The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

The Washington State Auditor’s Office was unable to determine what happened to unaccounted-for revenue from community events in Washougal, the city announced this afternoon.

As a result, Mayor Sean Guard asked the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to launch a criminal investigation, which has already begun.

The auditor’s office completed its special investigation, which began in October, and met with city officials this morning to release the findings. The auditor’s office interviewed current and former city staff members, council members, former Mayor Stacee Sellers, Guard, nonprofit employees and vendors to try to determine what happened to at least $100,000 in revenue that was never deposited in city accounts.

However, the vendor, Columbia River Productions, declined to provide the auditor’s office with records related to Washougalfest 2008, Riverfest 2009 and the summer 2009 Washougal Main Street Market and declined numerous requests for an interview, according to the auditor’s letter to the city. Columbia River Productions and a nonprofit group, Washougal Downtown Revitalization and Implementation Committee (DRIC), helped organize and host the events.

The documents the auditor did collect from the city and DRIC were insufficiently detailed, preventing the auditor’s office from determining whether public money was misused, lost or misappropriated.

A Sheriff’s Office detective is working to determine if any laws were broken or city money misused.

For the complete story, see Saturday’s edition of The Columbian.

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