out of the State Auditor’s two page finding report.” Like what? State Auditor reports are usually fairly inclusive, so if there is something they missed, then you might want to share it with the rest of us…
The third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. is our Board of Fire Commissioner’s regular meeting held at the main station on Carlisle Avenue and are open to the public to attend. Our next one is this coming Thursday, October 18th. You are welcome to come and comment and ask any questions you have. There is much that is left out of the State Auditor’s two page finding report. And, I will not go into details here. Also, Tourist, there will be an opening on the election ballet to run for a Fire Commissioner seat next year. If you live in our district, this could be your chance to make a real difference in your community.
All your b.s. is no excuse for mishandling of funds provided by TAXPAYERS.
But, you and your “volunteers” are a bunch of Stooges being led by the nose by corrupt county employees.
Deal with it.
@Tourist: get a life! How much volunteering does your lazy ass do? Do you get up in the middle of the night to help a complete stranger in need? How many hot meals with the family have YOU given up to help others? Do you realize that 3 out of 4 firefighters are VOLUNTEERS? That means they are NOT PAID. Hmmm, so that means if you call 911 for a fire/EMS emergency, you have a 75% chance of relying on a VOLUNTEER for help. Yah, then how critical are you going to be of these “corrupt” volunteers?
Shame on you for referring to the 30 VOLUNTEERS as the Three Stooges.
With only 1 paid part time employee, and 30 volunteers, perhaps the 3 elected and paid board members should take on the paperwork tasks and just be grateful there’s individuals out there that do as much as they do~
Just more of the same corruption that is Lewis County. The entire operation reminds me of an episode of The Three Stooges, only here we have 30.