Landslide in Fire 12 recall

Matlock voters reject commission by over 90%

Matt Baide | Aug 03, 20230

Former Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson were all recalled with more than 93% of the vote Tuesday.

Wilder received the most votes against, 349-21, for 94.32% of people voting to recall. Jutson was recalled 348-21, for 94.57% of the vote, and Pais was recalled 344-25 for 93.22% of the vote.

“I am pleased to see that the community was able to stick together to see this process through,” Kristin Masteller, who led the recall efforts, wrote to the Journal in an email. “It has been a long journey and I’m proud of my neighbors for keeping focused on our goal and succeeding.”

In the primary vote for the commission seat left vacant by Wilder’s July 18 resignation, Nicholas Jones ran away with the majority, drawing 287 votes for 82.71% of the vote. Jones will face Jennifer Jutson, wife of now recalled Brian Jutson, who received 32 votes for 9.22% of the vote.

The fire district commissioners’ actions have drawn the attention of officials and agencies. In the Aug. 1 Board of County Commissioners meeting information packet, the state Attorney General’s Office wrote a letter to commissioners about a complaint filed by Masteller. According to the letter, the county commissioners are the agency that can best address the situation.

“I’m disappointed that Bob Ferguson’s office wouldn’t take a meeting with us and instead punted to a county fire marshal, as though that would even be an appropriate person to respond to this situation,” Masteller wrote.

Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture, both Republicans from Allyn, have been hearing from constituents about conditions at Fire 12. Couture said many constituents are outraged over the allegations in the auditor’s report, the apparent nepotism and the overall situation in Matlock.

“Can you blame them? These are their first responders – the ones they count on to be there in an emergency, and at best those named in the auditor’s report are incompetent – at worst they fraudulently used public dollars meant to be used to protect the community,” Couture wrote to the Journal.

Griffey said he has heard from upset constituents. He said they have the right to be after the auditor’s report alleged over $150,000 in misappropriated or questionable spending.

“During this past session many of our constituents reached out to Rep. Couture, Sen. (Drew) MacEwen, and me on this — many for guidance on starting the recall process, which they were ultimately able to get on that ballot,” Griffey wrote to the Journal.

Griffey and Couture were co-sponsors of House Bill 1538, which regards special purpose district malfeasance. The bill did not make it out of committee in this year’s session, but Griffey said he has been assured that the bill will be heard in the upcoming session and it will be a priority for him.

“We crafted this bill because there was some confusion over overlapping responsibilities between the county prosecuting attorney and the state AG’s office for prosecuting criminal or civil actions related to the misuse of funds in a special purpose district, creating a potential loophole,” Griffey wrote. “House Bill 1538 clarifies this. The bill was well-received in the House committee that handles public safety. But that committee had a massive workload last session with the issues of vehicular pursuits, the Blake/drug possession crime law, and addressing the fentanyl crisis.”

As a firefighter for 30 years, Griffey said he finds the misuse of taxpayer money “abhorrent,” and said the main concern is serving the community and response times.

“It is clear that even if these allegations are the result of bad bookkeeping the controversy and distraction this continues to create means protecting serving the community is not the priority it should be,” Griffey wrote.

When asked about what they hope is done about Fire 12, Griffey said he hopes it can be resolved quickly and accurately, that safeguards are put in place to ensure proper oversight and if there was malfeasance, those responsible should be held accountable.

“I echo Rep. Griffey’s sentiments here 100%,” Couture said. “Beyond that, I am also quite concerned about the further erosion of public trust this has created in the community – something we don’t need any more of right now. I am also concerned about the results of the internal investigation recently released that clearly did little to calm the community outrage. I hope what happens in the months ahead can help restore community trust.”