It would appear the Auditor has a lot to uncover.

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Edmonds School District Director position #4 held by Bruce Williams. Although your concerns and information should be shared directly with the School Board I have researched your question and found the following:

RCW 28A.343.350 Residency allows for a school board member in a school district that has director districts remain in their position even if their residency moves out of the original director district but remains within the school district boundaries if "the change in residency occurs after the opening of the regular filing period provided under RCW 29A.24.050 (amended cite), in the year two years after the director was elected to office, the director shall remain in office for the remainder of his or her term of office..."

The regular filing period referred to above was June 4, 2007 through June 8, 2007. If Mr Williams had moved prior to those dates [He did] it would have been the responsibility of the School Board to address the matter of residency.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have further questions or concerns regarding this matter.

Carolyn Diepenbrock
Snohomish County Auditor
425-388-3472

Carolyn,

Thank you again for your response to the last issue that I brought to your attention. As you may have heard, Dr. Bruce Williams resigned on September 11, 2007. This was in direct response to his relocation within the District and the subsequent violation of School Board policy 1245. Upon further review of documents, it is quite clear that Dr. Williams falsified his candidate application in pursuit of a seat on the Edmonds School Board. I believe this demonstrates an utter and absolute disregard for our election process.

Additionally, it has been brought to my attention that another board member within the Edmonds School District, Mr. Gary Noble, is is direct violation of Edmonds School District policy 1260, in that he serves on the Board of Directors while his wife is a teacher at Lynnwood High School and therefore receives compansation for services rendered to the Edmonds School District. While I readily acknowledge that such a condition may be permissable in other Districts, Edmonds School District Board policy 1260 is quite clear that he is in violation.

To the casual observer, this may not seem like a significant transgression, however the Board recently decided to rebuild Lynnwood High School without reasonable justification for doing so. Enrollment is shrinking and student retention continues to be a problem. Given the lack of objectivity in Gary Noble being the husband to an end user of a new high school, his continued occupation of his Board seat is contrary to good sense and impartiality.

Please help me understand this situation from your perspective.

Thank you.

There is much more to this situation than previously reported. Gary Noble and his wife are in direct violation of Board Policy 6810, despite the superintendent's best efforts to disprove Board Policy 1245 with the use of poorly-informed attorneys. This particular situation was specifically called out when Board Policies were developed. The superintendent is now retreating to a position behind RCWs and throwing out the validity of Board Policies all together.

Also, Patrick Shields was the director of Powerful Partners and they have been getting a free ride on rent for more than five years. As a non-profit entity working in support of the District's mission statement, they can receive a reduction in rent - but not a free ride. They signed a use agreement and committed to pay for utilities and other general fund expenditures associated with their use of the administration building. Because of Pat Shields' position on the school board, they have never paid rent, despite the administration being so tight on space for legitimate employees.

These abuses must come to an end. What recourse does a private citizen have when board members do not honor their own policies?

Please help.

As I have stated in previous e-mails this office is not the entity to take action on your complaints. Your complaints need to be directly voiced with the Edmonds School Board or with the Washington State Auditor. Under state law the School Board must conduct their meetings in an open public meeting forum which provides you, a concerned citizen, the audience you are seeking to voice your concerns and allegations. The Edmonds School Board is meeting on October 9, 2007 and October 23, 2007 at District Headquarters located at 20420 68th Ave W, Lynnwood at 6:30pm. The School Board members, interested citizens and perhaps the press will be in attendance. The agenda specifically calls for an open public comment period during which you can bring your concerns forward. As a citizen of the district I would encourage you to participate in the process.

Carolyn Diepenbrock
Snohomish County Auditor

Ms. Armijo,

There is a lot of corruption going on at the Edmonds School District . Bruce Williams did the right thing and resigned when he could no longer deny that he committed election fraud. Gary Noble is violating board policy and Patrick Shields is stealing from the District. How can we expect these people to police themselves? Is there nothing that can be done? I have been told to forward my concerns to the Auditor, but it appears the Auditor isn't interested in correcting problems.

Are you aware of a blog site at www.esd15.org? The details are there. I find such conduct to be shameful. What, if anything will the Auditor do?

Sadie Armijo forwarded me your concerns as she is no longer the Audit Manager for the Everett office. Thank you for expressing your concerns regarding the Edmonds School District. We will take these into consideration during our next audit of the District. We will let you know of any results we find related to your concerns once the audit is completed.

Thank you,

Christopher J. Kapek, CPA
Audit Manager - Team Everett
Washington State Auditor's Office
3501 Colby Avenue
Suite 100B
Everett, WA 98201
Phone: (425) 257-2137
Fax: (425) 257-2149
kapekc@sao.wa.gov

When is the next audit?

We do not have a scheduled time to begin the audit yet. Traditionally, the audit concludes and the report is published sometime from March to May. This year’s audit is likely to be in the same timeframe.

Thank you,

Christopher J. Kapek, CPA
Audit Manager - Team Everett
Washington State Auditor's Office

You should take a look at the office space at the ESC being used by non-profits. Powerful Partners has never paid what they have been billed and they call it a donation on their I990. See attached.

Thank you for bringing that issue to our attention. We will include this with your other concerns in our risk assessment for the upcoming audit.

Thank you,

Christopher J. Kapek, CPA
Audit Manager - Team Everett
Washington State Auditor's Office

Editorial: Thank you to the contributor of this entry. It is good to know there are more than a few voices in the wilderness.