WASHOUGAL, Wash. – The mayor of Washougal got an earful Friday night during a City Council meeting after a state audit found a lot of unaccounted-for money.

Some called for the resignation of Mayor Stacee Sellers in the packed City Council chambers. The mayor admitted to making mistakes but said she won’t resign. She said she will let the voters decide in Tuesday’s election if she’ll keep her job.

“I’m going to let the voters decide, and we’ll go from there,” Sellers said. “If they choose not to re-elect me and do not believe that I can lead this community any further, then they’ve spoken.”

“We need to get the trust back of the community. Obviously, we need to get the trust back of the council itself,” said Sean Guard who sought the state audit that uncovered, among other things, the mayor spending taxpayer money on $88 bottles of wine and $50 dinners at a convention in Las Vegas.

The state audit also found $100,000 unaccounted for from two community events in Washougal.

The mayor released a five-point plan to monitor spending better. It included cutting down the number of city-issued credit cards, putting city-sponsored events into the formal budget process, and tracking expenses through better documentation.

The Washougal City Council voted to censure Sellers. A censure has no legal consequences but is used by a governmental body to officially show displeasure for the actions of a member.

• Washington State audit of the city of Washougal (pdf)
• Results of Washougal mayoral election (pdf)
   

UPDATE: As of Wednesday morning, Nov. 4, the vote tally for the Washougal mayor race is as follows:

CITY OF WASHOUGAL MAYOR

Nonpartisan, Vote For 1
Sean Guard             1,577   69.62%  
Stacee S. Sellers       669   29.54%
Write-Ins                      19     0.84%
Cast Votes:              2,265   97.29%