By Trey Mewes, Austin Daily Herald

ROSE CREEK — The Rose Creek City Council unanimously fired former city clerk Janet Marie Nelsen on Monday, almost two months after she was charged for allegedly swindling thousands of dollars from three rural townships that help fund the Rose Creek Fire Department.

The move came after Rose Creek residents spent several weeks gathering signatures for a petition to oust Nelsen from her city job and ask for a thorough audit of the city’s finances.

The council and Mayor Pete Kuhlmann made the motion to fire Nelsen at the beginning of the meeting, before more than 50 residents who attended could present the petition.

“We wanted to make sure what we were doing was the right decision,” Kuhlmann said.

Council members said they spent the past two months looking for another city clerk. Kuhlmann told residents the city offered the job to one person who turned it down and would follow up with other candidates this week. The council also said it would look into potentially hiring a second person who knows how to do the job.

Nelsen isn’t accused of stealing from city accounts, rather she is accused of taking money from the Rural Fire Association.

According to the court complaint filed in January, Nelsen has for years been the bookkeeper for the Rural Fire Association. Windom, Nevada and Marshall townships form part of the association, as they compile $5,500 per year to couple with the Rose Creek Fire Department for a total of $11,000 toward the fund.

The Rose Creek fire chief grew suspicious of the bookkeeping last fall. According to the court complaint, that upset Nelsen. She later attended a township meeting and reportedly said, “Here, you guys take this,” and handed over the association’s checking account information and checks.

The Windom Township treasurer looked into the bookkeeping and said the records “were a mess,” and that she was unable to find receipts and bank records. Furthermore, Nelsen, who was to receive $175 per year for keeping the association’s books, was reportedly paying herself more than once per year and putting checks in her husband’s bank account, as well.

At an emergency meeting with the Rose Creek mayor and township representatives, Nelsen admitted she had done something wrong and didn’t know how much money was missing.

According to the complaint, Nelsen told a detective her husband was having medical problems, so she had written herself unauthorized checks. According to the detective, Nelsen issued herself $525 in 2012, $650 in 2011, $275 in 2010, $500 in 2009, $835 in 2008 and $275 in 2007. Those investigating the issue were unable to find bank records before 2007.

The city itself remains unaffected by the issue, according to city officials. Its annual audit shows the city’s finances were accounted for in 2013, according to Kimberly Hillberg of CliftonLarsonAllen.

“The city looks good. The general fund is healthy,” Hillberg told the council at the meeting. Hillberg shared the results of the city’s 2013 audit at the meeting. She said the firm scrutinized the Fire Department fund for 2013 and found everything accounted for.

Still, Rural Fire Association officials and the city council are pushing for a joint powers agreement between the association, the city and the fire department to make sure more than one signature is needed for checks moving forward.

There are still unresolved problems in the association’s bookkeeping. Rita Hanegraaf, the Rural Fire Board clerk/treasurer, told the council she couldn’t find matching funds from the city of Rose Creek for a department maintenance fund in 2012 and 2011. While the association paid $4,000 to the fund each year, the city only paid $2,000 to the fund in 2012 and $1,000 in 2011.

“We just really need to know where that money is,” she said.

The council agreed to look into the matter.