STEVENSON, Wash. – A document from the Washington state auditor’s office a year ago warned Skamania County commissioners to tighten up policies relating to the expenditures for which county auditor J. Michael Garvison is now under scrutiny.

In the document - called an Exit Conference which was given to Garvison and the county chair a year ago - state auditors pointed out spending concerns for travel and purchases and recommended the county make policy changes.

Garvison is being investigated for travel expenses totaling $83,000 in two years. Garvison said the investigation is politically motivated and all of his audits have been clean.

He submitted a letter of resignation to the county that said he will step down this Sunday. Garvison has obtained a new job as chief financial officer of the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District in Oregon City, Ore. He starts that job on Monday, Nov. 9.

The document, which was part of the 2006 and 2007 audit, lists public spending concerns relating to, among other things, travel reimbursements for things like per diem, extra mileage, valet parking, room service charges with no itemized receipts, unsupported travel claims, and extra days on trips without explanation as to how it benefited the county.

It pointed out the county should improve in the areas of expenses for education and small and attractive equipment.

The document also highlighted a lack of county policy for controlling spending and the potential for misuse of public funds.

It was given to Garvison and all the county commissioners last November. County chairman Jim Richardson said they’ve taken steps to fix the issues.

“[We’ve] asked the state auditor to do a review and give us his recommendation on what we can do to change it better or faster or more appropriately,” he said.

He said the auditor’s review was what initiated the county’s review of its policies. “Unfortunately, as many people know in government, the wheels grind slowly. The end results are really fine, but the wheels grind slowly,” Richardson said.

He did acknowledge that everyone involved “has some level of responsibility in the process” about how the county’s money is spent.

Former Skamania County Sheriff Chuck Bryan said commissioners should have caught all this. “The taxpayers were not protected,” he said. He said that in his office someone signed off on his budgets.

Commissioner Richardson said the county looks only at the overall budgets, not the details.

“As long as they stay within their budget and don’t come back and tell us they need more, we assume, which might not always work, that they’re doing what’s appropriate and within the budget guidelines,” he said.

Bryan said there is a checks and balances system. “That’s what the citizens expect and somehow this got by several people,” he said.

For some of the spending that was going on - not all of it - there was no policy in place to say it wasn’t allowed.

Now that there’s a state investigation, Richardson said it is likely county policy changes will speed up.

Garvison declined to comment Tuesday.

• Exit Document Part 1 (pdf)
• Exit Document Part 2 (pdf)

Full Interview with County Chairman Jim Richardson