By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The city of Chehalis’s building official was fired on Friday following an investigation into money taken from a city safe last November.
Jeff Shine, a 16-year city employee, admitted to the theft, City Manager Merlin MacReynold said this morning.
Chehalis police were called the morning of Nov. 19 to the community development building on the 1300 block of South Market Boulevard where money was discovered missing. Chehalis detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said yesterday the burglary involved an amount of less than $1,000, but he didn’t have the details readily available.
Some of the money being stored in the safe was raised for the medical needs of the daughter of a pair of police department employees.
MacReynold said the building official is responsible for looking over construction sites and making sure code is followed.
“Not a happy situation,” MacReynold said.
McNamara said yesterday officers did not make an arrest, but referred their case to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office for a charging decision.
Shine, reached this morning by telephone, said he hadn’t heard he’d been terminated and didn’t want to comment.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
And after stealing a kids medical needs money he should do some SERIOUS community service hours at Pope’s Kid’s Place! And on the weekends he should stand in front of Chehalis City Hall with a sign that reads “I STEAL MONEY FROM DISABLED CHILDREN AND TAX PAYERS!”
You know, this is what is wrong with governments and their employees. If this had been you or I, we not only would have been fired from our jobs, but we also would have been arrested, and THEN we would have been charged almost immediately… or at least within a couple of days. Being a government employee has it’s definite advantages: This person hasn’t been charged with anything yet (he admitted to theft)… he hasn’t been arrested for suspicion of any crime (anyone else would be behind bars right now)… And the “investigation” took from November until now? Why does it take FIVE MONTHS to “investigate” a government employee committing a crime when that same :investigation” for a private citizen would have been completed in a week or so (IF that long)? And to boot, this suspected THIEF was collecting a paycheck, paid for by OUR tax dollars, all the while when he should have been UNEMPLOYED AND INCARCERATED! It must be nice to be a government employee.