An allegation that a member of the White Salmon City Council did not deposit fundraising proceeds until nearly two months after the event was brought before the White Salmon City Council last week.
During the Nov. 7 City Council session, a private citizen raised questions about why council member Timi Keene allegedly had not placed more than $1,100 in cash and checks into a bank account. Organizers of a Klickitat County Democratic Party garage sale claimed Keene, who at the time was a state committeewoman for the Democratic Party, had agreed to make the deposit the day after the June 10, 2007, fundraiser, but all of the funds were not received at the bank until Aug. 8.
Ruth Winner, who lives just north of White Salmon, said she had debated airing her concerns in public, but decided she needed to do so because the city had not taken action to form an ethics committee.
"There is a cloud over our City Council," Winner said to the council members. "Many of you are aware of it, but no one wants to face it. I asked for an ethics committee in October, and nothing is being done. I've agonized over this since it first came to my attention in mid-September."
Winner pointed out that a formal complaint had been filed against Keene. The complaint came from Julie Larson, chair of the Klickitat County Democratic Party, following the fundraising event.
The controversy involving Keene was detailed in a memorandum filed with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) in August, as well as related law enforcement reports. The documents allege that council member Keene failed to deposit $1,100 from the garage sale into the bank account of the Klickitat County Democratic Party.
In a memo to the PDC -- received by the agency on Aug. 20 -- Larson alleged in her written statement that Keene "was given the proceeds ... totaling over $1,100, for safekeeping and to deposit the next banking day, which was Monday, June 11."
Larson wrote that the money was not deposited as scheduled, but party officials were not aware of that for about a month.
"On July 10, I was informed the money had not been deposited," Larson's memo to the PDC reported. "I, and other elected officials, made numerous attempts -- by telephone, in person at her home, leaving notes, e-mails, and certified letter -- to communicate with Ms. Keene about this."
According to Larson's statement, it then took nearly another month before Keene deposited funds into the Democratic Party's account.
"On Aug. 3, $950 from the garage sale was deposited," the memo read.
On Aug. 7, a complaint was filed with the Bingen-White Salmon Police Department, as well as with the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office. The next day, Aug. 8, the remaining $200 from the garage sale was deposited.
The KCSO report on the investigation indicated that law enforcement officials considered the "case closed" once the money was in the bank.
"On Aug. 24, Larson called to let me know the matter had been resolved, and that all the money had now been deposited, and that the matter could be closed out," KCSO Deputy Steve Shields wrote in his report.
"We reported it but didn't press charges," Larson said on Tuesday. "We gave Ms. Keene two options. To either meet with our executive board and elected precinct committee officers (PCOs) to further discuss and vote if we were confident in her staying in the position, or to resign. She chose to resign."
Larson said the Democratic Party put new safeguards in place in the wake of the incident.
"We take our fiduciary responsibility to our members very seriously," Larson explained. "We have put clear procedures in place to ensure this does not occur again."
At last week's council meeting, Winner said she felt betrayed when she learned of the incident.
"Two years ago I sat on a street corner to help her (Keene) win election to the City Council. I had full faith and trust in Miss Keene to be forthright," Winner said. "This is a terrible shadow on the city of White Salmon and I am very distressed over it."
Keene did not comment during the meeting, but John Mayo, a fellow council member, defended Keene.
"Things are not ever as simple as they seem," Mayo said. "I don't feel comfortable going after someone for something that happens outside of this room. There is a lot of animosity that flies around and a lot of anger in this town, and a lot of vindictiveness. It's really a shame there is mudslinging and back biting and attempts to tear someone down personally."
Winner rejected Mayo's characterization.
"Excuse me, John, I'm talking about honesty and character," Winner said.
"If there's a case, there's a case," Mayo replied. "If not, let's move on."
In an interview on Friday, Keene said there was a reason why the money was not deposited as Democratic Party officials had expected.
"Following the yard sale, I was out of town for a week, and when I returned, found that some of the money was missing, `borrowed' by the house-sitter who promised to pay it back within two weeks," Keene explained. "This stretched on for another month. That's why there ended up being two payments. Did I use poor judgment in not communicating this immediately and would I have handled it differently? Yes. This was not related to the city but was a personal matter."
Keene added that Winner had not asked her for details about the incident.
"I think it's unfortunate she didn't contact me for clarification," Keene said. "The situation was immediately resolved after I was contacted. I never heard or saw anything from the PDC, and have no knowledge of that."
Keene pointed out that no charges were filed.
"The case was closed the day I received a phone call from the Police Department," Keene said.
Council member Susan Gookin said she didn't understand why the issue was brought to the City Council.
"It doesn't sound like this is something the council can do anything about," Gookin explained.
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