Heated Race Forms in Small Onalaska District

It might be safe to say the most contentious election race in Lewis County is happening in one of the smallest districts. 

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office is considering charges against the district based on information obtained in an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office in the months leading up to the race.

The Water-Sewer District 5 Commissioner Position 3 race is between incumbent Virgil Fox, the creator of the Birchfield subdivision, and Jimmy Hilliard, a resident who sees taking office as the only way to correct the district’s issues. 

“I don’t want to be a commissioner, but we have to be able to open the doors here to see what’s going on,” he said. 

Hilliard has cried foul over what he argues has been a history of blatant mismanagement, conflicts of interest and violations of state law by Fox and his wife and fellow Commissioner Carol Fox. Through his attorneys, he pressed for the prosecutor’s office to look into the district. 

The district serves the Birchfield subdivision Fox designed. It was built to accommodate a business park, 2,700 residences, a 148-acre golf course and a 120-room hotel. But today, Birchfield Parkway leads to little more than it did after the groundbreaking: 1,300 rolling acres where the for sale signs far outnumber the houses.

Fox sold the gated community’s water and sewer system to the district in 2003. 

Hilliard became a commissioner for the district in 2011. But afraid that his role as commissioner could make him culpable for what he saw as illegal activities, he decided, after less than a year, to step down.

When Fox was a commissioner from 1995 to early 2012, he exempted himself from an estimated $80,000 in water and sewer payments. He also, as commissioner, maintained untenably low water rates to promote the sale of Birchfield lots, according to a 2012 audit from the state Auditor’s Office.

In 2012, Fox told The Chronicle any mistakes he has made are just that — honest errors, due to ignorance of the law — and that he’s poured his life savings into the struggling development. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. 

Fox stepped down in 2012, but in late 2013, he and his wife were back on the district board. 

A 2014 state audit of the district found the commissioners had a beneficial interest in the district contracts and the district’s financial condition puts it at risk of not being able to meet financial obligations and maintain at then current service levels. 

Fox has lived in Lewis County for nearly 30 years. He’s had numerous professional ventures, including a construction company, land development, a Seattle art gallery and a private utilities company that managed 130 small water systems in Western Washington called American Water Resources. 

The 24 eligible voters of the district are divided between two separate gated sections of the community; 13 live in Birchfield, 1 with the Foxes, 11 live in Birchfield 2 with the Hilliards.

Hilliard, his wife and a neighbor, Rick Toups, ran for the three commissioner seats in 2013, but weren’t elected. He expects the race this time to go much the same way. 

“Virgil has forbid me from going up to Birchfield 1,” Hilliard said. “I asked him to rescind that so I can go talk to voters, but he’s ignored it.”

In an attempt to connect with the other voters, Hilliard created a Facebook page called “Exposing — Lewis County Water & Sewer District #5.” 

Hilliard said he has enough evidence that he could sue the district, but doing so would only cost him and all the other ratepayers more in the form of legal fees.

“That would implode this district,” he said. 

Hilliard recently tried another route by having the district’s Commissioner Kristine Carter removed from office by the Lewis County Auditor’s Office on grounds that she no longer lives in the district. However, there was not enough evidence to get her removed.

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A story by former Chronicle reporter Lisa Broadt was utilized for this report.