One councilor wants him out after details of suspension surface
As the city of Washougal continues to wade through the muck uncovered by the state auditor’s office, one council member hopes to see the city’s finance director out of a job.
Recent revelations concerning Washougal Finance Director Jeffrey Bivens have plenty of community members talking and at least one council member, Jon Russell, hopes Bivens won’t be a city employee for much longer. Russell said he wants Bivens to resign or the mayor pro tem to ask him to step down.
“I think this is a continuation of (former) Mayor (Stacee) Sellers and her decision-making and her administration,” Russell said. “These are just elements left over that, in my opinion, are going to need to be dealt with to get the city moving forward.”
In summer 2008, Bivens’ license to practice law was suspended for dishonest conduct, among other reasons. Nine months later, the city of Washougal hired Bivens and put him in charge of the city’s finances.
And now, the city’s insurer has declined to provide Bivens with fidelity bond coverage, leaving him to look elsewhere for insurance coverage or potentially face consequences. The city ordinance requiring the coverage is set to go into effect next week.
Since the details have come to light, many people have begun wondering why he was hired in the first place.
“We, as council members, have been asking ourselves that,” Mayor Pro Tem Molly Coston said.
Council approval
Bivens was hired for the position of finance and economic development director in May. At the time, he was a member of the city council. Sellers and the city’s human resources department were responsible for interviewing candidates, and they offered Bivens the job. The city council did not participate in the hiring process but did unanimously approve Bivens’ employment contract with the city.
Coston, Russell and Councilman Paul Greenlee said when they voted to approve Bivens’ contract, they were not aware of the details of his suspension by the state bar association.
“I don’t believe that he ever publicly disclosed the full suspension details,” Coston said.
Coston knew there was an issue between Bivens and his previous employer but did not read about the specifics until after he was hired, she said.
“He indicated that it was sort of retaliation from a previous employer — a spiteful retaliation,” Coston said. “I took that at face value.”
Russell believed the suspension was due to a problem with a client.
“We were told that, as a fellow council member, he was suspended by the bar for a dispute with a client,” Russell said.
After Greenlee heard about Bivens’ suspension, he spoke with friends who are attorneys and got their perspectives on the situation, he said. He was also confident in the checks and balances of the city’s finances provided by the assistant finance director and accounting manager.
“I was convinced we were not at any significant risk,” Greenlee said.
It is still unclear whether Sellers and the city’s human resources department knew the details of Bivens’ suspension by the bar association.
Bivens did not return requests for comment The Columbian sent to his personal and city e-mail addresses.
When the council was asked to approve the contract, which essentially just allocates money for the position, Russell said he relied on the mayor’s and human resources department’s approval of Bivens for the position. Greenlee agreed with Russell and said since the mayor wanted Bivens in the position, the council obliged. Greenlee suspects that practice will change.
“I think that you’re going to see that the council is going to be more involved and less deferential to the mayor, whoever the mayor is,” he said.
At the time of the hire, Greenlee and Coston said Bivens seemed like a good fit for the position. The council had been interested in creating an economic development director position but didn’t have the money to pay for the extra job, Coston said. When the finance director position became vacant, more chatter was swirling about the need for the new position, Greenlee said. Bivens’ economic development connections through his law practice and his ability to make an incomprehensible budget understandable made him a great fit for the combined position, Greenlee said.
Having worked with Bivens on the city council, Coston said she saw he was “a very sharp guy.”
“At that moment in time it just seemed like a very good decision,” she said.
While Russell voted to approve Bivens’ contract in May, he said if he knew the details of the suspension before voting, he would have voted differently. Greenlee said he still doesn’t know all of the details of Bivens’ suspension and didn’t have an answer when asked if, given the chance, he would vote to approve Bivens’ contract again.
“That’s too hypothetical for me to have an answer to really because that was then and this is now,” Greenlee said.
Mayoral responsibility
Even if members of the council wanted Bivens removed from the position, Russell said the council could only ask the mayor to take action.
“Once we sign off on the contract, it’s up for the mayor to decide the status of the employee,” he said. “Any hiring (or) firing is the mayor and her department’s discretion.”
The council has discussed Bivens’ employment with the city in executive session but no one has commented publicly about Bivens’ future with the city.
Russell said he could not discuss the legalities of Bivens’ contract or any possible discipline. Any action against Bivens will be taken by Coston, who said she expects a resolution before the end of the year. The council will only be involved in the process if Bivens resigns or if litigation is involved, Russell said.
Despite Bivens’ suspension by the bar, Coston said she is not worried about Bivens being in charge of the city’s finances. Coston said she understands why people are concerned but believes the checks within the city would have caught any misconduct had it occurred.
“I think that anything out of the ordinary or unusual with regards to the city and city finances would have been captured,” she said.
Greenlee said he has no opinion on whether he believes Bivens is still qualified to serve as the finance director.
Council members Jennifer McDaniel, Rod Morris and Lou Peterson could not be reached for comment. Councilman Michael Delavar replaced Bivens on the council and wasn’t included in the vote to approve the contract.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.bsuter
