Everett, Wash.
Published: Saturday, September 6, 2008

39TH DISTRICT

Wrong to overlook Walser's conviction

 Former Sultan Chief of Police Fred Walser's explanation that "it was a clerical foul-up" and "I just wanted to get it over with and move on" for being charged and pleading guilty to a gross misdemeanor does not convince intelligent individuals that the truth is being told.

The crime Mr. Walser pled guilty to, "providing false information to a public official," involved the investigation by four separate law enforcement agencies over a period of two years which created over 1,000 pages of investigative reports and considerable cost to the city of Sultan. The seriousness of the crime that Mr. Walser pled guilty to resulted in the court ordering Mr. Walser to pay the city of Sultan $20,000 in restitution, participate in 240 hours of community service, and serve one year of supervised probation. This sounds more serious than a "clerical foul-up."

Actually, the facts of the case as determined by the county prosecutor's office indicate Mr. Walser lied to his own city officials, the city he was sworn to protect, to cover up for an employee's misconduct. Now a convicted criminal, Mr. Walser wants to be your and my Washington state senator. To make things worse, he is endorsed and received contributions from many Washington state and Snohomish County Democratic organizations, as well as several top Snohomish County elected officials. Shame on them! I, for one, do not want to be represented in the Legislature by a convicted criminal who has already voluntarily admitted to violating the public trust. I will vote for the person who has actually served the 39th District as a state senator well without violating the public trust or commiting a crime while serving in public office.

Jim Tagart
Snohomish
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA