Hospital commissioner files PDC paperwork, sworn in

Published 4:51 pm Thursday, January 7, 2016

Dr. Chris Monson was sworn in Monday night as the second new Public Hospital District No. 1 commissioner.

Because Monson didn’t file formal candidate information with the state Public Disclosure Commission, he is required to do so now that he’s been elected and sworn in.

Monson filed the “personal financial affairs statement,” which was received on Dec. 29.

Monson had indicated in a letter to the Public Disclosure Commission in June that he would not accept the office if elected. He beat longtime commissioner Carolyn Parnell in the November election.

Monson didn’t file any of the required candidate or financial paperwork, which the PDC discovered last month when comparing the general election results to its list of candidates, according to Lori Anderson, a PDC spokeswoman.

Now the PDC will hold an enforcement hearing likely before the end of March in which a commissioner will consider Monson’s case, according to Anderson.

The alleged violations are that Monson did not register his campaign with the PDC or disclose personal financial information, according to Anderson.

In December Lawton Montgomery, a captain with the Kent Regional Fire Authority, was sworn in to replace Dr. Aaron Heide, who had resigned from the board and was initially replaced by an appointee, Dr. Terry Block.

Montgomery has lived in the area for about 10 years and has worked in the area for almost 30 years, he said in an interview after Monday’s commission meeting.

“We send a lot of people to Valley,” he said. “I know it’s a good hospital. Being it’s my hospital that I use too, I want to be involved with it and give back to my community that I live in.”

The commission also elected new officers for 2016. Dr. Paul Joos, a partner with Monson in their medical practice, was elected president. Dr. Tamara Sleeter was elected vice president and Montgomery was elected commission secretary.