Editor’s Note: This letter was written in response to comments published in a recent LEOFF I Coalition newsletter.
Greetings to all LEOFF 1 members. Recently I obtained a copy of the LEOFF 1 Coalition newsletter that I am told was mailed to some LEOFF 1 members. At first glance it appeared that their primary purpose was to attack Dick Warbrouck, President of the RFFOW. Some of the information is questionable, however, I will let Mr. Warbrouck address those issues. Upon further reading it became clear that the primary purpose was to raise money for the Coalition. When I got to page 10 I read two letters that were obviously written by friends of two LEOFF 1 members with issues before both the Snohomish Co. LEOFF 1 Board and the Edmonds LEOFF 1 Board. As a member of the Snohomish County Board I was astonished to find that nothing in the letter regarding our board and Mr. Wakefield was even close to being factual.
Let me start by saying that I have been close friends with Mr. Wakefield since the 1970’s. Mr. Wakefield was even on our board for a period of years. I have been on the Snohomish Co. Board since 2000 as the Law Enforcement representative. In addition to myself Warren Aspden, board chair is also a longtime friend of Mr. Wakefield. Mark told me he did not authorize nor have knowledge of the letter. He also claims he did not reach out to Joyce Willms for assistance. In fact Mr. Wakefield has done nothing but praise the way he has been treated by our Board. From the beginning of Mr. Wakefield’s situation and until now myself and Mr. Aspden have gone way above and beyond to make sure Mr. Wakefield obtained everything he and his doctor requested for his care. Never once has he ever been denied anything that has been determined medically necessary for his care. Joyce Willms claims she had been on the phone constantly reminding us of our legal responsibilities. What she did was call our secretary once who immediately called me. I spoke with Joyce and listened as she spouted what she inaccurately thought the LEOFF 1 law was. After the conversation ended I advised Ms. Willms to never call our secretary again as we must be in compliance with the HIPAA law and she is not authorized to speak for the Board nor is she authorized to discuss members personal issues. She was advised if she has questions or wants to share information please do so in writing so that the request can be properly addressed. Joyce did ask when our Board meeting would be and indicated she may attend. I advised her that she could attend the public portion of our meeting but not the executive session where we may discuss medical information of members. I later contacted Mr. Wakefield and he advised me he had not called Ms. Willms to ask for help.
For Joyce to accept credit for doing nothing is a disgrace. From my perspective these letters may have been solicited in order to show some degree of relevance and as a fund-raising tactic for the Coalition. In addition to the above I also called Ollie Moore who wrote the letter regarding Mr. Wakefield. After hearing the whole story and after contacting his friend, Mr. Wakefield, he accepted he may have made a mistake.
Sincerely, Ken Crowder
Snohomish County Disability Board
