The embattled Snohomish County Workforce Development Council has a new interim board chairwoman, who says getting the agency back on track is essential.
“We’ve got to make sure that the confidence level of the agencies that give us money and the agencies that get our money stays intact,” said Deborah Knutson.
Knutson, president of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, agreed last week to take over the leadership of the board of directors that oversees the council, which takes state and federal grant money and distributes it to different organizations for worker training and other programs. Last year’s budget was about $8 million.
Knutson replaces Liz Marks, who leaves behind a council facing several serious problems:
* The council is being sued by its former finance director, Deborah Anderson, who filed a federal whistleblower suit against the council and its chief executive, Lorinda Causey. Anderson claims she was fired in retaliation for alerting outside auditors to budgetary improprieties.
* State auditors are questioning more than $100,000 in 2005 workforce council spending that seemed to violate legal guidelines on how the money could be used, while a federal review questions more than $430,000.
* As a result of those issues, the Snohomish County Labor Council’s representatives on to the workforce council board have resigned; without them, the council is out of compliance with state rules.
* And in March, the workforce council missed a state deadline for recertification.
Knutson said she’s been scrambling to get up to speed on the issues and is developing a plan.
But some things are clearly priorities, Knutson said.
“We have to reconstitute the board,” she said. “We have to bring labor back to the table.”
In addition, the council would like to settle Anderson’s lawsuit, and staffers are continuing to work with state and federal auditors to address their concerns about past spending, while also drawing up budgets for next year.
The workforce council “is a really important organization for this county,” Knutson said. “It gets a lot of federal and state dollars to train employees,” and that’s crucial to companies that are here now.
“We’re hearing so much that they all need more trained workers,” she said.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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