Athol clerk accused of embezzling fired twice

ATHOL - Athol's city clerk was fired twice - first on June 23 at a meeting which the mayor and one councilman said they didn't even know about, and again on July 1.

Allegations of secret meetings launched a heated debate among council members and citizens who attended Tuesday's council meeting - the first since the "official" firing of clerk Sally Hansen, who is under investigation for allegedly embezzling city funds.

While Hansen and her family remain on the lam, the city council on Tuesday voted to hire a forensic auditor to examine the city's books and to use a private company to advertise for and screen applicants to replace Hansen.

Both matters were discussed in a lengthy executive session attended by two Kootenai County Sheriff's investigators.

By the start of the public meeting which followed, many in the crowd of 20 were already agitated. They sat through mundane business items - like discussion of changes to an agreement with the Grandmother's Club for the use of City Hall - before Mayor Darla Kuhman launched into a discussion of the hiring process for a new clerk.

When the council got around to discussing the city's budget for the coming fiscal year, resident Mark Dane pointedly asked: "How much money do we have?"

"We're not exactly sure," Kuhman replied.

At the time for public comment, Dane held up a copy of Idaho's Open Meeting Laws and told the council, "Everybody needs to read it."

Dane said he heard some council members were having "illegal meetings" and accused council members Josh Spencer, Mary Zichko and Shane McDaniel of holding a meeting without providing notice to the mayor and councilman Lewie Miller.

Both Miller and Kuhman said they weren't notified of the meeting, but McDaniel and Zichko said they had conferred with city attorney Bill Appleton and were told they met the requirements of the open meeting law.

There was also an argument Tuesday about a second meeting of which Miller said he wasn't notified of until an hour or two before the meeting.

"Both meetings were decided as illegal meetings," Miller said. "I strongly opposed them."

Resident Susan Richmond asked if there were minutes taken at the meetings and if minutes were taken at every meeting.

"I don't know," Zichko replied.

Richmond, who said after the meeting she is planning to launch a recall of the entire council, accused Zichko of being combative with citizens at the meeting.

"We're all very frustrated," Richmond said. "Everybody's falling down on the job."

Kuhman pounded her gavel, attempting to bring the meeting to order.

When the discussion came around to when - and how many times - Hansen was fired, Kuhman said anyone with questions about Hansen needed to contact the sheriff's department.

The sheriff's office, Kuhman said, provided the city Tuesday with a backup of a city computer it had taken as part of the investigation. That information should help the city get back on track with billing for city utilities.

It has been more than a month since the city sent water bills. Kuhman said the city has a new computer and the software it needs to resume billing.

The city is looking for volunteers to help with the town's Athol Daze celebration, scheduled for Aug. 9. In the past, the city clerk has been responsible for organizing the event.