Town of Bucoda staff are preparing for their next Washington State Auditor’s Office accountability audit, according to Bucoda Mayor Callie Carpenter, who announced the upcoming audit during the Bucoda Town Council’s regular monthly meeting on Aug. 12.
Also discussed at the meeting was alleged drug-trafficking going on at houses within the South Thurston County community. Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) Lieutenant Malcolm McIver asked residents at the meeting to file reports with the TCSO’s non-emergency line if they observed any possible criminal activity.
And with fall just around the corner — starting with the autumnal equinox on Sept. 22 — town council members also talked about ongoing planning for this year’s Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular, the town’s annual month-long Halloween celebration in October.
Councilors also conversed about the feasibility of connecting Bucoda to the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino Trail following discussion held earlier this year.
Accountability audit
In September 2024, the auditor’s office released the results from an accountability audit of the Town of Bucoda’s budget from Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2022 — which revealed a number of financial reporting and receipt filing discrepancies.
Since then, the town council passed several resolutions changing how budgeting and receipts are handled in accordance with audit recommendations. Carpenter said auditor’s office staff will be in town on Monday, Aug. 25, to begin Bucoda’s next budget accountability audit.
This audit will focus on the town’s budget from Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2024.
“We’re still going over the 2024-2023 years, just to see financially what happened. And after this audit … I’m so excited about this, because we can finally put it to rest and really move on,” Carpenter said.
In talks with the certified public accountant (CPA) the town hired to review its finances following the previous accountability audit, Carpenter added the CPA said in both 2023 and 2024, budget revenue generated from payments had increased substantially.
Budget spending has also risen.
“This is more money than we’ve spent on a monthly basis, than I think probably ever that I’ve seen on council,” Carpenter said. “And we’re still holding steady on our bank balance.”
Bucoda Town Council Steve Lyle asked if the CPA and city staff knew why both income and spending had risen.
Carpenter stated that “this is where the audit is going to be really helpful.”
Carpenter was first elected to the council in November 2023 and appointed mayor following the resignation of former Bucoda Mayor Pro Tem Kiersten Presley after she moved in June 2024. Presley herself had only been carrying out mayoral duties for a week before that following the death of former Bucoda Mayor Robert “Rob” Gordon.
“When I took over, we did have people leave. I have submitted inquiries with the Auditor’s Office, and so, like I said, this should all be completely cleared up by the end of this audit. I’m looking forward to having better answers, more answers,” said Carpenter. “... But I wanna be really sure I understand all of it before I just say everything.”
Drug house complaints
During McIver’s TCSO report, councilors and meeting attendees brought up alleged drug houses on the south end of town and complaints from neighbors. According to the neighbors, multiple different cars are seen visiting the property, even well past midnight.
“You mean they’re not fans of the big wooden middle finger that’s on the porch?” McIver added.
On a more serious note, McIver encouraged the residents to call in and report something, even if it may be as mundane as a car pulling in at 2 a.m. and leaving 10 minutes later.
“When it comes to situations like this, I understand there are times when people don’t want to call in or they think it’s burdensome, or it’s not worth the phone call, whatever the case may be,” McIver said. “If you can tell people that you run across that are complaining about these known drug homes and places where people are living that are stealing stuff … Those phone calls at the time are far more valuable than me hearing about them at the city council meeting.”
He added with the TCSO being short staffed, there is typically only one deputy on duty at a time patrolling the district Bucoda is in, which also includes the larger communities of Tenino, Grand Mound and Rochester.
“Maybe one time a night, that deputy gets to roll through town,” he added.
So, if nobody in Bucoda is calling into the non-emergency line to report suspicious activity, the deputy will be tasked with responding to the calls they get from the other communities.
“It is my belief that the squeaky wheel is the first one to kind of get the grease. If you can start making those phone calls, it at least gives me a running tally of the number of calls we’re getting about certain residences,” McIver said.
Once he has that tally and actual statistics, he can justify having more patrols in the area at certain times with his superiors, he said.
“We’re never going to get ahead of it if we’re always playing catch-up on the backside. The best way to try to intervene and interdict those kinds of troublesome homes and in-and-out traffic where there’s probably some narcotics dealing taking place — is to try to catch those things as they’re happening,” McIver said. “Because, sometimes, that can allow us to get back to the house where we can make a difference.”
Those wishing to file a non-emergency police report with the TCSO can call 360-704-2740 to do so.
Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular and trail talk
With talks beginning this past summer about making a trail connection from Bucoda up to the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino Trail, and since then, more talks were held at a Thurston Regional Planning Council meeting where communities throughout the county discussed trail and bike lane needs.
This isn’t the first time making a connecting trail between Bucoda and the neighboring community of Tenino to hook up to the existing trail, as in 2022, Thurston County officials considered it amongst a number of other proposed new trails.
“It was looked at in depth a few years ago, and the money, the cost, scared everybody away,” Lyle said.
Despite the trail project’s cost being too high then, Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority staffer Scott Boettcher, who was involved with the 2022 feasibility study, wants to be involved with this new attempt to help find grants and other possible funding opportunities according to Lyle.
“Scott would like to be invited to any of those (future) meetings,” Lyle added.
As for the upcoming Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular, Bucoda Town Councilor John Wood has been working with longtime Thurston County tourism promoter George Sharp to plan events for this year’s month-long Halloween celebration. Wood’s goal is to help grow the celebration to generate more tourism revenue for the town.
He’s also talking with the owners of Joe’s Place Bar & Grill about a separate but coinciding Oktoberfest event with a beer garden.
“She’s talking to her liquor person to make sure that they can have people out (in their yard) as a beer garden, which will not be connected to Bucoda, but we will support them,” Wood said.
Other possible Boo-Coda events Wood discussed in previous meetings for this year included possibly having bands play inside the Boo-Coda Haunted House, though no further details were discussed this month.
Traditional Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular events include the famous casket races, a hearse parade and car show, multiple costume contests and more scheduled throughout October.
To learn more about the Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular, visit its website at https://boo-coda.com/.
