From the Fire Chief's Desk
By Alan Hull,
Fire Chief
July 18, 2007
It’s been a couple of weeks now since I
first learned that a trusted employee had betrayed that trust placed on her.
Although I would rather address the many other issues this fire district is
currently working on, this issue is without a doubt the most infamous event
ever in Estacada Rural Fire District # 69’s history.
As Fire Chief, I am ultimately
responsible for all aspects of this department and for the actions of our
employees. I have always taken whatever responsibility I am entrusted with
very seriously. I trusted a 24 year
employee with the responsibility to manage our funds along with an annual
check (by audit) with a company licensed to audit government agencies. Not
only did this employee betray my trust, she also managed to avoid detection
and elude the professional auditors’ trained eyes. I placed Pamela
Rowley-Butcher on unpaid administrative leave and have cooperated fully with
the investigation. While the investigation continues into how it was
done, we have initiated controls to ensure it can never happen again. I have
found that reviewing and approving all monthly financial reports is not an
adequate control if the information you are receiving has been altered or
omitted.
The amount of money taken has not been
confirmed, but evidence indicates it could be as much as $750,000. The theft
has occurred over the past 10 years. Clackamas County Sheriff Detectives
have been working the criminal case. Estacada Fire will continue to assist
Detectives by hiring a forensic auditor to determine the exact dollar amount
taken. It is important to discover the exact amount in order to determine
the criminal and civil penalties to be levied. Estacada Fire’s Board of
Directors plan on taking whatever steps necessary to completely recover any
funds lost. Our annual auditor has verbally assumed partial responsibility
and is presently cooperating in filing the necessary paperwork with his bond
holder's claims adjuster.
Again I want to stress that this theft
was the work of one employee, Pamela Rowley- Butcher and that all other
employees are completely innocent of any wrongdoing in this matter.
In 30 years with this
department only three times have I not wanted to come to work. The first was
after a 6 year old girl was hit by a truck, I administered CPR at the scene
and in the ambulance all the way to the hospital, and she died, despite my
efforts. The second time was after 5 children died in a house fire, although
they had already succumbed to the smoke and fire prior to the call being
made, and there was no hope of rescue, it forever was etched in my memory.
Then this last time was on Friday the 6th of July, 2007, when I
knew the search warrant was to be administered on our fire station. To me
these are all tragic events, for different personal reasons.
Do I feel responsible for this
loss? Yes, I am responsible for allowing trust and friendship to cloud my
judgment. As the Fire Chief, perhaps I have spent too much time worrying
about volunteer firefighter levels, upgrading my EMT-Intermediate
certification, the city’s urban renewal, or a new fire station bond, and
perhaps I should have concentrated more on budgetary security and controls.
Fiduciary fidelity will be of utmost importance from here forth. We still
need a new station, we still need more volunteers, we need to keep our
partnership in urban renewal, and I still need to go on medical calls. We
all need to recover and get on with the business of saving lives. I
appreciate all the support in the form of letters, phone calls, and visits
from all of those people and organizations that have responded to our
current situation. Thank you for your empathy and words of encouragement.
Click here to see the press release
Alan L. Hull, Fire
Chief
Estacada Rural
Fire District # 69
Adobe Acrobat Reader required
Past Chief's
Desk Reports:
March 2006
September 2006
January 2007
April 2007
