Newly elected Northshore fire commissioner Rick Verlinda announced at the board’s April 3 meeting that he will file ethics complaints with the state auditor’s office against two of his fellow board members for allegedly misusing public funds.
Under Washington state law, fire commissioners can receive a per diem payment of $114 “for time spent in actual attendance at official meetings of the board or in performance of other services or duties on behalf of the district,” not to exceed $10,944 per year.
Commissioners Don Ellis and Kae Peterson both hit that limit in 2017, with Ellis reaching it in 2016 as well, according to an email from Fire Chief Jim Torpin to Verlinda and commissioner David Maehren. Their compensation amounted to about $40,000 over two years.