Spokane Valley council authorizes legal action to compel council member to comply with public-records rules

The Spokane Valley City Council on Feb. 4 voted 6'to'0 to direct the city manager to initiate legal action to compel Council Member Merkel to produce public records and comply with the council's governance manual and the Washington Public Records Act.

"This is nothing that the remaining City Council members... want to do," City Manager John Holman said while explaining the steps staff had taken to secure compliance. Holman recounted a series of investigations and a hearing process that, he said, found Merkel out of compliance with the governance manual and with state public-records requirements.

City Attorney Kelly Conkwright warned council of potential legal exposure if the city cannot produce requested records. "There is a per day, per page penalty that the courts can impose. A hundred dollars per day, per page," Conkwright said, noting judgments against public agencies for PRA violations have reached into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and that such liabilities are not covered by the city's insurance.

Holman told the council that the city had received 61 public-records requests concerning Merkel's activities and that the city has spent roughly $80,000 in the process of investigating and responding, including an appeal to a hearing examiner. The hearing examiner, Andrew Kottkamp, affirmed the initial investigative findings on Dec. 13, 2024, Holman said.

Council members described repeated attempts to secure voluntary compliance and said other tools had been exhausted. Several council members framed the vote as a step to protect taxpayers and city operations from the legal and financial risk of incomplete record production.

Merkel was asked to recuse himself from the discussion; he refused. After council voted to authorize the legal action, Mayor Haley stated that Merkel would not participate in the vote. The official motion was seconded and approved by roll call as six yes, zero no.

Public comment at the meeting included residents who urged the council to take action. Several council members emphasized that the decision was not intended to silence an elected official but to secure compliance with state law and the council's own rules.

Staff said next steps would include directing the city manager to file suit in an appropriate tribunal seeking records and compliance; the council did not set litigation timelines or a dollar appropriation at the Feb. 4 meeting.