Public Works Director responds to allegations of procedural violations

WALLACE –– Shoshone County Public Works Director Jessica Stutzke went before the county commissioners earlier this week to address claims of code violations that were made against her department last week.  

The claims, made by resident Matt Beehner, came during a consent agenda meeting on July 24, where he alleged that the county had violated Idaho Code as it pertains to procurement procedure, as well as amending the public works and ambulance district budget without public hearings. 

He also alluded to auditor Tony Matson missing things when he reviewed the county’s financial statements.  

According to Beehner, the county did not seek formal or informal bids for several projects and larger purchases, specifically, new generators at the county shops, and sanding trucks. He later brought up how the county purchases fuel and how he believed that was also a violation.  

The county adopted its procurement procedures in June of 2021 as part of the Federal Procurement Procedure.  

“We haven’t had a lot of turnover in the elected officials since this had been passed,” Beehner said. “For department heads to claim they didn’t know, either they didn’t read it – which is incompetent. Or they didn’t care.”  

Stutzke wasn’t at the meeting where the allegations were made, which prompted her to schedule the meeting with the commissioners to, “Educate the public on the official record.”  

After reading the allegations to the board, she broke down how she believes the claims to be incorrect.  

Shoshone County’s procurement procedures differ from the Idaho Association of Counties, which outlines that purchases of less than $75,000 do not require counties to seek formal or informal bids. Shoshone County set its threshold at $50,000.  

According to Stutzke, the generator project was split up so the county could use ARPA funds to purchase the four generators for $40,585. The county handled some of the work to install the generators but did have to contract an electrician to hook them up. The final tally for purchasing and installing the generators was just north of $83,000. 

The sanding trucks have not yet been purchased, but the county did receive quotes for two different sizes of trucks.  

Stutzke claimed that Beehner’s statements were misleading and that these kinds of comments can be divisive and lead to legal issues, loss of trust, and cause damage to the elected officials’ integrity.  

“There’s some pretty heavy violations that come with not following procurement procedures,” Stutzke said. “Those can be anything from a reprimand, termination, all the way up to fines up to $5,000 per offense. I don’t think any of the elected officials or department heads in the county take that lightly. Insinuating, saying the word incompetent or that they don’t care, I’ve worked with just about every elected official and department head in this county. I would not use the word incompetent to describe any of them.”  

As far as the budgetary issues were concerned, Stutzke was frank that her department is not capable of moving funds around in a manner that would cover budget deficiencies. To that point, she directed Mr. Beehner to the clerk’s office.  

Beehner, who attended Stutzke’s meeting, remained steadfast in his claims, stating that bids cannot be broken up in the fashion used for the generator project. It was at this point that he brought up the county’s fuel purchasing practices, which cost cost well over $50,000 annually.  

According to Stutzke, the county’s legal team determined that because they do not purchase fuel in a single lump amount, they do not have to bid out their fuel purchases to stay within code.  

Commissioner Tracy Casady told the News-Press that she believes the county is following its procurement procedures. And that anything that could constitute a gray area is reviewed by the county’s legal department.  

She also believes this interaction highlights a larger issue for Shoshone County – The spreading of misinformation and using public comment periods to address issues that aren’t on the board’s agenda.  

“I commend Jessica for standing up and addressing misinformation that's been put out there,” Casady said. “I think we need to address how we handle our public comment periods. The comments need to pertain to things that we are discussing and we need to structure our meetings so that we remain on topic. If you have something that’s not on the agenda, schedule a meeting with us, so we can get it on the agenda and let all of the proper department heads or elected officials know ahead of time.”  

Mr. Beehner told the board that he would provide them with the information he used to base his claims off of.  

Stutzke also said that she would be happy to go on the official record to address any claims or allegations made against her department.