Williams proposes finding new audit firm
SANDPOINT — Bonner County Commissioner Asia Williams said Tuesday that she does not agree with a conversation that took place during her absence at the Dec. 12 business meeting regarding the Bonner County Fair Board.
During the Dec. 12 meeting, a few public commenters again asked for further justice for former fair manager Darcey Smith, questioning the investigation that was done on her passing and the alleged fraud that took place prior.
“All this shaming of Ms. Smith was over a belt buckle and new boots,” one commenter said. “Or was this a smear campaign cooked up by someone who wanted Darcey gone and then was supported by [Bonner County Prosecutor Louis] Marshall and [Bonner County Sheriff Daryl] Wheeler?”
Smith’s twin, Dana Sanchez, also spoke at the meeting, asking for her sister’s name to be cleared.
“My twin sister lost her life over this hostile work environment,” she said. “She died either of a suicide or a homicide, that’s still unclear. Her character was shamed in a questionable audit and now, statements are made that they had no bookkeeping. Personally, I want justice for my twin sister. I want her name cleared.”
During that meeting, Commissioner Luke Omodt talked about the defamatory comments the fair board has made against multiple county employees, including the county clerk and comptroller.
“I have asked the fair board to retract the statements which I believe are grossly inaccurate, which is supported by fact,” he said.
Omodt also commented on Williams reaching out to auditing firms on her own to see which ones would be willing to work with the county, considering the highly contentious climate.
“You cannot just go out and start cold calling auditors to hire them,” he said. “That is not how it works. There [are] specific federal guidelines that must be met in order for us to be in compliance with the law.”
Regarding the fair board audit, Williams said Marshall told her it seemed like the commissioners had decided to ignore legal advice on the matter.
“The opinion of my office is that the fair is an integral part of Bonner County,” Williams read from a letter from Marshall. “We are simply trying to give you the best advice possible. I am confident that we have.”
Williams went on to say she also had an issue using the same auditing firm as the county has used for roughly the past eight years — Hayden Ross. However, the commissioner claimed it had nothing to do with the firm’s work; it was purely a question of best practice for the county.
“When you use the same firm repeatedly — greater than three to four years — essentially, they become auditors of their own work,” she said. “The reason you look for others and you cycle it is to prevent that from happening.”
The District 2 commissioner said she did not want to continue wasting taxpayer dollars and believed the county needed a true and complete audit.
“[The audit] should not be guided by what the board wants to see,” she said. “It should be guided by what the statute requires and what the auditor does.”
Again, Williams said her concerns were not with Hayden Ross’s work, she would have the same concerns about any firm that audited the county for more than three or four years. In terms of best practices, she reiterated that she felt it best to look for a different auditor this year.
Additionally, Williams said she does not feel comfortable moving forward with the fiscal year 2023 audit for the fair board without looking back and auditing previous years, especially because of the alleged fraud.
“Regardless of what side of the position of what happened at the fair and their finances, we owe that to the family that it directly impacted, we owe that to the taxpayers of Bonner County,” she said. “I’m hoping we’ll get a true audit that will address the fair because we have families that are hurting, we have communities that want answers and we owe it to them.”