“Thurston Conservation District’s board members at a June meeting.
Paul Pickett, Eric Johnson, Linda Powell and Richard Mankamyer.”
Photo Credit: Abby Spegman, The Olympian.
– Editor’s Note:
This highlights how personal agendas overshadow good intentions and lead to poor oversight and governance.
Richard Mankamyer is from Yelm.
– “State report on Thurston Conservation District recommends 2 board members be removed”
“Staff for the Washington State Conservation Commission began investigating complaints against board members late last year. In a report released this week, staff recommends the commission remove Eric Johnson, the board’s chairman, and Richard Mankamyer [Yelm], its auditor.
“‘(Thurston Conservation District) has seen significant deterioration in fiscal health, accountability and its standing in the community. This deterioration is the result of the actions of Johnson and Mankamyer in their attempts to ‘take back control of the District,’” according to the report.
“The report finds Johnson and Mankamyer failed to respond to a public records request, delayed or refused to sign district checks, and prevented the release of board meeting minutes to the public, taking as long as 14 months to approve minutes for release.”
“Paul Pickett, who was elected to the board this spring, also has raised concerns about the board’s conduct. He wants Johnson and Mankamyer to resign.
“This is an amazing example of bad governance,” Pickett said, adding he doesn’t fault them for wanting to monitor staff and district spending. “They may have had good intentions, but they handled it really badly,” by Abby Spegman, The Olympian.
Read more
– UPDATE: July 26, 2018
“TCD is acronym for very dysfunctional agency”
“The Thurston Conservation District is a government agency in transition. It is also badly messed up.
It needs outside intervention. A recent investigation and intervention by the State Conservation Commission was a welcome step in that direction.”
“One urgent recommendation by investigators is that board supervisors and district staff undergo training in public-employee ethics and in state rules for open meetings and public records,” by The Olympian Editorial Board.
Read more
Post a comment
2 comments
Dear Steve,
I am surprised you post this without investigating what is really going on at the district. The supervisors in question actually had and have the courage to ask questions about where the money goes at the Thurston Conservation district and the high priced staff doesn’t like it.
The public has to rely on the Washington State Conservation Commission tasked with
investigating complaints, who did speak with supervisors. They also investigated the
financial books and noted significant deterioration in fiscal health & accountability, finding
this was the responsibility of board chair Johnson & auditor Mankamyer, which led to their
recommendations. If you have further information, please share with Blog readers here.
By submitting a comment you grant Yelm Community Blog a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.