Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Fire 12 commissioners, from left, John Pais, Albert "Buck" Wilder and Brian Jutson, at the Feb. 21 meeting.
The internal investigation into Mason County Fire Protection District 12 in Matlock is nearing completion, according to the law firm handing the investigation.
Attorney Brian Snure of Snure Law Office told the Journal on Feb. 15 "the investigation is not yet complete and I will have to review and discuss with my client before anything can be released so check back in about two weeks." The Journal followed up to get a copy of the internal investigation, but Snure replied to the Journal's records request on Tuesday and said "Progress is continuing but I do not anticipate having the final report now until around March 10," Snure said in an email to the Journal.
At the Feb. 21 commissioner's meeting, commissioner Albert "Buck" Wilder said he hoped the investigation would be done two weeks prior to the meeting. He said when they have the investigation results, he said an attorney will be at a meeting to read the results.
"It's easy to sit back and assume when we don't have all the facts. I'm not telling you I have all the facts," Wilder said during the meeting.
Residents in attendance at the meeting were not happy with the lack of a completed investigation and voiced their frustration during the meeting, which created a tense back-and-forth between the public and commissioners.
"You don't have all the information," Wilder said. "We take a tidbit of the information and the world we live in today with social media, it's easy to jump on the bandwagon. With social media today, it's easy to take a tidbit and turn it into a mountain and I'm not saying that this is either of those, but our hands are tied. We're waiting on the attorney to finish it."
A man in the audience did not take kindly to some of commissioner Brian Jutson's comments.
"I'm going to leave, but smartass on the end could be a little more, oh, go to hell Buck," the man said before leaving the meeting. "You're a smartass (Jutson), you could be a little more decent and respectful to the people here. I'm leaving, Buck, I'll leave, all of you guys are a bunch of dip-----."
The commissioners approved 12 vouchers on the consent agenda and are paid for through $9,111.85 of the EMS fund and $1,395.59 from the general fund for a total of $10,507.44.
Commissioners stated in December that chief Kelli Walsworth would not be paid in 2023 and would be serving without pay, but that is not the case after the Journal filed another public records request to the Mason County Auditor's Office. According to checks written, Walsworth was written another check for $3,450.05 in February, the same amount as a check in January. She was also paid $130.68 in a separate check, while in January, she was paid $535.34 in a separate check. The Journal requested comment from the commissioners or fire chief of Fire District 12 but did not receive a response.
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