SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane Valley City Council voted on Tuesday to take legal action against Councilmember Al Merkel.
“If you support him, then I would be more than happy to take donations into our legal fund because this is going to be expensive,” Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley said ahead of the vote on Tuesday. “And it’s just so he’ll follow state law, that’s it.”
The city is suing Merkel to force him to release information related to more than 60 public records requests. City officials say this is a last resort.
The city has spent more than $235,000 investigating Merkel in the last year. That money comes straight from the general fund. This lawsuit is expected to cost the city anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said City Manager John Hohman. “It’s an extreme amount of taxpayer dollars and we could be doing a lot of beneficial things with that money and we’re not able to right now.”
According to the Hohman, Merkel posted city-related business on his social media, which is eligible for public records requests.
“We know that he’s posting polls trying to gauge public interest on how the councilmembers are doing, the effectiveness of some of the city projects, other items that may influence some of his decision making on the council,” Hohman said. “Those are all related to city business.”
State law legally requires the city to provide that information if it is requested or face penalties of $100 per day per page that is unfulfilled. The city said Merkel refuses to comply.
“There’s many times where he’s provided some of the information but not all of the information,” Hohman said. “He’s altered or deleted public records and now they’re not to be found.”
Merkel, however, says the city is retaliating against him.
“They want to shut me up,” Merkel said. “Pure retaliation to my stances on some of the past projects, especially for the Sprague Road right out here.”
Merkel called the lawsuit a waste of taxpayer dollars, saying he already gave the city everything they asked for, including the password to his social media account on NextDoor.
“I have given them everything that I have, but I will fully fight for my rights which they are violating and any damages or costs that result from this violation,” he said.
Because of the pending litigation, other councilmembers were not available for comment.
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